The World Diamond Council will gather from Feb. 5 to 8, 2006, in the city of Catania, located on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily. The meeting will be hosted by Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, and by the Province of Catania. Cavalieri is a native of Catania and is the WDC’s chief financial officer.

The meeting will serve to update the trade on the work of the council, including recent Kimberley Process issues. “The fact that the conflict diamonds issue does not grab the headlines like it did several years ago should not indicate that the threat has subsided,” said Eli Izhakoff, WDC chairman. “What it does mean is that we are doing our job properly.”

Izhakoff applauded the resolution recently passed by the U.N. General Assembly, which reaffirmed the body’s support for the Kimberley Process. “It is good to know that our efforts are being recognized,” he said. “What we have done over the past five years is almost unheard of phenomenon in the often apathetic business community. At a time when consumer confidence is so important a factor, this is really a feather in all of our caps.”

The WDC is the international body charged with coordinating the diamond industry’s fight against conflict diamonds.

JCK