Conflict Free Diamonds

What are conflict diamonds?

A conflict diamond is a diamond mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, invading army’s war efforts, or a warlord’s activity. Since two-thirds of the world’s diamonds are extracted from Africa, this is where most conflict diamonds come from.

The use of diamonds to fund war efforts first started in Angola during it civil war between 1974 and 2001. This immoral activity came to the United Nation’s attention and in 1998, it passes two resolutions banning the purchase if illegal diamonds from Angola. It is estimated that in the 1980s, 20% of diamond productions were sold for illegal purpose and 19% of these were conflict diamonds.

By 1999, the World Diamond Council estimated that conflict diamond sales have dropped to 3.06% and this number have dropped to 1% since 2004 and has remained at this level since.

Unethical mining practices take advantage of impoverished people and utilise inhumane methods of getting the raw material while the workers live in slave like conditions. Child labour, poor pay (if any) and terrible living conditions are common in such slave labour camps.