On February 4th, 2018, NGO Diamond for Peace (DFP) set up a booth at Yokohama International Forum 2018 held in the Japanese International Cooperation Agency Yokohama International Center. Around 50 organizations working in the fields of international cooperation and/or multicultural understanding conducted seminars, workshops or exhibitions.
A wide range of visitors from high school students to adults stopped by the DFP booth. We explained to them about the difficult circumstances artisanal diamond diggers, miners and people living in mining areas in Liberia and Sierra Leone are subjected to. Often there are no schools or hospitals. We also introduced a project which aims to improve the status and income of diamond diggers by helping them organize into associations and improving their knowledge and capacity on human rights, democracy, and negotiation skills among other important topics.
Chie Murakami, the Director General, gave a presentation entitled “Explore diamonds – from mine to our hands-,” where she explained the value chain of diamonds from mine to consumers and the harmful impacts related to this industry in Sierra Leone and Liberia such as diamond money funding conflicts, employing child labor, environmental destruction and extreme poverty. Chie also highlighted actions that consumers can take to change the diamond industry to limit and even prevent the detrimental byproducts of mining diamonds. Seventeen people listened to the talk, taking notes seriously and nodding their heads, and then they posed questions actively during Q&A session at the end.
DFP will not only host events independently but also participate in more of these types of forums. We will keep you updated on upcoming events through our website, Facebook page and newsletter. For more information, like us on Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/diamondsforpeace/
Front photo: The booth of Diamond for Peace