What's Being Done?
More importantly, who are the people getting involved?
-Many groups, companies, and organizations across the country standing up and speaking out against the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here in America, this reigns true as well. Representing our national government, the US Congress is doing work. In addition to that, there are four prominent groups: Project Congo, Raise Hope for Congo, Global Witness, and The Enough Project. Here's what they have to say.
-Raise Hope for Congo seems to lead the way in creating initiatives and agreements in anticipation for better, safer Congo. They're main focus, however, lies in what we, the citizens, the consumers, the people, can do. We use the electronic devices; we should demand conflict free products. If we force the company to remove conflict minerals from their supply chain, one by one, we can remove "fuel from the fire in Congo." The way to force this upon companies is unclear, however, if enough of the consumers come together to demand these conflict free products, the companies will have to come around to abiding by the guidelines set up for proper due-diligence in extracting minerals from the DRC.
-In partnership with Raise Hope, The Enough Project is working with the companies using these minerals. Their goal is creating a certification process that allows companies and consumers to know that their products are conflict free. That's the main focus on all accounts. The first part involves due diligence: companies need to verify their sources. Once this is done, their company can go on a list with other companies that have done the same thing, allowing consumers to know what they're buying. In addition to this, Enough believes tracing and certifying the minerals themselves would help insure minerals are from the right source and also travelling to the right buyer.
-Global Witness is very involved in the entire fiasco in the DRC. They're pushing for action of all kinds. These conflict minerals are used in the car, plane, pharmacy, and, most importantly, electronics industry. 40% of the world's tin comes from the Congo, along with 60% of the world's tantalum. Not only does the Congo itself export these minerals, but China and Rwanda are huge exporters as well. This is not a monopoly that can easily be stopped. Companies, like already said, need to check the source of their raw materials. Companies like Dell, and now recently Apple, do. Either the materials are conflict free or they're not buying. Global Witness has also highlighted the work being done by the UN and US Congress. The UN is pushing for verifying sources and certifying companies on an international level. The UN is also working to move the military out of the mines, and it is asking annual donors, US and UK, to intervene, not just send money. The US Congress, right here at home, put in place the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in 2010 which requires countries to verify their sources. Enforcement finally began in late 2013, and as more and more companies add themselves to the list of "conflict-free companies" pressure increases on those who have not. Most of this information is public, as seen in recent news when Apple announced it would go "conflict-free." This pushes, again, to certify companies, although that is not required. Until recently, Apple chose not to speak on the topic and their not being on the list. In addition to that, the US Congress has been working on the Conflict Minerals Trade Act since 2011. This reduces commercial activity in exploiting natural resources and has worked to helped increase government and military control over those previous exploiting the minerals. It also has put together a list of items that typically do and do not contain conflict minerals, and this will be important for importers at Customs when declaring items, as there may soon be penalties for bringing products into the country.
-Finally, something begun locally in Dayton, Ohio, is Project Congo. Like the UN, they want to change money from simply aid to opportunity. They're looking for something constructive to be done with the money, like giving the Congo an opportunity to grow. They want to get the military out of the mines, somewhere they're not supposed to be anyway and then get them to be a more organized militia. Project Congo believes in aiding the people and the infrastructure and getting those back under control, because the problems in the Congo are spreading and creating problems in local and nearby countries as well. They pushed for the Conflict Minerals, an initiative focused on monitoring the military and their role in all of this.
-Raise Hope for Congo seems to lead the way in creating initiatives and agreements in anticipation for better, safer Congo. They're main focus, however, lies in what we, the citizens, the consumers, the people, can do. We use the electronic devices; we should demand conflict free products. If we force the company to remove conflict minerals from their supply chain, one by one, we can remove "fuel from the fire in Congo." The way to force this upon companies is unclear, however, if enough of the consumers come together to demand these conflict free products, the companies will have to come around to abiding by the guidelines set up for proper due-diligence in extracting minerals from the DRC.
-In partnership with Raise Hope, The Enough Project is working with the companies using these minerals. Their goal is creating a certification process that allows companies and consumers to know that their products are conflict free. That's the main focus on all accounts. The first part involves due diligence: companies need to verify their sources. Once this is done, their company can go on a list with other companies that have done the same thing, allowing consumers to know what they're buying. In addition to this, Enough believes tracing and certifying the minerals themselves would help insure minerals are from the right source and also travelling to the right buyer.
-Global Witness is very involved in the entire fiasco in the DRC. They're pushing for action of all kinds. These conflict minerals are used in the car, plane, pharmacy, and, most importantly, electronics industry. 40% of the world's tin comes from the Congo, along with 60% of the world's tantalum. Not only does the Congo itself export these minerals, but China and Rwanda are huge exporters as well. This is not a monopoly that can easily be stopped. Companies, like already said, need to check the source of their raw materials. Companies like Dell, and now recently Apple, do. Either the materials are conflict free or they're not buying. Global Witness has also highlighted the work being done by the UN and US Congress. The UN is pushing for verifying sources and certifying companies on an international level. The UN is also working to move the military out of the mines, and it is asking annual donors, US and UK, to intervene, not just send money. The US Congress, right here at home, put in place the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in 2010 which requires countries to verify their sources. Enforcement finally began in late 2013, and as more and more companies add themselves to the list of "conflict-free companies" pressure increases on those who have not. Most of this information is public, as seen in recent news when Apple announced it would go "conflict-free." This pushes, again, to certify companies, although that is not required. Until recently, Apple chose not to speak on the topic and their not being on the list. In addition to that, the US Congress has been working on the Conflict Minerals Trade Act since 2011. This reduces commercial activity in exploiting natural resources and has worked to helped increase government and military control over those previous exploiting the minerals. It also has put together a list of items that typically do and do not contain conflict minerals, and this will be important for importers at Customs when declaring items, as there may soon be penalties for bringing products into the country.
-Finally, something begun locally in Dayton, Ohio, is Project Congo. Like the UN, they want to change money from simply aid to opportunity. They're looking for something constructive to be done with the money, like giving the Congo an opportunity to grow. They want to get the military out of the mines, somewhere they're not supposed to be anyway and then get them to be a more organized militia. Project Congo believes in aiding the people and the infrastructure and getting those back under control, because the problems in the Congo are spreading and creating problems in local and nearby countries as well. They pushed for the Conflict Minerals, an initiative focused on monitoring the military and their role in all of this.