The Board of the Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F) at a recently held Board meeting approved a sum of up to US$ 500,000 in grants “to help students and young entrepreneurs from diamond mining countries or where the diamond industry does significant global business”.

“This is a direct result of sponsors of last month’s highly successful Diamond Do Good Awards fundraising dinner in Las Vegas,” the organisation said. “The goal of these grants is to help build strong, sustainable, and economically successful communities.”

While the major portion of these funds will be disbursed to existing beneficiaries, including the Botswana Top Achievers programme; the Graca Machel (Mandela) Trust; and India-based Veerayatan, D.E.F. said part of the funds will also be used to support graduates of D.E.F’s mobile school in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to attend high school through the Diamond Development Initiative’s innovative programme.  

“New this year will be the establishment of Diamond Empowerment Fund Scholarships that can be used for higher education, leadership development, entrepreneurship, or vocational training for youth from either diamond mining countries or countries which play a central role in the diamond industry,” D.E.F announced. “The stipulation for scholarship recipients is that upon graduating their respective programmes, they return to their communities to build economic growth, sustainability, and the development of strong social structures.”