On the eve of the start of the Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary Session, which kicked off today, November 18, 2019 in New Delhi, India, the President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) Ernie Blom urged the body to create a well-structured permanent “proactive” body “with an active role” to take over work done by volunteers, particularly with regards to facilitating the process of rehabilitation for previously non-compliant countries.

In a press release based on the President's Blog on the its website, the WFDB said that Blom has called upon  KP members “to follow the spirit of UN Resolution A/71/L.55 of January 2017 so that that the new structure being set up to replace the current Administrative Support Mechanism (ASM) is not reduced to being a bureaucratic penpusher”.

Blom noted that the Ad Hoc Committee on Review and Reform (AHCRR) tasked with the establishment and practical organisation of a Permanent Secretariat has put forward a list of functions of the new body that “are only of an administrative nature”. This fails to tackle a “structural deficiency in the organisation”, he writes. Elaborating further, he says, “One particular problem that demonstrates this is the process of rehabilitation for countries that had previously been found to be noncompliant. The reasons for the long process of normalisation in these countries is related to poverty and the lack of human and technical capital and the many structural deficits of a country which has been in a conflict.”

He added: “For example, while the special teams that are established to follow up the process of rehabilitation do excellent work in developing the internal controls necessary for a Participant to once again become compliant, these are often voluntary groups with no prior institutional knowledge and therefore lack any consistency in the structures that they implement.  Unfortunately, the idea that the secretariat could potentially help to facilitate progress in countries of concern and especially in assisting the Kimberley Process with regard to Participants who had been suspended and who are resuming participation in the KP is nowhere to be found.”

Blom opines that it would be a pity if the opportunity to create such a body is missed, saying in conclusion: “It is not too late and hopefully the Plenary will do what is needed.”