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For many people, Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer and marks the last long weekend to enjoy the warm weather before sending the kids back to school and preparing for a busy fall season.
Few people stop to consider the origins of Labor Day, a federal holiday established by Congress in 1894 to recognize and celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers and as a reminder of the need to protect workers’ rights, health, and safety.
The need to protect workers’ rights remains current after 130 years, and at the same time, there is a need to refocus on a problem that must be eradicated forever: the scourge of child labor.
That is the crisis I am facing. We are working towards a solution When I was 12 years old, I started a small children’s charity called Free the Children, and for nearly 30 years we have been working to free child slaves who were forced to work in factories in Pakistan and India.
While some progress has been made over the years, the data remains alarming about the number of children being deprived of education, putting their physical and mental development at risk.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO): 160 million children are engaged in child labour (ages 5 to 17), with the highest rates in the least developed countries, where 23 percent of children are forced to work.
Agriculture Accounting for 70% The proportion of children engaged in child labour was 112 million, followed by 20 percent (31.4 million) in the service sector and 10 percent (16.5 million) in industry.
Not surprisingly, there is a direct correlation between poverty and the prevalence of child labor. When Free the Children began its work in Southeast Asia, we helped physically remove children from the dangerous factories where they were working. But too often, a few weeks later, those same children would return to the same factories because their families needed the income to survive.
That’s when we realized we needed a holistic approach that focused on the root cause of child labor: poverty. But throwing money at the problem doesn’t solve it. Poor community health, lack of access to clean water and food, limited education options, and lack of employment opportunities for adults all contribute to situations where child labor is seen as the only solution.
Breaking this cycle requires addressing all root causes simultaneously. Economic opportunity for parents means families no longer have to rely on child labor. Direct access to healthy food and clean water means children no longer have to walk dozens of miles to get drinking water and food. Adequate health care ensures healthy communities where adults can work and children can go to school and thrive.
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Tackling these issues village by village helps to mitigate child labor at the micro level within communities, but at the global macro level, companies have the biggest role to play in eliminating child labor from their global supply chains.
The first step is to acknowledge the problem and make a public commitment to eradicate it. Global brands such as IKEA and Costo have led the way in making such commitments.
IKEA said As a global company, we have a responsibility to demonstrate leadership by ensuring that child labor is not present in our supply chains.
Costco is Strengthening audits In countries that form part of the supply chain, Supplier Code of ConductThe law explicitly prohibits child labor and allows only workers aged 18 or older to work in potentially hazardous conditions or with heavy machinery.
But it’s not just multi-billion dollar corporations that can be part of the solution: businesses of all sizes and sectors can do their part by taking concrete steps to eliminate child labor in their operations and supply chains.
RELATED: Three McDonald’s franchisees fined for violating child labor laws
Below are some steps you can consider for your own business or organization.
- Become a member of the ILO Child Labour Platform: participate Other member companies, including Coca-Cola, Chanel, Samsung and IKEA, are also committed to combating child labor. tool, eventThrough collaboration with other companies, we help identify, prevent and remediate child labour in your supply chain. Even if you are not officially a member, the ILO website has a variety of resources to help you educate and respond to child labour.
- Conduct a due diligence audit: these audit It will help you understand where to look in your supply chain and what to look out for. If you’re making clothing, you can make sure the cotton you use isn’t picked by children. If you’re in agriculture, you can do age verification audits and make sure your cotton isn’t picked by children. Exposure to harmful pesticides.
- Hiring young people for the right roles: There is nothing wrong with getting your first job at age 16. In North America, that job might be distributing ice cream in a retail store or checking tickets at a movie theater. It is important for young people to know the difference between such jobs and child labor. The ILO defines child labor as work that robs a child of their childhood, potential and dignity and is harmful to their physical and mental development.
Create roles within your company, like student internships or summer jobs, that allow young people to save for college or buy a car while doing age-appropriate work in a safe environment.
These may seem like small steps, but each impact helps in the global fight to end child labor for good. As you enjoy Labor Day and head into fall, consider pledging your company to be part of the solution.
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