UNDP Liberia

The Diamonds for Development (D4D) project is a joint UNDP – Government of Liberia initiative, focusing on the sustainable use of revenues from mineral resources for poverty reduction especially in mining communities which are often the poorest in most under-developed societies. It includes complementary activities for policy reforms, local governance for development by empowering communities and fighting poverty thus improving livelihoods.

The innovative character of this project has aroused much interest within UNDP globally. UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa published an article on Diamonds for Development in the last edition of their newsletter .

The programme aims to ameliorate the equity, transparency and accountability in mineral resource management on both the grassroots and the policy level.

Liberia is a country rich in natural resources, yet due to the 14 years of civil conflict and a strongly centralized political and economic governance structures, the people have not been in a position to profit from this natural wealth. D4D aims to empower Liberians of all sector of society to profit from the mineral wealth of the country, thereby contributing to the country's development.

The D4D programme will be embedded in the UNDP Liberia Country Programme, collaborating closely with the other UNDP programmes, notably although not exclusively, with Governance and Community-based Recovery.

Through funding from the Kingdom of Belgium, UNDP Country Office provided support to priority activities at the request of the government through the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy. Pursuant to the acceptance of Liberia into the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, the government embarked on a nationwide sensitization and awareness raising campaign against diamond smuggling and promoting the KPCS.

UNDP facilitated Liberia's participation at the KP intercessional meeting in Brussels in May 2007. Recognizing the significance of this meeting to the D4D programme and the government, the delegation reported on progress made in the KP and appealed for more resources to sustain the programme at the national and sub-regional levels.

or more details see the Project Document and the Project Presentation .