WASHINGTON, D.C. - On November 15, 2011, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State and a coalition of private sector partners, civil society, and other organizations, will formally launch the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (pdf, 163kb). The alliance is part of ongoing U.S. efforts to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other governments in the Great Lakes Region to break the linkages between the illicit minerals trade and ongoing violence and human rights abuses. It will seek to leverage financial and technical resources from a wide variety of partners to promote responsible minerals trade. Also, the alliance will provide a platform for coordination and information sharing among government, industry and civil society actors seeking to support conflict-free sourcing from the Great Lakes Region.

A signing event to mark this effort will be held on Tuesday, November 15th at 2:00 p.m. at the Carlucci Auditorium of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). The event will be hosted by USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa Sharon Cromer, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Robert Hormats, and Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Maria Otero. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State's Bureau of African Affairs Don Yamamoto will participate in a panel discussion.

The U.S. government has been active in coordinating and implementing conflict minerals programming in the Great Lakes and Eastern DRC, promoting regulatory reform, and protecting populations vulnerable to the effects of the illicit minerals trade.

WHAT

Launch of Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade

WHEN

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

WHERE

United States Institute of Peace 2301 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 (Enter on the 23rd Street Entrance)

The event is by invitation only. Members of the news media are encouraged to RSVP to Katherine Giles-Diaz at Giles-DiazKL@state.gov or Natasha Jackson, USAID press officer Njackson@usaid.gov by noon on Monday, November 14. Admittance to the USIP building will require press credentials. For those who cannot attend, the event will be livestreamed at www.usip.org/webcast.