By Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff Brief overview of the association “Girls of Progress” is a small financial saving and loan club based in Kakata City, Margibi County, Republic of Liberia. It was established in October of 2012 by a group of young women who saw the need to create…
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Liberia Cultural Dances
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff As a part of normal life in Liberia, cultural dances are a heritage that Liberians follow and cherish dearly. Though dances vary from tribe to tribe and various regions, dance remains a common value to all Liberians. People sing and dance from…
Continue ReadingLecture at Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo “Sustainable Supply Chain of Diamonds to be Constructed by ALL”
Chie Murakami, founder and director general of Diamonds for Peace (DFP) delivered a lecture titled “Sustainable Supply Chain of Diamonds to be Constructed by ALL” at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo on 10 January 2019. She started by saying that the engagement ring presented by her husband-to-be jolted her…
Continue ReadingExperience with the established cooperative in Smith Camp
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia staff Back ground of the cooperative In 2008 a cooperative with the name, Smith Town Mineral Multipurpose Cooperative Society, was established under the leadership of a prominent female resident of the community. The cooperative was established through the influence of a Russian mining company…
Continue ReadingMiners and diggers in Weasua Prepare for the Project
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff Introduction Diamonds for Peace (DFP) will implement its pilot “Fair Diamond” project in the western region of Liberia and has spent the last several months assessing the diamond mining communities (DMCs) in this region to determine which one is prepared to take part…
Continue ReadingArtisanal diamond workers receive pre-cooperative training funded by UNMIL
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia staff General feelings of miners The artisanal diamond workers are complaining about the poor conditions of their work environment and results. Major amongst the issues that affects their work are the unfair prices they receive for their recovered diamonds, as well as the lack…
Continue ReadingWeasua Women in Peace Building Initiative
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia staff Conflict, according to the Webster dictionary, is a clash or disagreement—often violent—between two opposing groups or individuals. In many diamond mining communities, people engage in acts that have the propensity to spark up violence, like using harmful drugs, stealing (especially diamonds), and…
Continue ReadingArtisanal Diamond Workers in Weasua Make Request for Intervention
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff Many people in Liberia’s western region depend on artisanal diamond mining for survival, but it is clearly visible that the majority of these people are living in abject poverty. Weasua is one of Liberia’s historic diamond mining communities in which diamonds were…
Continue ReadingSex a Source of Livelihood on Diamond Mines
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff Liberia has a population of a highly illiterate society. Many persons don’t have a profession by which they can make a better living; as the result they resolve into petty businesses, and some into farming. However, they are engaged in these activities mainly…
Continue ReadingArtisanal Diamond Diggers in Bellekpalamu Unhappy with Current Working Conditions
Written by Diamonds for Peace Liberia Staff In the artisanal diamond mining industry in Liberia, there are several stakeholders: miner, digger, broker, supporter (financer), and dealer (exporter). The miner is the person who obtains a Class C mining license from the government to operate a mining claim. He operates…
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