SAJN |DIAMONDS
Feriel Zerouki, De Beers’ Senior Vice-President of International Relations & Ethical Initiatives, will become the first woman to head the World Diamond Council (WDC), which aims to keep conflict diamonds out of the supply chain. ACCORDING
TO
WDC
RULES,
Zerouki will automatically become President when Edward Asscher’s current term ends in two years’ time. Asscher, President of the Amsterdam-based Royal Asscher Diamond Company, was Vice-President of the WDC and took over from Stephane Fischler in June. This is his second
Zerouki will be the first woman to head the WDC
term at the helm, after serving as try or part of a jewellery-focused or-
In 2018, De Beers partnered with
Last year Zerouki was the recipi-
ganisation which has made a trans-
the Diamond Development Initia-
ent of the Initiatives in Art & Culture
formational contribution to ethical
tive to launch GemFair, a pilot pro-
(IAC) Award for Leadership in Re-
sourcing and responsible practices
gramme which aims to create a se-
sponsible Practice in Jewellery. The
in the worldwide gem and jewellery
cure and transparent route to market
award recognised her elevation to
trade. Zerouki received the accolade
for ethically sourced, artisanal and
an international level of the conver-
at “Gold: Legacy, Leadership, Lumi-
small-scale mined diamonds. The
sation about sustainability through
nescence”, a conference which was
initiative combines on-the-ground
De Beers’ Best Practice Principles
held at the Bohemian National Hall
training and engagement with min-
and provision of working solutions
in New York City.
ers about ethical standards with a
President from 2014-2016.
She joined the De Beers Group as
digital solution to support the trace-
a Supply Chain Analyst in 2005 at the
ability of the product. Each site ad-
The award is presented annually
Diamond Trading Company, where
heres to standards that are aligned
to a member of the jewellery indus-
she gained expertise in pricing rough
with the Organisation for Economic
diamonds and forecasting mine pro-
Co-operation & Development’s due
duction. She was then appointed
diligence guidelines and GemFair’s
Best Practice Principles Manager for
own rigorous ones.
to help track responsibly sourced diamonds in Sierra Leone.
40
the group in 2009, tasked with em-
Zerouki’s contribution to develop-
bedding its sustainability programme.
ing this initiative is part of her work
More recently she was appointed
as GemFair’s General Manager. She
Senior Vice-President: International
also sits on the Board of Directors of
Relations & Ethical Initiatives.
the Responsible Jewellery Council.
SA JEWELLERY NEWS – AUGUST 2020
