The Great Debate Working Towards a More Ethical Jewelry Industry

RAPAPORT... The Birmingham Assay Office,  in partnership with International Jewellery London (IJL), will host the fifth "Great Debate," next week to provoke discussion and prompt action towards a more ethically and socially responsible global jewelry industry.  For the Great Debate 2011, there is positive news and some inspiring pioneers will be telling their success stories.

Designer  Stephen Webster will explain his personal involvement with Fairtrade & Fairmined Gold and show a film documenting the conditions he found during a recent visit to the mines of Peru.

Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, the president of CIBJO, will explain the role of the group's Corporate Social Responsibility Centre of Excellence in Antwerp.

Catherine Sproule, the director of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) will profile some companies that have now achieved accreditation to RJC's exacting standards.

The Great Debate will be chaired by Michael Allchin, the chief executive of The Birmingham Assay Office, and will be a platform for the audience to ask speakers how they achieved delivering ethical projects thus far.  The event will be held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in the Inspiration Theatre on September 5, 2011, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

See: http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=36964&ArticleTitle=The+Great+Debate+to+Feature+Webster%2C+Cavalieri%2C+Sproule+

Call for a fair share for Zambian People

Zambia’s people are rich in copper. Annual exports amount to hundreds of thousands of tonnes. Last year, the price of copper on the world market rocketed. Yet with one doctor per 10,000 people and life expectancy a mere 47 years, Zambia is still trapped in a cycle of aid.  Zambia’s people do not benefit from the wealth beneath their feet. They are unaware of how much foreign mining corporations pay for their copper, in the form of taxes and royalties. Without this information, they cannot call for a fair share of the profits to be spent on schools, hospitals, and basic services like electricity.

Use the CAFOD link below to email George Osborne asking him to ensure that oil, gas and mining companies are more accountable to citizens in the developing world.

http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=58&ea.campaign.id=10092

Mike Cross

All Saints Kings Heath