Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Chair of the Kimberley Process, presented a high-level briefing on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, serving as the “presiding chair,” at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He highlighted the key achievements during the UAE’s presidency for 2025 as part of the “Year of Best Practices” initiative.
He also discussed the resolution spearheaded by the UAE titled “The Role of Diamonds in Fuelling Conflicts,” which was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly.
This resolution, co-sponsored by 50 nations, encapsulates the significant outcomes and decisions reached during the UAE’s leadership, reinforcing the Kimberley Process’s mission to ensure a conflict-free global diamond trade.
The resolution represents international acknowledgment of the pivotal accomplishments attained by the UAE during its presidency in 2025, including initiatives focused on providing technical support to diamond-producing communities, enhancing governance frameworks, and making substantial progress in the structural review of the Kimberley Process to tackle the challenges facing artisanal mining communities.
Although the resolution does not carry legal binding force, it solidifies international commitment to promoting a conflict-free diamond trade and reinforces the UAE’s central role in advancing the Kimberley Process and amplifying its impact globally.
It is worth noting that the United Arab Emirates is the first and only Arab country to have chaired the Kimberley Process in 2016, an international initiative aimed at regulating the global diamond trade.
During his address at the UN General Assembly, Ahmed bin Sulayem emphasized that during the “Year of Best Practices,” the mission was to build upon the achievements of 2024, developing them into more robust applications and efficient operational mechanisms, while also preparing the Kimberley Process for the future. This included enhancing compliance levels, reinforcing institutional sustainability, and ensuring that the process was adept at keeping pace with rapidly evolving changes.
He shed light on a host of quality initiatives implemented during the UAE’s presidency for 2025, stating, “We have achieved several notable accomplishments, having adopted significant measures to bolster technical assistance for diamond-producing communities, and made tangible progress in the structural review of the Kimberley Process to tackle the challenges faced by limited artisanal mining communities. We also worked to strengthen governance frameworks and operational mechanisms, including leadership arrangements and the adoption of best practices concerning meeting protocols. The international consensus around these issues was manifested during the ministerial meeting held at the Kimberley Process General Assembly in Dubai, marking the first such meeting since the 2002 Interlaken gathering.”
Bin Sulayem added that under the UAE’s presidency, substantial progress had been made in digital transformation through key initiatives, including the ‘Verifico’ platform, a secure digital certification system designed to enhance traceability, efficiency, and integrity within the Kimberley Process framework. He noted that leveraging artificial intelligence is a fundamental component for advancing the workings of the process in the future.
He pointed out that the session held in Dubai titled “Best Practices in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” was a pivotal moment for this discussion, helping to envisage promising application areas. He elaborated that the future path involves launching pilot programs, standardizing data criteria, and implementing a phased approach to integrate AI technologies across various verification systems within the Kimberley Process framework.
Several countries commended the UAE’s efforts during its tenure as the presiding chair of the Kimberley Process at the UN General Assembly.
The representative of Zimbabwe expressed congratulations to the UAE for its successful presidency of the Kimberley Process for 2025 and its crucial role in facilitating negotiations around the proposed resolution.
He affirmed that the Kimberley Process remains a unique tripartite initiative, uniting governments, the diamond industry, and civil society towards the shared goal of preventing conflict diamonds from entering global trade supply chains.
The UK representative thanked the UAE for its exemplary leadership of the Kimberley Process during the “Year of Best Practices,” highlighting that the process has achieved significant milestones since its inception. He reaffirmed the firm commitment to continue supporting efforts to dissociate diamonds from conflicts, contribute to international peace and security, and uplift communities.
The US representative expressed gratitude to the General Assembly members for their constructive engagement with the resolution, appreciating the UAE’s active role in facilitating the resolution’s discussions. He encouraged participants in the Kimberley Process to advance reforms ensuring its relevance and effectiveness amid ongoing developments in the diamond supply chain, including an expanded definition of conflict diamonds.
Established in 2003 by the United Nations, the Kimberley Process involves 86 countries working together to prevent unregulated rough diamonds from entering the legitimate market as a means of financing conflicts.
The UAE led the Kimberley Process for the second time in its history in 2024 and continued its leadership as the presiding chair throughout 2025, under the guidance of Ahmed bin Sulayem, the CEO and executive director of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre.