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RESOLVE and DDI merge to advance Responsible Sourcing

RESOLVE, an early pioneer in the area of environmental conflict resolution, and the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI), responsible for facilitating more efficient, formal and environmentally responsible approaches in the African diamond mining sector, will integrate their programs to strengthen collective efforts going forward.

Bringing together more than 50 years of combined experience in conflict prevention and resolution, poverty reduction, biodiversity protection, supply chain due-diligence and ethical products, the merger is intended to be an impact multiplier – supporting the responsible sourcing of artisanally mined diamonds, gold, cobalt, tin, tantalum and tungsten and other minerals.

Image credit: Resolve.ngo / ddiglobal.org

In a July press release, the companies outlined their cooperative goal: 

…to increase the availability of responsibly sourced minerals from artisanal origins. RESOLVE and DDI will continue to work with industry, government, and NGOs to realize the promise of diamonds and other minerals, that is:

  • Sourcing and trade will be free from conflict and human rights violations;
  • Economic development and a path out of poverty will be supported;
  • Social and environmental standards will be met.

Harmonizing the fractured landscape of projects, standards, regulations, and market initiatives will be a priority.

Photo credit: RESOLVE.ngo

Stephen D’Esposito, president and CEO of RESOLVE said:

In a world defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, collaboration is the only means to tackle sustainability and health challenges. Together our priorities are reconciliation for communities affected by conflict diamonds and conflict minerals, restoration to heal the land and support new livelihoods, and responsible sourcing to ensure long term benefits for artisanal diamond miners and their families.

Photo credit: RESOLVE.ngo

This new partnership is designed to advance many of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals; scale-up application of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) due diligence principles and guidance for diamond and other mineral supply chains; strengthen Kimberley Process compliance; and help advance important climate and biodiversity commitments.

About RESOLVE

RESOLVE forges sustainable solutions to critical social, health, and environmental challenges by creating innovative partnerships where they are least likely and most needed. It boasts a team of collaborative leaders, mediators, policy experts, strategists, scientists, and facilitators. Learn about our COVID-19 response initiatives.

About the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI)

DDI works to transform artisanal and small-scale mining by bringing this largely unregulated informal sector into the formal economy in ways that benefit miners, their communities, regional and national economies, and the diamond and jewelry industry. Though DDI focuses its formalization efforts on the artisanal diamond sector, it has also demonstrated, through initiatives impacting the mining of gold, that the development issues are similar, and much of DDI’s transformational approach can also be applied effectively to other minerals.

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