Ohio University issued a statement today acknowledging a link between technologies manufactured without the use of minerals from conflicted areas and violence.
This statement was a product of the university’s ad hoc committee on socially responsible practices that was established last year by OU President Roderick McDavis.
One of the committee’s goals was to analyze the violence between conflict minerals after Bobcats for a Conflict-Free Campus , a sub-group of STAND Against Genocide raised concerns to university officials.
“I want to thank the students involved with Bobcats for a Conflict-Free Campus for bringing awareness of this issue forward and I appreciate the efforts of the Ad Hoc Committee in researching and drafting this statement,” McDavis said, in a news release. “This statement is a reminder to us all that we need to urge best efforts with our suppliers and ask them to examine supply chains and use only verifiably Congo sourced conflict-free materials.”
The statement, in part, reads:
“With these values in mind, Ohio University recognizes the humanitarian crisis taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the role of conflict minerals as one of the primary drivers for this violence. Given our significant annual expenditures for electronics products that likely contain these minerals, we recognize our own responsibility and indirect link to the crisis.”
sj95061@ohiou.edu
