The call came ahead of a Kimberley Process intercessional summit in Kimberley from Tuesday to Friday, the second time South Africa is hosting the event.Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu is expected to deliver the keynote address at the conference.Southern Africa Resource Watch director Claude Kabemba said most diamond-linked conflicts had been resolved, and the Kimberley Process now had to expand its mandate and monitor the entire diamond chain.
"The Kimberley Process has played an important role over the past decade in resolving conflicts linked to the diamond trade but there is no doubt that it has to be reformed," he said.Kabemba said it still had an important role to play in fostering a cleaner trade, but only if some recommendations were implemented.The Kimberley Process was launched 10 years ago to address the trade in conflict diamonds and to ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements seeking to undermine legitimate governments.It has 54 participants, representing 90 countries, and its members account for about 99.8 percent of the global production of rough diamonds.
