The Kimberley Process Task Force:
The WDC’s A Team
Members of the Kimberley Process Task Force during a session of the Kimberley Process Intersessional in Zimbabwe, in May 2023.
OCTOBER 24, 2024
For four days next month, starting November 12, officials from 59 national and regional governments, representing 85 countries, will gather at the JAFZA One Convention Centre in Dubai, for the 2024 meeting of the Kimberley Process Plenary. There, they will join KP Observers, like the World Diamond Council, and the Civil Society Coalition, to discuss critical issues within the natural diamond trade.
Although the WDC, as a KP Observer, does not hold voting rights, it plays a pivotal role in these discussions, chairing key committees such as the Working Group of Diamond Experts (WGDE) and the sensitive sub-team tasked with expanding the definition of conflict diamonds.
The KPTF will send one of the largest delegations to the Plenary, with more than 20 representatives attending in person and others joining online. It is the WDC’s A Team, known as the Kimberley Process Task Force (KPTF). This carefully coordinated group of industry experts voluntarily dedicates hundreds of hours each year to ensuring the diamond supply chain remains ethical and conflict-free.
As WDC representatives in the KP, the KP’s mission is to speak with a clear voice on behalf of the global diamond supply chain, playing a central role in safeguarding industry standards and protecting the integrity of natural diamonds.
Managing Industry Participation in the KP
Since its establishment in 2000, the WDC has been integral to the KP’s efforts to eliminate conflict diamonds. In 2014, it restructured its system of governance, creating the KPTF as the main body responsible for formulating and managing its participation in the KP.
The WDC Bylaws stipulate that the KPTF shall consist of a minimum of five members selected by the Board of Directors, and that they may be drawn from inside the Board from outside of it, with each participant nominated as a result of their expertise. They are charged with representing the collective view of the WDC on issues debated within the KP of the natural diamond industry, rather than those of individual companies.
Currently, the KPTF currently is comprised of 20 persons. They represent the full length of the supply chain, are all committed to improving the KP. They are not renumerated in any way for the time or the expenses they incur.
The KPTF typically conducts around six marathon Zoom meetings annually, starting in February to launch the new KP year and several time before each KP gathering, which is the Intersessional that is held mid-year, and the Plenary, usually taking in November. The objective of these sessions is to share knowledge and receive updates from the various KP Working Groups, and well as to review the various positions of the WDC for the upcoming meetings.
Ahead of the Intersessional and the Plenary meetings, draft positions papers relating to the current KP agenda, are prepared by the WDC Executive Director, together with the WDC Secretary. They are then submitted to the KPTF to align on the final industry’s position on each.
This long process of preparatory work is meticulously done every time, to ensure that everybody’s voice has been heard within the KPTF, and that WDC has reached a unified position through consensus.
KPTF members during a break in action at the KP Intersessional Meeting at Victoria Fall, Zimbabwe, in May 2023. Clockwise, from top, left: Alexander Gul, Kele Mafole, Udi Sheintal, Benjamin Marriott, Hans Lam, Aratxa Moreno, Feriel Zerouki, Elodie Daguzan and Ronnie VanderLinden.
Key Activities and Responsibilities
The KPTF’s role is multi-dimensional:
- Representative of industry: From mine to retail, the 20 KPTF experts need to embody “the industry” and its professional opinion during any KP meetings, be it in person or virtual.
- Policy Drafting: The task force drafts and tables documents on various topics to strenghen the KP practices and ensure that it remains fit for purpose. It seeks to promote harmonization of processes, proper rules of engagement, and universal diamond terminology.
- Driving Reforms: In collaboration with other KP stakeholders, the KPTF pushes for reforms that enhance KP processes, bring inclusivity, and also make compliance with the KP Miminum Requirements more efficient and effective for all.
- Active Review Visit and Mission Members: Members of the KPTF volunteer every year to represent WDC and take part in the review visit/missions, which aim to assess the compliance of KP Member states.
The KPTF, a unique committee
What sets the KPTF apart from all other industry bodies is that it alone is industry’s dedicated voice within the Kimberley Process.
To effectively represent the diamond sector and advocate for its interests on a global stage, KPTF members must continually hone their negotiation skills and diplomatic expertise. Navigating complex, multi-stakeholder discussions with governments and civil society requires a delicate balance of assertiveness and diplomacy.
Members of the KPTF dedicate significant time and effort to refining these abilities, researching the UN and other legal instruments, ensuring they can build consensus, manage sensitive issues, and advance industry positions in a way that strengthens both the Kimberley Process and the integrity of the diamond supply chain.
Women have traditionally been well represented on the KPTF Task Force. Here, during the KP Intersessional in Zimbabwe in May 2023, WDC President Feriel Zerouki (center) and WDC Executive Director Elodie Daguzan (second from left) are flanked by (from left) Kele Mafole, Jilpa Sheth and Arantxa Moreno.
FOSTERING INDUSTRY LEADERS
In recent years, the WDC Board has made a concerted effort to draft some of its younger member representatives into the KPTF, believing that by participating in the WDC’s A Team, where decision are made with consequences that straddle the diamond supply chain, a generation of future industry leaders will develop and prosper.
Among the younger KPTF members are Alexander Gul, Chief Operating Officer at A. Gul KG, a leading diamond wholesaler based in Pforzheim, Germany, and Dr. Adriana Traviati, an exploration geophysicist who is the founder and owner of the Saphira jewelry company in Melbourne, Australia.
They were asked to describe being members of the KPTF in their own words.
ALEXANDER GUL
“A.Gul KG joined WDC in 2021, and it was a clear decision for me to join the KPTF. As a leading diamond wholesaler in Europe and the market leader in Germany, we have both a vested interest and a responsibility to contribute to the integrity of natural diamonds. More than ever, it is important to do so, and my personal mission is to show the world that natural diamonds are not only ethically sourced but also a vital source of socio-economic development for many communities around the globe.”
“Through my involvement in review visits and participation in the KP working groups, I have had the privilege of meeting incredible people from all walks of life, many of whom I now consider dear friends. These once-in-a-lifetime experiences have profoundly shaped my perspective on the world and I am grateful for this. The KPTF is like one big family of diverse, wonderful individuals who are all committed to doing good. The wider diamond industry is the greatest beneficiary of this joint effort.”
DR. ADRIANA TRAVIATI
“I joined the KPTF in order to learn how the rough diamond trade is regulated worldwide, work with global governments and civil society and alongside some of the most brilliant minds in the industry today, and obtain a true understanding of the heart of the natural diamond industry.”
“I was excited to join the KPTF and be given the opportunity to work in such a dedicated and specialized team. I have been delighted to make lifelong friendships, and work with a group of such intelligent, kind and hardworking individuals who are all dedicated to the same cause; the optimal functioning of the natural diamond industry. “
“By joining the KPTF, and being a member of the World Diamond Council, I feel that in my own way, I am making a difference by working as part of a team that is actively changing the natural diamond industry, globally.”