Partnership Africa Canada (PAC)

Partnership Africa Canada (PAC) works in partnership with organizations in Africa, Canada and internationally to build sustainable human development in Africa. Partnership Africa Canada works to :

• strengthen African and Canadian efforts in research and policy dialogue relating to sustainable human development in Africa
• facilitate, among African, Canadian and international decision-makers, the adoption and implementation of policies that foster sustainable human development in Africa
• promote greater understanding of and commitment to sustainable human development in Africa

Partnership Africa Canada was created in 1986 with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Canadian and African non-governmental organizations (NGOs). PAC funded hundreds of innovative projects that supported sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1996, PAC changed its mandate to focus on policy work.

Address : Partenariat Afrique Canada
323, rue Chapel, Ottawa (Ontario)
K1N 7Z2 Canada
Phone : (+1) 613-237-6768
Fax : (+1) 613-237-6530
Contact : info@pacweb.org
Website : http://pacweb.org

The failure of good intentions : fraud, theft and murder in the Brazilian diamond industry

> Occasional Paper n° 12, May 2005

« Laws for the English to see » (para inglês ver) : this Brazilian expression, still in common usage, dates back to 1830, when Brazil, under pressure from England, began to pass laws against trafficking in slaves. Everyone knew the laws would not be enforced. It was then said, that the laws were only para inglês ver, just for the English to see. They seem to act quite the same with the « Kimberley Process ». Production is mostly in the hands of unlicensed, unregistered garimpeiros or hand miners (...) read

date of on-line publication : 8 February 2007

Fugitives and phantoms : the diamond exporters of Brazil

> Occasional Paper n° 13, March 2006

Brazil’s diamond sector is in crisis. Three of the country’s largest diamond producers and exporters have been arrested and are now facing an array of criminal charges. A joint task force of Brazil’s Federal Police, Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and Internal Revenue Service have alleged that the three are behind a mega scheme for smuggling diamonds using fraudulent Kimberley Certificates. According to police, the smuggled diamonds come partly from domestic garimpeiro production, partly (...) read

date of on-line publication : 8 February 2007

Killing Kimberley ? Conflict diamonds and paper tigers

> Occasional Paper n° 15, November 2006

The « Kimberley Process » began in 2000 as a series of meetings among governments, NGOs and the private sector to solve the problem of conflict diamonds. Eventually, more than 70 governments joined to create the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) which began in 2003 to regulate the international trade in rough diamonds. In some ways, the KPCS has been very successful. But during 2005 and 2006, it started to become clear that the KPCS had weak spots. Implementation in some countries (...) read

date of on-line publication : 8 February 2007

The lost world : diamond mining and smuggling in Venezuela

> Occasional Paper n° 16, November 2006

Venezuela, a country that annually produces an estimated 150,000 carats of diamonds, has officially exported none since January 2005. Although it is a member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) for controlling rough diamonds, it has essentially dropped off the KPCS radar. Recent efforts to halt illicit mining in Venezuela have led only to violence and death. A combination of high taxes, ineffective currency controls and bureaucratic ineptitude has driven Venezuela’s diamond (...) read

date of on-line publication : 8 February 2007