International Cocoa Initiative

We tackle child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector of West Africa.

With offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Switzerland, we unite the forces of the cocoa and chocolate industry, civil society, farming communities, governments, international organizations and donors, leading a collective journey towards thriving cocoa-growing communities within a sustainable and responsibly managed cocoa supply chain.

We have been working in cocoa-growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana since 2007. During this time, we have contributed to improving the lives of children and adults in these communities.

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Our Vision & Mission

Our vision is of thriving cocoa-growing communities within a dignified, sustainable and responsibly managed cocoa supply chain, where children's rights and human rights are protected and respected, and where child labour and forced labour have been eliminated.

We work together with our members and partners to improve the lives of children and adults at risk of child labour and forced labour in cocoa-growing communities. We innovate, catalyse and support the development, implementation and scale-up of effective policies and practices that promote child rights and that prevent or remediate child labour and forced labour.

Our History

ICI was founded in 2002 as a multi-stakeholder initiative emerging from the Harkin-Engel Protocol, an international agreement aimed at ending the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa supply chain. ICI was established to work with the cocoa sector and cocoa-growing communities to address child labour and increase child protection.

We began operating in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in 2007, implementing a community development approach in cocoa-growing communities. Working with member companies and civil society organizations, we adapted Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems for the cocoa supply chain in 2012. Since then, these approaches have been widely adopted and implemented by many in the sector, reaching hundreds of thousands of farming families across Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Cameroon.

Our Members

Child labour and forced labour are complex problems that can only be tackled effectively through the collective, coordinated and consistent efforts of all stakeholders involved. Our members and partners are part of an important collective effort working to prevent and address child labour and forced labour in the cocoa supply chain.

They include civil society, the cocoa industry, international organizations and donors, farming cooperatives, governments, regional bodies, and more. Our unique ability to bring these different stakeholders together makes us a powerful actor for change within the sector and beyond.

International Cocoa Initiative

We tackle child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector of West Africa.

Our Vision & Mission

Our History

Our Members

More about ICI