Eliminating Child Labour and Forced Labour in the Cotton Value Chain

The project intervened by involving the entire community at the village level in cotton-producing areas. Children in or at risk of child labour were withdrawn from these situations and provided with education or vocational training. Parents, in most instances mothers, were provided with support for Income Generating Activities (IGAs) and community leaders were provided with policy guidance and capacity-building opportunities. By addressing the needs of all community members and empowering them, the project addressed the different vulnerabilities, ensured that children who were withdrawn from child labour did not fall back into work, and importantly, mobilised the community around this issue.

The project intervened along national cotton value chains, supporting different stakeholders from small producers in the informal sector on family farms to companies in the ginning and spinning sector to national umbrella organisations.  Formalising associations of cotton producers in cooperatives improved agricultural management and expertise which in turn boosted the income of cotton producers and helped ensure their children went to and stayed in school. Companies in the ginning and spinning sector were trained and, in Pakistan, a due diligence toolkit was developed for members of the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP). National cooperative federations were mobilised to abolish child and forced labour, apply the International Cooperative Alliance’s seven cooperative principles and ensure the respect of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

The project not only engaged traditional ILO constituents (Ministries of Labour, employers’ and workers’ organizations) but also reached out to a diverse range of other stakeholders. With the focus on agriculture, Ministries of Agriculture were actively involved, notably in developing Income Generating Activities (IGAs) with FAO support. The implementation of the Accelerated Schooling Strategy ensured the engagement of Ministries of Education. At local levels, a community-wide approach was adopted, working with civil society organizations (including youth-led associations) and village leaders amongst others, and those directly affected by child and forced labour. In this way, the project ensured a high level of commitment, wide ownership of the tools and results and cross-accountability at national and local levels.

Affected communities were involved from the very beginning of the project, at the design stage and in most activities. For example, the parents of children in or at risk of child labour participated in identifying children to benefit from schooling or vocational training. Through the community-level Child Labour Monitoring mechanisms established, actors at the village level now play a key role in identifying children in or at risk of child labour and referring them to the appropriate services. Communities were also involved in a large variety of awareness-raising interventions through the FAO-supported Dimitra Clubs and through activities on and around successive World Days Against Child Labour. By giving voice and agency to the communities, the project empowered them to make decisions about their own situation and take ownership. Community members have become agents of change as a result.  

In addition to the focus on the abolition of child and forced labour, interventions aimed at ensuring respect for the three other Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: Elimination of discrimination at work, Right to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and Right to a safe and healthy work environment. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) was used as an entry point to tackle child labour with interventions on protecting children from exposure to pesticides and raising awareness of the dangers of pesticide use. This not only put a stop to hazardous child labour but also had a positive impact on parents’ health with income put towards education rather than medicine. Freedom of association and social dialogue were promoted as tools for producers to better negotiate cotton prices, have their concerns heard and addressed, and subsequently increase their income which allows them to afford adult labour. Concerning non-discrimination and gender equality, women were targeted as agents of change within their communities. Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) were specifically targeted at women which increased incomes and positively impacted the education of their children.

The ILO is the leading agency in the fight against child and forced labour with many years of action supporting its Member States to tackle these issues. FAO has expertise in rural development and addressing child labour in agriculture while the EU has the important capacity to trigger action and mobilise economic actors to respect Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.  By collaborating, ILO, FAO and the EU pooled their expertise, resources and tools and leveraged their networks to achieve a high level of delivery and efficiency. The EU delegations at the country level provided continuous support and guidance.  The project’s implementing team, from ILO/FAO staff to national and local partners, worked hand-in-hand and with reactivity to ensure timely and coordinated delivery despite many challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, security threats, coups d’état and climate crises. One good example of joint action to achieve impact is the coordinated approach with the ILO focus on the Accelerated Schooling Strategy. This ensured that children were withdrawn from child labour and reintegrated into school. FAO simultaneously supported livelihood interventions ensuring that parents were supported to improve their incomes and thus not resort to child labour in the future for lack of means to keep their children in school.

At the beginning of the project, there was no reliable, recent and/or specific data on child labour or forced labour in the cotton supply chain either at the global, regional, national or local level. By producing such data at the country level, the project was able to assess the reality of the situation and target interventions to respond to the most salient and urgent needs using the most appropriate tools. For example, the project conducted a study on the needs of cotton cooperatives of Mali in terms of respecting and promoting Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The results showed there were no identifiable cases of forced labour in cotton production. Instead, there was limited knowledge of this issue and the indicators to identify it. As a result, the project’s direct interventions focused on addressing child labour whilst integrating specific training on forced labour. For example, the digital training on forced labour for managers of cotton cooperatives and companies.

The project mainstreamed gender concerns into activities from the design phase to implementation and evaluation. The project ensured that, to the extent possible, women participated in all activities, adapting as needed to different cultural contexts. For example, in Pakistan, where the practice is to separate women and men in educational settings, training for women cotton pickers on occupational safety and health, child labour and forced labour was provided for women only. The Income-Generating Activities (IGAs) targeting women validated the knowledge that improving the economic situation of women greatly improves the situation of the household, with regard to children’s education in particular. Women were also actively involved in the FAO-supported Dimitra Clubs, with specific clubs for women. Ultimately, empowering women helped, in turn, to empower the community, providing opportunities to rise out of poverty and ensure access to education.