Responsible Enterprises: Innovative Pathways to Child Labour Elimination

Participants were introduced to the principles of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) and its comprehensive approach to tackle child labour including aspects related to social dialogue, social protection, formalization and apprenticeship, labour inspection and remediation mechanisms, occupational safety and health.

Article | 22 December 2021
From 18 to 29 October 2021, fourty representatives among Governments, employers’ organizations, businesses, and workers’ organizations from Mali and Côte d’Ivoire engaged in a dialogue and capacity building training to discuss and learn about strategies and actions to promote the elimination of child labour and its root causes in the framework of a holistic approach.

The training, organized by the International Training Centre of the ILO in collaboration with the ACCEL Africa project funded by the Government of the Netherlands, focused on the key role of responsible business practices and human rights due diligence in accordance with the International Labour Standards and the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work: “Enterprises and the international labour standards: innovating in the fight against child labour and its root causes”.

Participants were introduced to the principles of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) and its comprehensive approach to tackle child labour including aspects related to social dialogue, social protection, formalization and apprenticeship, labour inspection and remediation mechanisms, occupational safety and health.
 
Innovative approaches were presented such as the WIND (Work Improvement in Neighbourhood Development) training programme based on a participatory and action-oriented approach, designed for rapid and sustainable improvements in farmers' safety, health and working conditions by fostering workers’ participation, and leaning on local practices and farmers’ own initiatives, knowledge and resources; the adaptation of the Universal Health Coverage to cocoa communities in order for them to have access to a social protection mechanism; the CRAFT Code intended to facilitate the application of due diligence processes for small-scale mining producers, to help them identify and progressively mitigate risks, while allowing them to promote, in the market, the minerals produced through responsible practices.

“The sharing of experiences was very enriching” stated a representative of the General Directorate of Employment in Ivory Coast.

The interactive sessions also boost a dialogue that allowed to emphasize the importance of promoting improved synergies in the elimination of child labour, especially in the framework of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP).

As the representative from SACO/Barry Callebaut stated, “better collaboration between all stakeholders would make it possible to be more effective in the fight against child labour” and “will help to foster a better sharing of experiences” (Unilever).