10 years on, chocolate companies break promise to stop child labour in the cocoa industry

Monday, September 19, 2011

Big chocolate companies have failed to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa fields of West Africa despite promising to do so 10 years ago today. 

In September 2001, global chocolate companies in the United States and the Ivory Coast signed the Harkin-Engel Protocol that set out an action plan to eradicate the worst forms of child labour from cocoa supply chains. 

Tulane University were commissioned by the US government to report on progress on the Protocol from 2006 to 2011. The University found that none of the Protocol’s six articles calling for action were fully implemented, and the required industry-wide reform in the cocoa sector had not taken place. 

As a result of this failure, major civil society organisations today joined together as part of the 10 Campaign to urge national and international governments to implement key legislation to ensure companies take action. 

“The chocolate industry has not come near meeting its promises to end the abuse of children and adults in the production of cocoa in West Africa,” said World Vision Australia CEO Tim Costello. 

“Since the industry has not taken responsibility for carrying out the necessary reform from within, it is now necessary for governments to regulate the activities of companies and force them to clean up their supply chains. 

“Members of the 10 Campaign, including World Vision Australia, are asking governments to require companies importing or processing cocoa from West Africa to have independent third party certification of their supply chains to make sure they are free from child labour. 

“We are also asking governments to make it compulsory for companies to annually disclose how much money they have spent on eliminating the worse forms of child labour from their supply chains, and to demonstrate the impact of these efforts.” 

Tulane University found that from 2007 until 2008, almost 2 million children were working on cocoa-related activities in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Nearly 50 percent of these children reported they had sustained injuries from their work. 

Only 4.17 percent of the global cocoa supply is ethically certified to have been harvested without the use of forced, child or trafficked labour. 

World Vision recognises that some of the big chocolate companies have committed to phasing in the use of ethically certified cocoa. 

“We congratulate chocolate companies who have committed to using ethically certified cocoa,” Rev Costello said. 

“However, certification schemes alone won’t solve the problem and more needs to be done. That’s why we’re calling on governments around the world to put in place legislation that will force chocolate companies clean up their act.” 

For more information about World Vision’s ethical chocolate campaign, visit: www.donttradelives.com.au . 

ENDS 

Tim Costello is available for media interviews. Please contact World Vision Australia media officer Sacha Myers on 0457 926 018. 

Media Releases, Child labour, Africa, Child Labour, Child Slavery, Chocolate, Cocoa Industry, Tim Costello, West Africa

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