Made by children: Companies need to do more to tackle child labour

A brief history of combatting child labour

The fight against child labour dates back to 1938 when the US Fair Labour Standards Act was passed. The legislation sets the working hours of children under 16 and the type of jobs they can take up.

In 1973, the Minimum Age Convention was ratified by 172 states with some exceptions. In 1989, the United Nations developed the Convention on the Rights of the Child to ensure the protection of these rights. In 1992, the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour was established with the aim of supporting states in their efforts to combat this type of exploitation.

These agreements evolved to include in 1999 the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, which was ratified by 186 States and required the end of slavery, trafficking in children, debt bondage, forced labour in armed conflict, prostitution, pornography, drug trafficking, and other illicit activities.

The year 2021 was declared the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour by the United Nations, which set an ambitious goal to end all forms of child labour by 2025 with an international commitment to Goal No. 8 of Sustainable Development Goals, which were announced in 2015.

Ban on goods produced by children

It's useful to remind production companies that many countries, in addition to all the above, set their own standards of sustainability and work ethics as prerequisites in their commercial dealings with other countries and entities, whether governmental, civil, or private.

I would like to recall here a special experience in cooperating with an investment body in the Netherlands within the framework of one of its development projects to promote sustainable agriculture in Lebanon and to enable Lebanese farmers and exporters to enter new markets and develop their businesses if they commit to meeting the requirements of ethical, environmental, and social sustainability – most notably by refraining from child labour.

However, the project was frozen for years, and an important opportunity to export Lebanese vegetables and fruits was lost, after the investment body found that the agricultural sector employs Lebanese and Syrian children, not to mention overworking women in exchange for unfair wages.

Absence of effective oversight

Canada recently joined a growing list of countries, most notably the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, that have passed legislation aimed at tackling modern slavery, a term that typically includes forced labour, bonded labour, and child labour in supply chains.

However, only 24 of the 193 UN member states have legislation that addresses all forms of exploitation. Yet, there's no doubt that such legislations remain a dead letter in the absence of effective oversight, serious accountability, and legal authority.

The proliferation of child labourers in the world and thrifty spending on social protection for children, which is only 1.1% of the global GDP, don't really allow for optimism about the feasibility of such legislation and their potential to effect real change in the business sector, in particular. 

Greed and non-compliance with or circumvention of laws are prevalent, and corporate reports remain vague and descriptive, dealing with actions without concrete numbers and results, especially when supply chains are ramified, complex, and improperly supervised.

Labels matter

"Made by children", instead of "made in China"... India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country.

Imagine that you found such a label on a shirt or pair of shoes belonging to a famous brand in a luxury goods store in a prestigious shopping mall – Harrod's for example.

Now, you learn that it's adorned with the sweat of children, young or old, and you can imagine in what conditions these children work, what treatment they receive, and what wages they receive, the childhood they were deprived of, and their misfortune in life.

Imagine finding an apple labelled "produced by children". Would you eat it? Or on a cup of Starbucks coffee; Would you drink it?

On World Day against Child Labour, we must remember that "sustainability" and "corporate social responsibility" aren't solely about "planting" trees — it's a responsibility toward the most vulnerable in society.