Life in Mole Refugee Camp in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been dramatically changing in the last few months for 13,000 refugees from Central African Republic. When the World Food Program (WFP) decided to end food distributions, and introduce cash grants instead, somebody should have guessed all hell could break loose. The …
World Food Program in DRC Says, “Let Them Eat Cash” Read More »
It seemed easy and straightforward enough. Fighting in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between a variety of warring factions has resulted in the death, rape and displacement of many in the region. Based on most accounts upwards of 5.4 million people died during the official war period of 1998-2003 and some 2.7 …
Conflict Minerals: Where Dodd-Frank, The Enough Project and Global Witness Went Wrong Read More »
I’ve written a number of articles regarding the complexities of “conflict minerals” and the trade in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (you can find a few here and here). And campaigns undertaken by a number of advocacy groups have really put the issue on the map. So much so that a controversial rider was …
Motorola Getting Proactive in the Conflict Mineral Debate Read More »
Previously, I’ve written about conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and US efforts to curtail their sales (parts I and II), as well as the repercussions of companies doing indirect business in countries where direct business is forbidden by the US government. So, it only make sense that this article takes …
The Continuing Saga of Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberley Process Read More »
So the US government decided to sneak a rider into the Financial Reform Bill in an attempt to address the issue of conflict minerals coming out of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The goal is to dry up revenue that fuels rebel fighting in the region. As I mentioned in Part I last …
Conflict Minerals: The Plot Thickens with the Help of Capitol Hill (Part II) Read More »
Mining in DRC There has been a whole lot of chatter in recent days about a little provision tucked into the newly adopted Financial Reform Bill. That provision is the Conflict Minerals mandate, which basically states that companies using “columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite or their derivatives” (and others at the discretion of the Secretary …
Conflict Minerals: The Plot Thickens with the Help of Capitol Hill (Part 1) Read More »
The bigger question… why do tech companies claim that it is virtually impossible to determine if they are sourcing conflict minerals?