The Real Diamond Facts
Most people are unaware of the role diamonds play in bringing tragedy and despair in countries around the world where diamonds are sourced. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa. It is also in Africa that this same resource has been and continues to be used to fund conflict and other human rights abuses. In 2000, a coalition of governments, non-governmental organizations and the diamond industry worked together to try to address this issue. In 2002, they established the Kimberley Process Certification System, a UN-backed process that tries to address the narrow definition of "conflict diamonds." This process has glaring problems and does not address other human rights abuses including child labor, state sanctioned violence, environmental destruction, and poor working conditions. Realdiamondfacts.org is dedicated to presenting the real facts about conflict diamonds, along with how diamonds are creating poverty, destruction, and injustice.

Fact #1:	In the past 15 years, an estimated 500,000 Angolans, 50,000 people in Sierra Leone, and nearly 4 million people in the DRC have died from civil wars funded through the sale of conflict diamonds.
Fact #2:	A recent study found 46% of miners in Angola are under the age of 16, with many of the children exploited for little or no pay because of war, poverty, and the absence of education.
Fact #3:	300,000 carats of diamonds annually are currently being mined with slave labor in the rebel-held regions in Ivory Coast and sold to fund violent conflicts. These diamonds are being smuggled through neighboring countries to international markets.
Fact #4:	Sierra Leone is ranked the world's poorest country by the United Nations Human Development Index, with poverty in diamond mining areas such as the Kono District particularly striking. The Kono District has produced billions of dollars worth of diamonds.
Fact #5:	Although the Democratic Republic of Congo produces more than $2B of diamonds annually, 90% of its population of 60 million lives in abject poverty. The diamond capital, Mbjui Mayi, has no clean water, poor roads, and minimal electricity.
Fact #6:	The vast majority of the 1.4 million artisanal diamond diggers across five African countries live in poverty, making less than one dollar a day.
Fact #7:	The use of child labor for cutting and polishing is extremely common in India, where children suffer from dangerous conditions, overcrowding, and malnutrition. In many areas, one out of ten workers polishing a diamond is a child due to minimal government oversight.
Fact #8:	FBI reports and a Washington Post investigation have linked Al Qaeda money-laundering efforts to the rough diamond trade in Sierra Leone.
Fact #9:	Ninety years of environmental neglect in Angolan diamond mining have devastated large tracts of land, poisoned local water, and forced indigenous populations to relocate.
Fact #10:	After diamonds were discovered, the San Bushmen were forcibly evicted from their ancestral land in Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve's land they have lived on for thousands of years. The Bushmen have faced torture, severe and routine harassments, and the complete destruction of their water supplies.
These facts have been sourced from the following: Partnership Africa Canada Global Witness BBC World Amnesty International Survival International Washington Post Awareness Times Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone For those with comments or additional information about these facts, please contact us at info@realdiamondfacts.org