The Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) II program was built on the successes of the predecessor PRADD project that was implemented under the Property Rights and Resource Governance Task Order. PRADD and PRADD II were developed to support country compliance with the Kimberley Process (KP), “A joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds – rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments.”
The overarching goal of PRADD and PRADD II was to increase the percentage of diamonds entering the legal chain of custody, while improving the livelihoods of artisanal diamond mining communities. PRADD II was financed through a Congressional Earmark in support of the Clean Diamond Trade Act and managed by USAID’s Land Tenure and Property Rights Division within the E3 Bureau. The LTPR Division closely coordinates with the US Department of State and US Geological Survey who also provide support to the KPCS.
PRADD II represented a landmark program for the United States Government (USG), the Kimberley Process and the development community at large. PRADD was one of the first and largest development projects concentrated on the Kimberley Process and artisanal diamond mining challenges. Significantly, PRADD was instrumental in helping the KPCS modify its goals from a narrow focus on traceability, regulation and enforcement systems to a broader focus recognizing the role of economic development in bringing rough diamonds into legitimate chains of custody, and consequently better addressing the challenges of conflict diamonds. This transition was demonstrated by the recent adoption of the Washington Declaration at the 2012 Kimberley Process Plenary meetings that occurred in November in Washington, DC. In response to the limited number of development institutions and experiences in the artisanal mining sector, PRADD II tested and evaluated approaches to achieving its objectives while also consolidating program successes. This encouraged other donors and governments to implement PRADD-type programs to achieve KPCS objectives.