Stand Up: Bennett Collins, Coalition for a Conflict-Free St Andrews

Bennett and I met in the haven that is the library café. I am a super classy interviewer, get to know. Hi Bennett. Where are you from? Buffalo, New York. […]


Bennett and I met in the haven that is the library café. I am a super classy interviewer, get to know.

Hi Bennett. Where are you from?

Buffalo, New York.

What do you study?

International Relations.

Favourite café in St Andrews?

Taste for coffee, but this one for convenience. There are more cool people in the library café.

Tell me an unexpected fact about you?

I used to be a die-hard Republican until I came to St Andrews. And I can pop my thumb out of its socket.

So what is the coalition?

It’s a group of around fifteen societies, such as Amnesty International, MicroFinance and the African-Caribbean Society, which formed last semester in order to run a Conflict-Free campaign. The campaign demanded that our university adopt a policy that recognizes conflict minerals. With the help of 2000 signatures, this was achieved in June 2012. Our coalition started the Conflict-Free movement at other British universities such as Exeter, Glasgow and UCL. We were also one of the founding members of a Congolese working group founded at SOAS – the only forum in the UK for people who are working towards a better Congo.

How did you set up the coalition?

Last year, I approached the Vice-President of HTC when he spoke at the Management Society and asked him if he knew about conflict materials. He replied that HTC have known about them for ten years. I asked if they had a policy on them and he said that he would get back to me. He never did. This is the general attitude of companies who are not taking responsibility for the materials that they use and ensuring they are ethically sourced.

What about the name, why “conflict-free”?

According to Global Witness, $180million is created through selling these minerals, which funds rebel groups, such as those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Got any projects coming up?

We are planning our second video at the moment, which will be a call to action to students in the EU. We want them to start lobbying MPs in European Parliament to announce regulations on conflict minerals. Companies in the EU are currently not under any rules regarding this and we really want to set it in motion.

Sounds brilliant. Are there any events that we should know about?

We are planning a Symposium running from April 19th – 21st. We are hoping that this will be a rallying point for other Congo-centric organizations in the UK. We will be gathering Congolese diaspora groups, humanitarian groups, human rights organizations, fellow Conflict-Free groups and academics in the field. This will be an opportunity to use our collective voice as a wake-up call for the EU to speed up their legislation.

Thank you for your time Bennett. Any final words?

I don’t want to be in the library on a Saturday.

 

Check out the Coalition for a Conflict-Free St Andrews video: