The diamond mining activities in Marange and the forced relocation to Arda Transau have been continually violating the environmental, economic, social and cultural rights of the communities of Marange and Arda Transau collectively. They resolved to develop a community protocol to set out their concerns and community priorities to ensure their rights and dignity are respected.
The process to develop the protocol began in 2014 and has consisted of meetings with over 4000 people attending over a period of three years. The communities collected the views of other members and then collectively agreed on the key issues that they wanted addressed. The communities wish to use this community protocol as a communication tool with government, companies and other stakeholders.