Tag: child labor

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Tomorrow is World Day Against Child Labor

ILO Poster
ILO Poster

Saturday is World Day Against Child Labor. Inaugurated by the International Labour Organization (ILO), this year’s day celebrates the tenth anniversary of the the adoption of ILO Convention 182, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

The International Labor Rights Fund urges you to call Hershey and let the company know how you feel about the fact that, unlike other chocolate companies, it has refused to participate in any certification program or institute fair labor practices along its supply chain.

CALL HERSHEY AT 1-800-468-1714.

Here is a sample script:
Hi, my name is ___ and I’m calling from ____.  This Saturday is World Day against Child Labor.  As a Hershey consumer, I’m very concerned about the continued use of child labor, forced labor and trafficking in West Africa’s cocoa industry as well as the way Hershey’s factory workers are treated globally.  I want to know that all the workers who had a hand in making my chocolate – from bean to bar – were treated fairly.  Will Hershey take this opportunity to be more transparent about your supply chain and do more to protect worker rights?

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Guest Blogging at Trading Visions

Tom Allen of Trading Visions has put together a nice collection of blog posts on the intersection between childhood and chocolate. I’ve contributed an post on the record of the chocolate industry to address the issue of child labor in West Africa. Other posts include Amanda Berlan’s contribution on whose voices dominate the debate on child labor, Catherine Phipps post on childhood and chocolate in the North and Tom Allen’s report from a child labor workshop in Ghana.

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Labor Department Releases List of Goods Made With Child Labor

The U.S Department of labor released its 2009 list of goods made with child and/or forced labor. As readers of this blog will suspect, cocoa is on the list. Five West African countries, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria are listed as exporters of cocoa produced with child labor. In addition, the list singles out the Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria as countries where cocoa is produced using forced labor (see p. 22 of the report).

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The State of Child Labor in Ghana

The International Cocoa Initiative has announced an independent evaluation of its activities in Ghana. According to the press release, the areas in which the ICI has been active have seen a reduction of the exposure of children to the worst forms of child labor. In addition, the foundation reports that attitudes towards child labor have changed.

Children, for example, are no longer involved in the spraying of chemicals. Since most spraying in Ghana is done by government employed spraying gangs, that seems to be a small achievement. A more common violation, the carrying of heavy loads is also down. Overall, that’s good news. But until the actual report is released in July, we won’t be able to assess the scope of this progress.

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