Conflict minerals - an update

Back in the Spring, we held a screening of the documentary film Blood in the Mobile. The film set out a pretty bleak picture of the way so called conflict minerals, mined in the DR Congo and taxed by militia groups to buy weapons, are used by technology companies like Nokia to make devices that we all use. One of the lobby groups featured in the documentary was the Enough Project, who have recently published a report on progress towards closing down this shocking supply chain:

"Experts say these "conflict minerals" help fuel one of the world's deadliest conflicts. An estimated 5.4 million people have died there from war-related causes, including disease and malnutrition, since 1998, according to the International Rescue Committee.

But according to a report released Thursday by the Enough Project, an advocacy group, metals from the Congo are getting less bloody.

That's thanks in part to the fact that tech companies like Intel, HP, Dell, Microsoft and Apple have made efforts to trace the source of metals used in their devices. An auditing system for smelters, the industrial facilities that process raw metals, also has been put in place. A certification system is in the works that would allow companies to certify some metals from Congo as "conflict free."

Intel ranked highest on the Enough Project's list with a score of 60, meaning it has taken 60% of the steps recommended by the group to ensure it is responsibly tracking conflict minerals. That's up from a score of 24 in 2010. Apple and Microsoft both scored 38, up from 13 and 15, respectively. Nokia scored 35, up from 19. IBM, Sony, LG and Samsung received scores of 27."  

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Rob for sharing this article. If you have a story or a campaign you think others would be interested in, feel free to email it to us or post in on the Justice Matters Facebook Page.