{"id":13211,"date":"2025-11-24T06:38:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewellerynewsindia.com\/?p=13211"},"modified":"2025-11-24T06:38:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T06:38:47","slug":"world-diamond-council-progress-stopped-by-the-pursuit-of-the-impossible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewellerynewsindia.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/24\/world-diamond-council-progress-stopped-by-the-pursuit-of-the-impossible\/","title":{"rendered":"World Diamond Council: \u201cProgress Stopped by the Pursuit of the Impossible\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The World Diamond Council (WDC)<\/a> on 21st November expressed deep disappointment after a small group of Kimberley Process (KP)<\/a> Participants blocked long-awaited reforms aimed at improving safeguards for Africa\u2019s diamond-mining communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past three years, the KP<\/a> Review and Reform Committee had been working on the most extensive reform initiative in more than 20 years. These efforts brought the KP closer than ever to updating the definition of \u201cconflict diamonds\u201d and formally recognizing protections for mining communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite this unprecedented alignment, the reforms failed to gain approval\u2014not due to conflicting evidence or alternative proposals, but because a few Participants prioritized politics over people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProgress was killed in pursuit of the impossible,\u201d said WDC President Feriel Zerouki<\/a>. \u201cToday, some have implied that the lives of African diamond miners matter less than others. They have suggested that protection is a privilege rather than a principle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strong majority had endorsed expanding the KP<\/a> definition to reflect current forms of violence in mining regions. The proposed reforms included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n