US Govt urged to discourage child-labour in supply-chains
09 Dec '11
4 min read
In Uzbekistan, between 1.5 to 2 million children are forced by their own government to harvest cotton each year for export to the world market. If they refuse, they face beatings, expulsion from school, and other government-imposed penalties.
In Cote d'Ivoire, UNICEF estimates 35,000 children, many from nearby countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, are trafficked to work on cocoa plantations far from home where they face crippling isolation, beatings, and other forms of coercion to grow cocoa for our chocolate bars.
"Increasingly, U.S. citizens are taking action as consumers on the widespread problems of child labor in the cocoa and cotton industries," said Green America Fair Trade Campaign Director Elizabeth O'Connell.
"They want to see that their government is fully taking steps to address the issue of child labor as well, and strengthening enforcement of the President's Executive Order 13126 would go a long way in preventing the U.S. Government from purchasing products tainted with forced child labor, and providing a better life for children in the affected countries."
Last year, the U.S. Government spent $43 million on chocolate and $1.9 billion on apparel and uniforms. By applying the procurement policy to products made from cocoa (rather than only to the raw cocoa) and to textiles, apparel, and uniforms (rather than only to cotton) the U.S. Government would send a clear message to its contractors and have more leverage in ending forced child labor in its supply chain.
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