Topic: Reducing Violence Associated with Conflict Minerals
Country: Germany
Delegate Name: Josephine Hamilton
School: Ann Arbor Community High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Germany position papers GLIMUN 2011 committees
Germany wants to stop the violence connecting to the business of conflict minerals. They have multiple projects working on tracking where the minerals are going, and to whom they are being sold to. There is a lot of violence relating to these minerals, villages are invaided, women are raped, and a lot of people are in danger because of the large profit coming from the business of these minerals.
The German government and the G-8 have supported projects with the Congo and Rwanda to devolp a system to track or, "fingerprint", where specific minerals origins are and where they are headed. They want to know where the minerals are, and want to inforce this system at all mining sites. By having a more concrete set or rules, hopefully the violence which is happening can retreat. If there is one system, one way that the mines are run, that may help bring order into the business, not letting private transactions go on.
The European Union, being a very influetntial allie, has the same views as Germany on the subject. They want to ban the illegal exploitation of conflict minerals, but have not made any real leway to doing so. The US, another allie, is trying to end the violence as well. President Obama signed legislation in July 2010 for this and now the adminstration has to follow up on it, they have also tried to limit the resources for rebels to rape and kill. Both allies have made a step to stop it, both addressing similar topics Germany is.
In 2008, the German Institute for Geoscience and Natural Resources began an intiative to certify sound artisanal mining sites and have a system to trace the minerals back to them. This with a couple other programs has enhanced the ability to trace the minerals. The German government also funded a project in which battalions are trained and deployed to minig sites where previously illegaly armed groups have been.
Through it all you can see that Germany is trying to make a step towards stopping the violence having to do with conflict minerals. They are funding projects and doing all they can to stop it, and to bring enthusiasm to the on going problem.
