Feriel Zerouki forced the diamond industry to confront the questions it had long avoided during her presidency of the World Diamond Council, a tenure defined by service to those most exposed at the front line of the trade.
Taking office at a time of rising scrutiny, tightening regulation and changing consumer expectations, Zerouki placed reform of the Kimberley Process at the center of her presidency and forced the issue of the conflict diamond definition into the open.
“For years, the conflict definition sat at the center of the Kimberley Process. A problem acknowledged but not fully addressed,” incoming WDC President Ronnie VanderLinden said. “Feriel changed that. She made this industry face itself.”
Under her leadership, governments, industry and civil society were brought into a direct and sustained conversation, shifting the issue from something deferred to something that had to be addressed.
Zerouki’s presidency also re-centered producing countries within the global diamond story. She made clear that the Kimberley Process exists to protect those at the front line of the trade.
Jobs, infrastructure and economic development are not abstract claims in Africa’s producing nations where diamonds are mined, traded and depended upon for livelihoods.
She accelerated the industry’s focus on transparency and traceability, pushing for systems that allow the trade to demonstrate its claims rather than rely on assertion.
Her approach was defined by direct engagement with difficult issues and a refusal to allow them to remain unresolved.
“She did not make this industry comfortable,” VanderLinden added. “She made it stronger.”
