Smaller ones. Two thirds of its citizens are burmese. Coexistence within the country isnt always peaceful, as the plight of the Muslim Rohingya shows. Tens of thousands of rohingyas have fled to neighbouring countries, like india and bangladesh, into an uncertain future. In myanmars northern kachin province another conflict rages on. This one is about natural resources, kachin is home to vast supplies of jade. Reporter a torrent of rubble and scree. Armed with picks and hammers, the workers begin their search. Were in the jade hills of myanmar, in kachin state in the northeast of the country. Sam awng is a teacher. Hes hoping for a find that will make him rich. Did you find anything today . Reporter the miner says he found two stones. Its his lucky day. Men from all over the country flock hehere to the ededges ofe jade mines in the himalayan foothills, to dig for that single stone that will make them a fortune. There are even children among the scavangers picking through the trailings from the mines. Its perilous work. Theres at least one death a month. When someone gets buburied ina landslslide, or killeded by ro. The stones can rollll down e hillside a at high speeds. The bigger fragments could break your bonones. You woululdnt stand a chance. Sometimes in the raiainy seaso, the whole slopope is a mudbab. Reporter one mountain after another is being reduced to rubble by prospecting. Kachin is jade country. The Worlds Largest deposits are here on the border with china. But the stone of heaven, as its known in china, is stained with blood. A war is raging in kachin, but one thats hidden from international view. A war over land and resources. Jade mining is a billiondollar indudustry contrololled by the military. Few of the mines are c controld by the ethnic kachin who are native to the jade hills. The party of nobobel peace prie winner andyanmnmars de e faco leader, Aung San Suu Kyi came to power in 2015. It promised to put an end to the fighting between the military and ethnic kachin guerrillas seeking selfrule in northern myanmar. Jade is the biggest obststacleo peace. B but the war hasas wors. 100,000 pepeople have been ford to flee. O our home was in the middlef a battlefield. If wed stayed, we would be dd now. We had toto leave everythg behind. Reporter but thereres no trae of the war in mandalay, the former capital. Glittering gold pagodas line the mighty irrawaddy. Gold, tropical wood, and jade, myanmar is rich in natural resources. Mandalay is a hub of the jade trade. Thant sin has made a fortune with the neartranslucent green stones. He trades mainly in large stones. The jade trade is lucrative. 31 billion worth ofof jade is minein m myanmarveryry year. One kilogram alone of the finest jade can fetch millions. Thant sin showows off his anat stones. Most of his s clients are chine. The chinese think that jade is good for your health,h, thatt has a cooling effect. A stone like this can be unbelievably expensive. The more translucent it is, the higher i its price. Reporter but the human cost of jade is even higher. Many of the mine workers end up with drug habits, opium, heroin, crystal meth. These men have been forced to go cold turkey. We thought the drugs would protect us against malaria. I kept taking more and more. I ended up in hospital. I couldnt get offff them. Reportrter christian aid organizations are trying to fight the drug epidemic in northern myanmar. Their methods include singalongs and bible readings. Drugs are illegal in myanmar, but ubiquitous. The military and the police have their hands in the Drugs Industry too, activists say. The mines a are lawless. The drdrug trade is controlledy gangs. Theyre making a lot of money. Working in the m mines is exhausting, and the miners are a long way from their families. Theyrre very vulnenerable. Reporter some of the e camps rehabilitation methods are draconian. Mediaeval, even. This inmatates feet havave bn shackled to a wooden block. He has only a blanket to keep himself warm. I behaved badlyly. So they brought me here. Ive been here for two days and a night. Reporter its an ignominious end to the dream of finding jade and making a fortune. The rehab takes six months. Then the men are sent back to their families. Reporter few of them manage to stay clean. Back in the jajade mine. The day y is drawing t to a cl. Sam and the others size up the days takings. The torch light gives them an idea of the stones value. Were all poor. We all have the same dream. To find a valuable stone. Then well have struck rich. Reporter but the fortununese with jade e arent made by peoe like sam. And for as long as the mines are controlled by military elites, drug kingpins s and ethnic kacn guerillas, the jade industry will benefit only a few. And peace in myanmar will remain elusive. Anchor myanmar is not the only nation where Raw Materials feed conflict. Wood, coal, oil and rare earths are key to our global economy. But this commoditybased wealth comes at a high price. Devastated forests, toxic soils, devastated forests, toxic soils, polluted water, for many countries, Raw Materials are more of a curse than a blessing. Any rewards they bring usually end up in the hands of a few. While the masses remain poor. In many countries conflicts rage over Raw Materials, and the profits from mining end up funding terror and prolonging wars. Like in panjshir in northern afghanistan. Conditions in the emerald mines there are tough. And only a few reap the benefits. For most, the precious stones bring only misery. Emeralds from afghanistan are beautiful, valuable and in demand. But experts say the trade is funding terror and violence. These e dealers in kabul are inspectiting their latatest delivery. Its worth several million euros. But is this business legal . Yes, they come from the panjshir valley, we bought them officially. Its legal. Reporter the dealers might act innocent, but in fact 95 percent of afghan emeralds are smuggled out of the country. The taliban buy weapons and explosives with the proceeds. Were on our way to the panjshir valley, home to the emerald mines. The landscscape is ruggeged and inhospabable. The region is a taliban stronghold. The fundamentalists hold sy in large paparts of the c country between kabul and the papanjshr valley. Foreign visitors are in danger of being taken hostage. Remnants of the soviet occuaption lie beside the road. Its difficult to make contact with with the men who mine for emeralds. Most of them come from nearby villages. Some are armed. Emerald mining up in the mountains is a highly dangerous business. Were always afraid. There are bandits who would kill for the precious gems. If you have a mine you have to watch over it every second. Reporter were heading to a mine thats around 3700 meters above sea a level, just beneah the snow line. The climb takes 3. 5 hours. The men make the trek across this rocky terrain every day, some of them in just flimsy plastic sandals. Were having breathing difficulties. The air up here is thin and the sun is beating down lentlessly. This is one t the caves where the emerald vein runs. Lunch is flatbread and sweet tea. These are rough and ready men, desperate enough to do this dangerous and laborious job. Its not making them rich, but theres no other work available. Who knows how they got this generator up here. Sometimes we dont find anything for 2 months. Allah decides if we get lucky or not. No one knows for sure where the mountain has hidden the gems. Reporter using explosives, theyve managed to blast their way about half a kilometre into the mountain. Its freezing in here. The mountains of the panjshir valley are home to untold riches in precious gems, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. With these and other natural resources, afghanistan could be a wealthy country. But instead the gemstones help Fund Violence and atrocities. The men drill a hole in the rock. Nothing is secured. The methods they use are highrisk and completely antiquated. The demolition expert, as they call him, arrives. Hes spent his whole life here in the mountains. We ask him about the explosives hes using. Its boom, boom. Thats all i know. We buy it illegally in pakistan and smuggle it over the border. Reporter take cover, they call. The fuse is already burning. We head for a sidetunnel. The men sift through the overburden. Its been a long time since we found anything g here. At home theyre complaining because theres nothing to eat. Until now this was all rock. We had to blow it up to follow the vein. Reporter its unclear who this mine, and d the emereralds in, belongs to. Basically, whoever happens to have the say at any given time. Sometimes thats the government. Sometimes its local warlords, sometimes the taliban. Theyre all looking to fund their wars with precious gemstones. There are only slim pickings today. Foreign investors could provide modern mining technology. But theyre put off by the violence in afghanistan. Vast profits can be earned w wh emeralds. Just a handful of the stones are worth hundreds of thousands of euros. But these men dont see much of it. Are they happy with what they found today . Yes, i am happy. I climbed the mountain ten times to get t this. I earned around 200 euros for it. What it will fetch in kabul, i have no idea. Reporter the traders send the stones to kabul by courier. The journey through the panjshir valley would be much too dangerous for them to undertake themselves. Back in kabul. Hidden behind a maze of passageways, the stones are cut and polished. Its tedious work. Over the years the cutters learn not to grind away too much. But here too, no one is getting rich from emeralds. Payment is by weight. We get 50 afghani per carat. Reporter that is not even 1 euro. Here is where the trail of the stones is lost. Most are smuggled across the border to pakistan or by plane to dubai to dealers from europe and the americas. Here in kabul we also encounter one of our two dealers again. We dont ask any questions. When someone comes and pays, he gets the goods, and what happens gets the goods, and what happens after that is no longer our business. Reporter in front of the camera, Mohammed Azim is vague. But later, he explains to us how the emeralds are smuggled abroad regional bosses, warlords, the taliban, and yes, even the government take their cut. Afghanistans s emeralds could provide the country with work and prosperity. But in reality they finance the talibans civil war, drawing the country deeper and deeper into the abyss. Anchor in global living rooms we visit people around the world. Today were i in estoni. Hello, my name is tonis kipper, im from estonia. You are welcome in my home and in my small private gallery. Youre welcome. Seven years this house working like gallery and memory house for these three famous estonians. It is my small gallery room and my living room. Theres many different things. This chair is from our town hall. If somebody wants to see them they call me and i show him. This is my first picture. It is a a very famous estoninn painter, edgdgar valter. And this paiainting is called cats house. There are thirteen cats if you find them. The thirteenth cat is here. And thisis is my working tabl. I workrk here every y day, mae every night. [laughter] im a journalist and this is three pictures of our estonian president s. Lennart meri, Arnold Ruutel and Toomas Hendrik ilves. I was younger here. Thank you vevery much fofor co. But nonow i must go to work. Bye bye. Anchor todaday, in global ide, we head to tunisia. The country imports its power supply, so local businesses are faced with huge energy bills. Now the government has announced a sea change. It wants to support firms that save energy and invest in new environmental technologies. Ouour reporter jululia henrichn met young entrepreneurs going down this route, and creating new jobs as a result. Reporter this Industrial Zone in tunis is home to a number of innovative companies. Since 2015 the tunisian a year and a half old, and already has a workforce of 30. The comany makes led lamps which are cleaner and more efficient than the older incandescent light bulbs. 24 year old ameni ben hassen is the daughter of the companys founder, and is set to take the reins. The government is calling on young people to get involved. It offers funds for developing new projects. I qualified for a subsidy. And i also try to encourage other young people to invest in this new technology. Reporter energy costs are high in tunisia. The country imports most of its electricity, mainly from algeria. And industry consumes a large part of that supply. The onus is therefore on companies to reduce their energy use. Thehe biggest brewery in e country is sfbt. It makes soft drinks as well as beer. German Development Aid agency, giz, is advising the company on ways of saving energy. And change is already underway. The company has now installed biogas plants, for example. The brewewing process s generaa lot of heaeat. In the past, this went to waste. But not any longer. This boiler behind me has been fitted with an energysaving system. It uses the heat of the thererl energy escaping from the chimney. Its basically a heat recovery system. Reporter somocer, one of the biggest t ceramics manufactures in the country, is based two hours southeast of tunis. The tempereratures in its giat ovens rereach over,0,000 degres celsius. Despite the expense, the company has opted to install a combined heat and power system. The facility cost 5 million euros. It allows the company to produce its own electricity, while feeding any Surplus Energy back into the grid. Dedicated Energy Managers keep tabs on the energy supply. Back in the capital tunis, efforts are also being made to make the Construction Industry more energyefficient. The Technical Center of natural Building Materials offers training to outofwork architects, Civil Engineers and people who are simply interested in new, affordable and environmental technologies. We want to create new jobs, especially in regions where unemployment is rife. It will help revitalise these regions and create new indudustrial sectors. Reporter tunisias economy s in poor shape. Mabrouk maysser struggled for some time. But after training at the Technical Center he set up his own business. I was working in the tourm sector but i wanted to do my own thing. Something in this fledgling industry. So i looked into manufacturing gypsum boards and got trained up. Reporter mabrouk mayssers company now employs 35 people. It insulates buildings with gypsum boards. Unemployment is rife among ameni ben hassens generation. Over half the population of tunisia is under 30. Many people she went to college with have yet to find work. But Environmental Engineering is a growth industry. Our generation is the most affected by environmental issues. And now theyve become a big part of our thinking. Reporter Environmental Protection and energy efficiency, new technologies that could give the tunisian economy a major boost, and the countrys Younger Generation new opportunities. I am a global teen. Anchor now were off to ireland to a global teen. He too is starting to think about his future. My names cain, im 14 and im from dublin. I like playing football and playing games. Fifa, barcelona, because theyre the best in the world. Ive got one brother. His names christopher. Hi. I dont know yet. But im going to try and do something with football. I want to have a good family. It depends on where they are in the world. If its in africa or asia, they might not have things like we have, so we should be grateful fofor what we do have. Some of the biggest problems in the world are Homeless People and poverty. Everyone should have a home and somethining to eat and nobodyy should be starving on n the should be starving on the streets. Anchor and thats all for today. You can watch us online anytime, just go to dw. Com. And we love getting your feedback. Write to us at global3000 dw. Com or on facebook. Follow us at dwglobalsociety. Bye for now [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] 10 27 17 10 27 17 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] amy from pacifica, this is dedemocracy now w we are disappointed by what we are seeing. This isnt what we thought we were investing in. What we thought we were investing in was a free, fair society where people could be safe. And south sudan is t the opposie of that. As United NationsAmbassador Nikki Haley troubles in africa where 6000 american troops are stationed, weil