Abstract
Beevers examines efforts by international peacebuilders to govern Sierra Leone’s diamonds in the aftermath of the conflict. He explains how strategies primarily focused on securing diamonds and diamond revenues so that the conflict would not reignite, but over time began to concentrate on the extraction of diamonds and minerals as a key to economic recovery and poverty alleviation. Beevers shows that despite numerous international initiatives, and new laws and regulations, efforts to govern diamonds and minerals remain controversial and problematic. The reason, Beevers contends, is that the reforms put forth by peacebuilders do little to address historical grievances and create new tensions that make resource extraction and peacebuilding more challenging.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Mining licenses can only be given to Sierra Leonean nationals.
- 2.
Miners are the individuals that hold the actual mining license, entitling them to the mine. They are often the manager of the operation although when there is an external supporter from outside financing the enterprise, a mining supervisor may be involved.
- 3.
Including dependents and extended families it was projected that about 300,000 people would depend on these mines for livelihoods and sustenance.
- 4.
Branch Energy had links to the private security firm Executive Outcomes, which was discussed in the previous chapter. Branch Energy and all of its mineral rights were acquired by Canadian firm DiamondWorks in 1996.
- 5.
Koidu Holdings expanded in the Tongo diamond fields by getting a mining lease from the government in 2008.
- 6.
This profit-sharing agreement was negotiated in 2006 and was scheduled to begin in 2014.
- 7.
References
Brima, Abu. 2003. Making Human Rights Work in a Globalizing World. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
Chaveas, Peter. 2003. Remarks by Ambassador Peter R. Chaveas on the Occasion of the Launching of the Kono Peace Diamond Alliance, Koidu, August 2.
Cooper, Neil. 2008. As Good as It Gets: Securing Diamonds in Sierra Leone. In Critical Perspectives on the Political Economy of Peacebuilding, ed. Michael Pugh, Neil Cooper, and Mandy Turner, 102–117. New York: Palgrave.
DFID (Department of International Development). 2002. Sierra Leone Diamond Policy Study. London, UK: DFID.
Economist. 2010. The Government Is Breaking Its Own Rules on Exploiting Resources, November 25.
Even-Zohar, Chaim. 2003. Sierra Leone Diamond Sector Financial Policy Constraints. Freetown: Management Systems International.
Exclusive. 2009. Good News: African Minerals Kicks Off. The Exclusive, May 15.
Fofana, Lansana. 2009. Mining Bill Queried. IPS News, December 23.
Gberie, Lansana. 2005. The Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
GOSL (Government of Sierra Leone). 2001. Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
———. 2003. Sierra Leone Vision 2025: Sweet-Salone.
———. 2004. Core Mineral Policy.
———. 2009a. Mines and Mineral Act of 2009.
———. 2009b. Diamond Trading Act of 2009.
———. 2012. The National Minerals Agency Act.
ICG (International Crisis Group). 2003. Sierra Leone: The State of Security and Governance. Freetown: ICG.
IMF (International Monetary Fund). 2004. Fiscal Incentives and the Fiscal Regime fo the Mineral Sector. Washington, DC: IMF.
———. 2005. Sierra Leone: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. Washington, DC: IMF.
Jenkins-Johnson Commission of Inquiry. 2008. Sierra Leone Government White Paper into Koidu Holdings.
Le Billon, Philippe. 2012. Bankrupting Peace Spoilers: Can Peacekeepers Curtail Belligerents’ Access to Resource Revenues? In High-Value Natural Resources and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, ed. Paivi Lujala and Siri Aas Rustad, 25–48. New York: Earthscan.
Le Billon, Philippe, and Estelle Levin. 2009. Building Peace with Conflict Diamonds? Merging Security and Development in Sierra Leone. Development and Change 40 (4): 693–715.
Levin, Estelle, and Lansana Gberie. 2006. Dealing for Development? A Study of Diamond Marketing and Pricing in Sierra Leone. Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada.
Levin, Estelle, and Ansumana Babar Turay. 2008. Artisanal Diamond Cooperatives in Sierra Leone: Success or Failure? Diamond Development Institute Policy Brief. Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada.
Mboka, Leslie. 2003. Chronicle of Corporate Exploitation: The Sierra Rutile Experience. Mines and Communities.
Moyers, Reese. 2003. The Feasibility of Establishing a Formal Credit Delivery Mechanism for Small-Scale Diamond Miners in Kono District, Sierra Leone. Management Information Systems.
NACE (National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives). 2009. Sierra Leone at the Crossroads: Seizing the Chance to Benefit from Mining. Freetown: NACE.
———. 2010. Sierra Leone Agreement with UK Miner Is “Illegal.” Mines and Communities, April 24.
NMJD (Network Movement for Justice and Democracy). 2010. Sierra Leone’s Parliament Ratifies Illegal Mining Agreement That Is Bad for the Country’s Development. Press Release, March 24.
PAC (Partnership Africa Canada). 2007. Land Grabbing and Land Reform: Diamonds, Rubber and Forestry in New Liberia. Occasional Paper 17. Ottawa.
PAC/NACE (Partnership Africa Canada and National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives). 2005. Diamond Industry Annual Review. Ottawa and Freetown.
Reuters. 2010. Sierra Leone: Iron New Source of Resource Tensions. News and Research Archives, December 8.
Scanlon, Joel. 2010. Tensions of African Minerals in Sierra Leone. AZO Mining. http://www.azomining.com/details.asp?newsID=1984.
Tutusaus, Jean Pierre. 2007. USAID/Sierra Leone Diamond Sector Program Evaluation. Report for USAID. Washington, DC: AMEX.
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). 2009. From Conflict to Peacebuilding: The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment. Geneva: UNEP.
———. 2010. Sierra Leone: Environment, Conflict and Peacebuilding Assessment. Narobi: UNEP.
UNSC (United Nations Security Council). 2001. Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1306 (2000): Second Review of the New Certificate of Origin Regime for the Export of Sierra Leone Diamonds. S/2001/794.
von der Schulenburg, Michael. 2010. Statement to the UN Security Council, September 28.
World Bank. 2002. A Mining Strategy for Sierra Leone’s Post-War Recovery Efforts. Washington, DC: World Bank.
———. 2005. Sierra Leone: Tapping the Mineral Wealth for Human Progress: A Break with the Past. Washington, DC: World Bank.
———. 2006. Sierra Leone: Adding Value through Trade for Poverty Reduction—Diagnostic Integration Study. Washington, DC: World Bank.
———. 2008. Sierra Leone Mining Sector Reform: A Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Yongai, Sahr. 2009. Stern Warning to Illegal Miners. Independent Observer, March 30.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Beevers, M.D. (2019). International Intervention to Govern Diamonds and Minerals. In: Peacebuilding and Natural Resource Governance After Armed Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63166-0_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63166-0_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63165-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63166-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)