Highest rates of global poverty in Sierra Leone and an analysis of diamond trade industryMatthew KavanaghAfrica Now!, WPFW 89.3FM, Washington DCDecember 16, 2007Coming Soon: The Full Audio Interview.AfricaNowRadio.org
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Blood Diamonds on Amazon? Without Certification, It's Hard to TellNatali Del ConteWired MagazineNovember 07, 2007"The only way to keep blood diamonds off the market is to certify all the conflict-free diamonds on the market," said Robert Cosentino, founder and executive director of The Conflict Free Diamond Council, an organization that works to promote conflict free diamond awareness in consumers."If you ask me where the diamonds on Amazon came from, I can't tell you, nobody can," Cosentino says. "The chances are good that they are conflict-free but that doesn't stop the blood trade with diamonds. You've just really got to start to demand that every single one of those diamonds is actually certified."Click Here to Read the Full Article.
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Brilliant Earth and The Conflict Free Diamond Council Join MedShare to Send Essential Medical Supplies to Sierra LeonePRWEBOctober 24, 2007Brilliant Earth, the leader in eco-conscious fine jewelry, and The Conflict Free Diamond Council (CFDC), an advocacy group dedicated to stopping the sale of conflict diamonds, announced a partnership with Atlanta-based nonprofit MedShare International to send essential medical supplies to two hospitals in Sierra Leone. The supplies will bring sorely needed relief to victims of the global conflict diamond trade."Conflict diamonds are responsible for decades of violence and thousands of lives in ruin around the world," said Robert Cosentino, Director of the CFDC. "Through our partnership with Brilliant Earth and MedShare, we hope to bring some relief to victims who continue to live in pain, even though the war has ended."Click Here to Read the Full Article.
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Squeezing blood from a stone
Kathy Schrenk Mountain View Voice February 9, 2007
Robert Cosentino, founder and executive director of the (The Conflict-Free Diamond Council), wants to encourage people to buy diamonds that are strictly certified and to ask questions about the origins of the diamond they're considering buying.
"From the moment the diamond comes out of the ground it has a unique DNA," he said. "It gets scanned, and as it goes through cutting and polishing it retains that DNA."
Click Here to Read the Full Article.
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"Blood Diamonds" and How to Avoid Buying Illicit GemsJohn RoachNational Geographic NewsDecember 8, 2006A Washington D.C.-based organization called the Conflict Free Diamond Council has established a set of strict guidelines to guarantee a diamond is 100 percent clean, including laser engraving and ensuring that its entire production was conducted within one country.Click Here to Read the Full Article.
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Store again moves into bigger digsDebera Carlton HarrellSeattle Post-IntelligencerSeptember 16, 2006"There is a growing trend for people wanting to know the source of their diamonds," said Robert Cosentino, founder of the Conflict-Free Diamond Council in Washington, D.C."It has been about 10 years since news broke about what was going on in Africa, and people are becoming more and more aware about the exploitation of natural resources to convert into cash, then cash into arms. We're particularly concerned about diamonds, because they're easy to carry and conceal."He said he expects awareness to grow with an upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie, "The Blood Diamond," set amid a civil war in Sierra Leone. "Blood diamond" is another name for diamonds mined and sold in war zones."The council realizes the only way to keep blood or conflict diamonds off the market is if consumers themselves start demanding that their diamonds are certified," Cosentino said.Click Here to Read the Full Article.
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