Diamonds are a key component in the campaign to make poverty history.
When diamonds' role in fuelling violent conflict in Africa gained worldwide attention, the diamond industry established the Kimberley process in order to keep "blood diamonds" out of international trade.
Diamonds are supposed to be a girl's best friend but it's impossible to know for sure where they have come from so I find it is safer just to avoid them altogether.
I hope more people will ask diamond companies to continue changing the way they do business in Africa.
I have nothing against diamonds, or rubies or emeralds or sapphires. I do object when their acquisition is complicit in the debasement of children or the destruction of a country.
The issue of diamonds in Africa is inseparable from the issue of child soldiers.
If you ask ten different people in the diamond industry about the diamond industry, they'll give you ten completely different answers that are opposing, contradicting each other. And maybe that's the thing about the diamond business.
While I'm sure some millennials are concerned with the ethical issues involved in mining for diamonds, the main reason they steer clear of the gems is because, well, they're a dumb investment.
The Kimberley Process is not a perfect construct, and it is necessary now to re-double efforts to address its remaining shortcomings and strengthen its provisions.
If diamonds are a girl's best friend, I wonder if blood diamonds are a girl's best friend 5 days out of the month?
Over the years, the diamond industry has had a devastating impact in countries such as Sierra Leone, Angola and the Congo, where profits from the sale of diamonds have been used to fund brutal wars, with disastrous effects on local communities.
In 1992, I was an official of the Angolan regime. I was appointed by that country to oversee the organization of the raw diamond market and responsible for the governmental authority that later controlled this market.
When I got associated with Australian Diamonds, I started to know more about it, things like certificate of assurance and that they are sourced from a trusted and iconic mine... If you are spending so much, you should know from where the diamond is coming.
The diamond business has always been secretive.
