Extreme poverty and lack of livelihood opportunities result in some families sending their children to work on cocoa farms. It is reported that some children are ‘sold’ to traffickers or farm owners, paying for a determined duration of labour. Children as young as 10 years then work for 12-14 hours a day with few breaks, insufficient water and nutrition, forced to carry heavy bags of cocoa beans across long distances, and with exposure to pesticides and other hazardous agricultural chemicals without adequate protection. Almost every child on a cocoa farm will display scars and wounds from swinging the heavy-bladed machetes used to crop the plants.
To comply with international labour standards and norms, such as the ILO convention 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment and the ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, multinational corporations need to ensure that their suppliers are not involved in human trafficking and/or forced labour of children and adults. Companies should further implement monitoring systems, transparent procurement policies, regular auditing activities and training of the supply chain managers on how to detect human trafficking/forced labour or any other irregular incidents.
This discussion gives lessons learned and emerging practices to eliminate child labour within supply chains. How has public policy impacted child labour practices? Can international labour standards and norms continued to be improved? How does culture and gender impact the practices of child labour?
Consumers play a critical role in determining the structure of a global supply chain based on a number of factors. Consumers also possess the power to create systemic change surrounding human trafficking within supply chains just by what they do...
Experts from the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour discuss research on global trends in the realization of this fundamental human right, including an analysis of important developments in the business contribution to...Read More
The OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct held on 29-30 June 2017 gathered participants from governments, businesses, trade unions and civil society to discuss responsible supply chains through due diligence; driving responsible institutional investment; the role of National Contact...
The fourth webinar of the RESPECT Webinar Series 2017 New technologies, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Tackling Human Trafficking was held on Thursday, March 30 , 2017. Entrepreneurship is a powerful tool in solving the world’s most complex problems. Through entrepreneurial education and training, newly...