(IDEX Online) – The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) is marking 10 years of efforts to transform artisanal diamond mining into an economically viable, socially and environmentally responsible activity to benefit miners, their communities and their governments, and consequently, the diamond and jewelry industry.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
Through DDI’s innovative and effective programming, more than 200,000 miners have been registered in the DRC, 10 miners’ cooperatives have been formed and legalized, 121 children in mining communities have been given access to remedial education, 13 mining operations have been certified compliant to the Maendeleo Diamond Standards in Sierra Leone, and several previously mined sites have been environmentally rehabilitated. Ethical artisanally-mined diamonds have now reached the international market.
Artisanal miners, especially in the DRC and Sierra Leone, are benefitting from registration, licensing, training and access to markets. Mining operations are safer and more environmentally-friendly.
DDI will celebrate these milestones with a series of events in 2018 designed to educate and inspire. To kick off the festivities, DDI was recognized on January 8 by the Dali Diamond Group at a gala for their 50th anniversary, in Antwerp, Belgium. The Dali Diamond Group is committed to ensuring that diamonds are processed in an ethical and responsible manner....