The Secretariat | Kimberley Process

The Secretariat’s functions include:

Knowledge Management and Institutional Memory
Communications
Administrative and Logistical Support for the KP Chair, Working Groups, and Ad Hoc Committees
Data Website Hosting and Management
Technical and Professional Assistance
Exchange of information within the KP and with relevant international organizations

These functions are strictly administrative in nature and do not involve any policy input or decision making capabilities.

Executive Secretary

The Executive Secretary is appointed by the Plenary by consensus, from among candidates who are nationals of KP Participants. The Executive Secretary is the chief of the Secretariat Staff with overall responsibility for the management and administration of the Secretariat. The Executive Secretary reports to the Plenary.

Bojun Tang

Executive Secretary, Kimberley Process Secretariat

Mr. Bojun TANG is the inaugural Executive Secretary of the Kimberley Process.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. TANG served as a senior official of the Government of the People's Republic of China, where he was extensively engaged in multilateral and regional trade governance. His areas of responsibility included negotiations on trade facilitation at the WTO, WTO compliance of China's Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, negotiations of China's free trade agreements, and regional trade and cross-border facilitation initiatives under the frameworks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Asian Development Bank. He is also the lead drafter of Chinese Standard on Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-affected and High-Risk Areas.

Mr. TANG first joined the Kimberley Process in 2012 as a member of the Chinese delegation and became Head of Delegation for the Government of China in 2014. Throughout his engagement with the Kimberley Process, he has served in several leadership capacities, including as Assistant to the KP Chair in 2014, Chairperson of the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Rules and Procedures, and Chairperson of review visits.

Mr. TANG holds multiple bachelor's and master's degrees in languages, law, public international law, and international commercial law. He is also qualified for an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (East Asia Branch). Mr. TANG is married and has one child.

Under-secretary

The Executive Secretary, in consultation with the KP Chair and in the absence of any written reasoned objection by a KP Participant, is to appoint the Under-secretary under the criteria in the Terms of Reference of the Secretariat. The Under-secretary should be nationals of KP Participants, and due regard shall be paid to gender, diversity and geographical balance among the KP Participants, including all major rough diamond producing, exporting and importing countries.

Kai Schaefer

Under-secretary, Kimberley Process Secretariat

Kai Schaefer currently serves as the first Under-secretary of the Kimberley Process Secretariat. He is a seasoned policy professional with over a decade of experience in international governance, natural resource stewardship, and diplomacy.

Prior to this role, Mr. Schaefer spent nearly ten years with the Government of Canada as a Senior Advisor, working on the Kimberley Process, clean technology, and sustainable resource governance. Mr. Schafer also previously worked at UN HQ in NYC and for the US Department of State in Frankfurt, Germany. Mr. Schaefer holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from McGill University and is also a certified rough diamond grader and valuator.

KP Secretariat

Kimberley Process Secretariat performs on an ongoing basis secretarial and administrative service within the framework set forward in the Terms of Reference, and such other functions entrusted to it by the KP Plenary.