Natural diamonds are among nature’s rarest creations. They carry with them billions of years of history, extraordinary craftsmanship and some of the most powerful emotions people experience in their lives. That story belongs to all of us.

As we report in the accompanying article, over a seven-month period, 13 additional companies joined the World Diamond Council’s ranks as members. This represents a 24 percent increase in our membership, and it is the largest number ever to be registered in such a short period – indeed, since the reconstitution of our organization in 2014.

For those of us who have spent the past 20 years trying to alleviate the effects of bloody conflicts, as well as prevent them from happening, the outbreak of war in Europe, ghastly revealed to us in real time, brought home what others suffered for so many years in Africa, frequently beyond the view of cameras.

When one takes a responsible position in the leadership of an organization, one should usually be prepared for dynamic change. The past year exceeded any expectations, and in a negative way. The people of Ukraine were caught up in the fighting and violence and have tragically borne the brunt of the tragic war. The natural diamond supply chain was disrupted and the political and the economic fallout has been considerable.

The coming two months will be intensive for our organization, with the Kimberley Process (KP) gathering for its Plenary Meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, from October 31 through November 4, and then the WDC convening its Annual General Meeting in Antwerp, Belgium, on November 17. The events will culminate what certainly has been a challenging a year, both economic and political, most of it playing out in the shadow of the conflict in Ukraine, which has caused unimaginable suffering and pain.

With the 2021 Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP) to be held on a digital platform next week, after a year during which neither of the two regularly scheduled KP meetings took place, it’s an opportune time to review the various subjects on which the WDC has been working, and to consider what we are preparing for this very first virtual meeting of the KP.

I believe that the tough environment we were forced to cope with in 2020 will remain with us for some time into 2021. But COVID vaccinations are coming, and it is reasonable to believe that the virus will recede during the second half of the year. Confidence in general will resurge.

Surviving an existential crisis such as this one, requires both a business and human perspective. In which direction will we steer our companies? Our own moral and ethical compass should be guiding our direction.

Goodbye and thank you for having provided me with the opportunity to serve and give back to our industry and beyond. It is an industry I feel extraordinarily privileged to be involved in, handling the most extraordinary mineral I know. Diamonds evoke powerful emotions in almost every single individual who owns or aspires to own them.

Like other industry bodies, we at WDC are having to adjust the way in which we operate to avoid exposing our members and their dependents to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

But WDC’s takeaway from the Plenary Meeting in New Delhi differs substantially from certain comments voiced in recent days, which have questioned the very relevance of the KP itself. Let us not kid ourselves.

The SOW will be a strong focus of our activity over the coming year, as we roll out a dedicated toolkit to assist in their implementation.

Marie-Chantal’s influence on the WDC has been profound. As a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a veteran of the African mining sector, she brought to the position a sensibility and intuitive understanding that was particularly important to an organization such as ours.

It will be a periodic newsletter launched by the World Diamond Council to highlight the work that we and our members do to safeguard the integrity of both the diamond and the diamond value chain.