Russia to Chair Kimberley Process in 2021

RAPAPORT... Russia has begun its chairmanship of the Kimberley Process (KP) after the organization deferred the role by a year due to disruption stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.The country will chair the KP in 2021, having been scheduled to hold that position in 2020, while Botswana's chairmanship will occur in 2022, instead of this year. The KP took the decision in August after receiving support from a majority of its participants.Heads of the KP's working bodies oversaw business in 2020, the organization pointed out in its August 21 administrative decision. The KP has also pushed back all 2020 deadlines to 2021.Global measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus "drastically affected the daily work of participants and observers in the Kimberley Process, and completely excluded the possibility of organizing and participating in the face-to-face KP intersessional and plenary meetings in 2020," the KP noted. Virtual events are not practical for every participant, it added.The next intersessional will take place in Moscow in June, and the next plenary in Saint Petersburg in November, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev said in an interview on the ministry's website last week.Image: Red Square, Moscow. (Valerii Tkachenko)