Conflict diamonds, also called blood diamonds, are those diamonds which are mined and sold by rebels for funding to support an invasion or civil war. Conflict diamonds have fetched billions of dollars worth of profits which have been used to fund wars in places such as Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such wars have destroyed the lives of millions of people.



As the painful reality about the use of conflict diamond trade to fund wars has become prevalent in recent decades, organizations have lobbied for a governing system to prevent conflict diamonds from being distributed internationally. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, or Kimberley Process, is an international certification system dedicated to preventing the exchange of diamonds which subsidize conflict. The launch of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in January of 2003 marked a major breakthrough in the prevention of conflict diamond trade, though many assert that the system has enforcement flaws and further measures are still needed to eliminate the sale of conflict diamonds altogether.

In May of 2000, representatives from major diamond producing countries, the diamond industry and non governmental organizations with vested interest in the cause convened in Kimberley, South Africa to address the detrimental conflict diamond trade and seek a solution. After three years of negotiation, the Kimberley Process scheme was agreed upon by the participating governments, and it went into effect on January 1, 2003.

The Kimberley Process obliges participating countries to enact legislation to verify that rough diamonds being shipped are conflict free and to standardize the import and export procedures for diamonds. The Kimberley Process utilizes a system of self-governance, requiring industry players to trade diamonds only with other participating governments and bestowing the responsibility of ensuring that diamonds are conflict free on constituents throughout all levels of the supply chain. The goal of such constraints is to eliminate the infiltration of blood diamonds into the Kimberley Process system.

Though the Kimberley Process has facilitated momentous progress in suppressing the trade of conflict diamonds, it has shortcomings which allow the continued trade of conflict diamonds. Self governance brings with it accountability issues that governments as well as participants in the diamond industry have yet to mutually uphold. Countries with weak regulations are allowing conflict diamonds to be certified as conflict free, and the smuggling of diamonds to other countries for trade has also allowed conflict diamonds to enter the market. Though the Kimberley Process marks a significant step in the right direction, it must still undergo implementation improvements in order to accomplish its ultimate aspiration to end the international trade of conflict diamonds.