core sector communique

U.S. Officials, Private Partners Combat African Conflict Minerals

By MacKenzie C. Babb

Staff Writer

Washington - U.S. government officials have joined with private sector and civil society partners to launch the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade, an initiative to combat illicit minerals trading and put an end to the associated violence and human rights abuses.

The partnership will allow the partners to "harmonize technical and financial resources" to develop a pilot supply chain to source minerals from mines that have been audited and certified to be conflict-free in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa, according to Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs Robert Hormats. He spoke November 15 in Washington at the U.S. Institute of Peace at an event marking the creation of the alliance.

Hormats said the alliance will help ensure responsible trade in minerals "that does not benefit rebel groups or abusive army units."

Maria Otero, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, said at the launch  that the alliance is an important step toward combating an intimidating set of challenges posed by the "complex linkages between conflict minerals, human rights abuses and local economies." She said she saw each of these problems firsthand during an October visit to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

"I spoke with many artisanal miners shoveling dirt under the hot sun to earn perhaps a dollar a day," Otero said, adding that she also visited a commercial gold mine and met with victims of sexual and gender-based violence connected to conflict minerals during her trip.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, the trade in conflict minerals has contributed to a cycle of clashes leaving more than 5 million people dead since 1998, displacing many more and spawning an epidemic of violence, according to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Following a 2009 visit to the DRC, Clinton focused international attention on the issue by announcing that the State Department would work to develop and execute a holistic response strategy to engage with and support local government efforts.

Hormats and Otero said the alliance, with an initial $3.2 million commitment from the U.S. government and nearly $1 million pledged by the private sector, represents a significant step toward meeting that goal.

In a joint statement November 15, the two undersecretaries wrote that production and trade of natural resources could drive economic development, but instead often fuel violence and instability in the DRC and other countries in the region. They said the alliance will seek to break that cycle and will serve as a hub for people seeking information and ways to take action on responsible minerals trade.

Hormats and Otero were joined by U.S. Agency for International Development Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa Sharon Cromer, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Donald Yamamoto and several private sector and nongovernmental organization representatives in signing a memorandum of understanding that outlines the steps the parties will take to coordinate efforts and cooperate with each other to combat trade in conflict minerals.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)