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CLCCG 2011 Annual Report Released

The Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating group released its 2011 Annual Report on January 23, 2012. The annual report was prepared by the Offices of Senator Tom Harkin, Representative Eliot Engel, The United States Department of Labor, The Government of Cote d’Ivoire, The Ghana Ministry on Employment and Social Welfare, and the International Chocolate and Cocoa Industry.

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Global Chocolate and Cocoa Industry Confirm Commitment to Cocoa Farmers

The global chocolate and cocoa industry believes no child should ever be harmed in the growing and harvesting of cocoa.

We are all aware of the challenge and recognise that progress to eliminate hazardous child labour conditions has not been sufficient. Too many children living in family run cocoa households are helping out on the farm in ways that are damaging to their own health and well-being – carrying loads too heavy, working with machetes, spraying pesticides, or assisting on the farm at the expense of attending school. Our work is not complete until child labour is a thing of the past, which is why we are working in partnership with others to accelerate our efforts.

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ILO and chocolate and cocoa industry forge new partnership to combat child labour in West Africa

Eight companies in the chocolate and cocoa industry – ADM, Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, Mars, Incorporated, and Nestlé – have pledged US $2 million to a new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to combat child labour in cocoa growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

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Our Commitment

For more than a decade, leading participants in the world’s chocolate and cocoa industry have supported a global effort to improve the lives of millions of adults and children in cocoa communities.

Our belief is that no child should ever be harmed in the growing or harvesting of cocoa. Towards this end, the industry has undertaken extensive efforts to bring about positive and sustainable change to the way cocoa is grown and harvested in West Africa. This includes:

  • Investment: the industry has spent more than US$75 million on education, farmer training, agricultural improvement programs, health programs and more.
  • National Plans of Action: working with Governments in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to develop programs to improve social programs in cocoa growing communities.
  • The creation of independent nongovernmental organizations to bring about sustainable change to the way cocoa is grown. These include:
  • Public Certification: development of a public certification process as part of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, established in 2001 to work towards ending the worst forms of child labor (WFCL).
  • Partnerships with Governments and non-governmental organizations.

The Harkin-Engel Protocol has been an important catalyst for change in labor practices in the cocoa sector of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, although we recognize there is still more to be done. Our commitment is for the long term. Working in partnership the U.S. government and the governments of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, we are committed to playing our role in implementing the principles established by the Harkin-Engel Protocol. Building on the lessons learned over the past decade, the Framework of Action represents a new partnership with a common purpose and clear goal of bringing about an aggregate 70 percent reduction in the worst forms of child labor in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana by 2020.

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