Save the Children Canada Calls for End to Exploitation of Children in the Cocoa Industry

TORONTO, ON (February 8, 2007) Despite commitments made by Canadian chocolate companies and the Canadian government to clean the cocoa supply chain from the worst forms of child labor,

hundreds of thousands of children are still being exploited in the West African cocoa farms, Save the Children Canada said today.

 "For five years, we have waited for governments and the global chocolate industry to change child labor practices on the ground in the growing and harvesting of cocoa.  We are now calling on Canadians to sign a petition on our web site to tell the government as Canadian consumers of chocolate that we want to do our part in cleaning up cocoa supply chains.  In addition, we need a tracking system to clearly identify where our cocoa beans are coming from and the conditions under which they are grown," said Anita Sheth, Senior Policy Analyst for Save the Children Canada.

Cocoa is traded on commodity exchanges in London and New York, thousands of kilometers from the fields where over 1 million children work in West Africa every day to produce it. While the work enables these children to make modest contributions to their family income, they have the right to work for a decent wage and in conditions that are not exploitative. It is estimated that over 312,000 children are currently working in the worst form of child labor in these cocoa farms. "Since Canada imports cocoa beans from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), we believe all Canadians have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill these children's rights," said David Morley, President and CEO of Save the Children Canada, who recently returned from visiting cocoa farms in West Africa.The multi-billion dollar chocolate industry is dependent on West African cocoa which produces roughly 70% of the world demand.   Cocoa prices have dropped to ¼ of their value over the last 10 years making farming families extremely poor. To maintain their margins, farmers look for the cheapest source of labor - and increasingly they find it in the worst forms of child labor. 

Children looking for seasonal work across West Africa are sometimes trafficked across the borders of Mali and Burkina Faso into Côte D'Ivoire to work on cocoa farms. Children are lured by the promise of steady work, good wages, and even the chance to go to school. "We must start with understanding where our cocoa in our chocolate comes from, and get choosy about whether or not we agree with the methods used to produce it," explains David Morley.  "We are calling for greater investment in the communities where cocoa farms exist. We want governments, chocolate manufacturers, and individuals to work with us to fund schools, livelihood training and cocoa farm-safety monitoring to change the options available for children and their families."

Save the Children Canada will continue to work with community groups, youth, parents, teachers, transporters and Government officials in the region to build schools and improve education as alternative to exploitative work, create a network of child protection agents to help child victims, and lobby for an end to child trafficking and exploitative child labour.   

For more information, please contact:

Sue Rooks, Communications Coordinator
Save the Children Canada
4141 Yonge St. Suite 300
Toronto, ON
(416) 221-5501 x305
Cell: (416) 346-1310

srooks@savethechildren.ca

Note to Editors

• Save the Children has been working in West Africa since 1985.
• Save the Children Canada is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance.  With 27 members and operational programs in over 110 countries, the Alliance is the world's largest global movement for children. 
• Save the Children has been working both overseas and in Canada for over 85 years to improve the quality of children's lives through the realization of their rights. Save the Children fights for children's rights. We deliver immediate and lasting improvements to children's lives worldwide.
• In November 2001, world cocoa industries including the Confectionary Manufacturers Association of Canada (CMAC), signed a joint statement acknowledging the need to comply with standards set by the International Labour Organization's to protect children.  The industry agreed to identify and eliminate the worst forms of child labour and forced labour with respect to the growing and processing of cocoa beans by July 2005.  Five years later, this willingness to prevent the exploitation of children has produced very little in the way of change. 

For more information please visit www.savethechildren.ca

 

 

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