The Liberian Kimberley Process Multi-stakeholder group recently organized a three-day intensive training workshop for Local Stakeholders held simultaneously in Bopolu City, Gbarpolu County, and Ganta City, Nimba County.
The training is a way of buttressing the Government of Liberia’s fight against the illicit movement of precious minerals, terrorist financing, money laundering, and illicit financial flows within the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector of Liberia.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme – KPCS for short, talks about the chain of custody in the diamond trade, terrorist financing linked to the smuggling of minerals, typologies of money laundering, and an overview of the EU conflict minerals regulation with emphasis on the role of producer countries.
The workshop was facilitated by a group of trainers from the Liberian Immigration Service, the Liberian National Police, Ministry of Mines & Energy, Liberia Revenue Authority, and two prominent Civil Society Organizations (Green Advocates International & Peaceful Youth Association for Transformation).
These trainers had been technically and financially capacitated by the GIZ Regional Resource Governance Project.Â
The three days joint training covered nine modules on important mining governance themes such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Minerals Supply Chains, the European Union (EU) Conflict Minerals Regulations, Terrorist Financing, Money Laundering, and Illicit Financial Flows within the informal artisanal and small-scale mining sector.
The training brought together a total of 88 participants drawn from the Liberian National Police, Liberian Immigration Service, Miners and Officials of Selected Mining Cooperatives, Mining Agents, Civil Society Organizations, and Community Based Structures from eight counties, namely: Margibi, Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Gbarpolu, Nimba, Lofa, Bong, and Grand Gedeh.
This consolidated Government and Civil Society training on the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector of Liberia was made possible with technical support from GIZ and funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation & Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU).
Participants expressed excitement over the sensitization and new lessons on how to handle the movement of precious minerals to avoid minerals falling into the hands of criminals or terrorists.
They promised to carry the messages back to their peers and include them in the training curricular of their respective institutions and units.
At the end of the training, the participants received certificates of completion which were co-signed by GIZ Technical Advisor Frank K. Cooper, Jr. and the Deputy Minister for Planning, Research & Development, Carlton S. Miller, who is also the National Kimberley Process Focal Person for Liberia.
Participant from the Law Enforcement has also expressed appreciation to GIZ and the EU for the training.
They recommended to the government and its supporting partners to provide equipment to borders and checkpoints officers to be able to detect minerals and counter terrorism-related crimes.
Liberia is a mineral-rich Country, especially gold and diamond, but the proliferation of illegal mining activities is causing most of the minerals to be smuggled out of the country. The Ministry of Mines & Energy is yet to implement the roadmap for formalizing the Artisanal and Small Scale Mining Sector which was crafted in 2016 with support from GIZ and other partners.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/local-group-unhappy-over-withdrawal-of-giz-programs/—Press release
