Worldwide 160 million children are still in child labour, according to UNICEF. Of these, 70 percent are working in agriculture. It’s a deep rooted problem that needs a holistic approach to solve.
Child labour refers to work that is harmful to a child’s health and wellbeing, and/or interferes with their education, leisure and development. It is a complex issue, affecting boys and girls in most countries of the world.
It is estimated that 112 million children and youth work in agriculture. Many of them do not attend school, have little time to play and do not receive proper nutrition or care. Often this work can also be hazardous and exploitative. Many of the types of work girls and boys are involved in are hidden and difficult to track, suggesting that the actual number of child labourers could be much higher, especially for some girls.
The causes of child labour are multi-faceted. A lack of access to quality education, discrimination, conflict, and natural disasters, are just some of the underlying causes. Poverty however, remains the key driver. When families are not able to earn a decent living from their crops, and youth lack decent employment opportunities, ending child labour remains very difficult.
How Fairtrade addresses child labour
Fairtrade is committed to fighting the root causes of child labour and preventing abuse and exploitation of children. We have chosen to work in products and regions with known risk of child labour because this is where our work is most needed.
Fairtrade prohibits child labour as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) minimum age and the worst forms of child labour conventions.
Specific criteria in the Fairtrade Standards include:
Children below the age of 15 are not to be employed by Fairtrade organizations.
Children below the age of 18 cannot undertake work that jeopardises their schooling or their development.
Children are only allowed to help on family farms under strict conditions. The work must be age appropriate and be done outside of school hours, or during holidays.
In regions with a high likelihood of child labour, small producer organizations are encouraged to include a mitigation and elimination plan in their Fairtrade Development Plan.
If an organization has identified child labour as a risk, the organization must implement policy and procedures to prevent children from being employed.
No one can provide a 100 percent guarantee that a product is free of child labour. Fairtrade guarantees that if we find breaches to our child labour requirements, we take immediate action to protect the impacted child or children. We work with national child protection agencies and/or child rights organizations to ensure children’s safe remediation and long-term wellbeing. We then work with the producer organization to strengthen their programs and systems to address child labour. Failure to have adequate systems in place leads to suspension and then decertification if not addressed.
Fairtrade recognizes that standards and auditing alone will not solve child labour. We need to address the wider causes of abuse and violence against children and young people, and empower them and their communities to take action. Here are some examples of how we do this:
Tackling root causes of child labour such as poverty and lack of access to education.
Supporting Fairtrade producer communities to establish a youth-inclusive, community-based monitoring and remediation (YICBMR) system on child labour, in partnership with child rights NGOs.
Focus groups with young people in Fairtrade communities to find out about their education, work, future aspirations and the impact of Fairtrade on their lives.
Working with governments, child rights experts and NGOs to share our approach and receive their feedback.
Connecting companies with producers, to invest directly in tackling child labour in the communities from which they purchase Fairtrade commodities. The voluntary best practice section of Fairtrade’s Trader Standard also encourages this.
Advocating for government regulation that requires companies to check for and take action on child labour in their supply chains, such as human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.
Ending child labour needs everyone – farmers, consumers, businesses and governments to play their part. By purchasing Fairtrade products you are not only supporting producers to earn a better living and send their children to school, but to also tackle the underlying causes of child labour in their communities.
Putting young people and their communities in the driving seat
In our youth-inclusive approach, young people and their communities are the ones who work together to tackle the causes of child labour. Children and youth identify risks to their well-being, map where they feel safe and unsafe, and together with adults from the community, design preventive projects to respond. Producer organizations in 18 countries have piloted the approach so far, including producers of cocoa, sugarcane, gold, coffee, flowers and vanilla. Since 2016, the YICBMR system has been adapted to also cover forced adult labour and gender-based and other workplace violence and abuse.
Study: Assessment of child labour monitoring and remediation systems used by Fairtrade producer organizations
We commissioned a study to compare two common types of systems used by producer organizations in finding, fixing and preventing child labour: Fairtrade International’s signature Youth-Inclusive Community-Based Monitoring and Remediation (YICBMR) system and Internal Control Systems (ICS) in four countries: Belize, Dominican Republic, Ghana and India. Both systems were compared on the six criteria established by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability.
The researchers interviewed and conducted focus group discussions with a total of 184 producers and 122 community members, including men, women, youth and children. Other stakeholders were also interviewed. While ICS was found to be effective at monitoring child labour on farms, YICBMR was seen as better at remediation, addressing wider risks, embedding child rights, building communities’ ownership of child welfare, and strengthening local and national child protection systems. The study raises questions with regard to financial sustainability in maintaining the YICBMR system, and highlights the need for everyone, including supply chain partners and governments, to play a role in supporting such system
A new programme will disburse funds to Fairtrade cocoa cooperatives for projects that focus on essential but often underfunded elements: prevention and mitigation.
A new strategy and policy launched by the Government of Belize to tackle child labour and reduce its incidence by eliminating the worst forms by 2025 has gone into effect this ...
