Student Group Petitions University to Buy Conflict Free
STAND pushes the University of Minnesota to change purchasing policy and invest in products that do not contain conflict minerals
Students are starting to play a bigger role in ending the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) that stems from the mining of 3TG minerals. 3TG refers to the minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) that are essential in the production of many products, most notable consumer electronics. STAND is an anti-genocide student group who organize and educate their peers with the goal of ending mass atrocities. At the University of Minnesota, the group is pushing school executives to purchase products from companies that perform their due diligence to audit their supply chains used in the production of those items.
The group drafted a position statement that has been approved by the Student Association and now must go before the president for a signature. Once that happens they can begin talks with University Purchasing Services about changing their purchasing practices. If the statement passes, The University of Minnesota will be a great model for other universities around the country who are trying to adopt a conflict-free policy. This is a major step in forcing companies to comply with conflict minerals laws and the violence in the DRC.
With the pressure on multinational companies to comply with conflict mineral laws now coming from all different directions, there might be a question as to how they perform their due diligence by the May, 2014 deadline. These companies are turning to Source Intelligence and utilizing their analytics platform along with their Supplier Engagement Team to engage suppliers, collect, verify and assess conflict minerals-related data and generate the required forms and reports needed to comply with the SEC's final rule.
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