U.S. diplomat appointed as Kimberley Process chair
LONDON, Jan 26 – Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez has announced that Ambassador Gillian Milovanovic will serve as Chair of the Kimberley Process for 2012.
The Kimberley Process selected the United States as the participant country to hold the Chairmanship for the year.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was launched in 2003 to break the link between the sale of rough diamonds and armed conflict.
It is a certification-of-origin system in which governments from 76 diamond-producing and -processing countries work together with the diamond industry and civil society to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds.
Ambassador Milovanovic previously served as Ambassador to Mali and to Macedonia and has held senior positions at U.S. Embassies in South Africa, Botswana, and Belgium.
Ambassador Milovanovic speaks fluent French and has extensive economic and business experience.
She is the first woman to serve as Kimberley Process Chair.
