Annual Report 2021

THE INTERNATIONAL COCOA INITIATIVE

ICI is a non-profit foundation that works to ensure a better future for children in cocoa-growing communities. It is a multi-stakeholder partnership advancing the elimination of child labour and forced labour, by uniting the forces of the cocoa and chocolate industry, civil society, farming communities, governments, international organisations, and donors.

ICI has been working in cocoa-growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana since 2007 and within that time has helped advance quantified progress in the fight against child labour in cocoa. ICI’s innovation and learning projects, sharing of good practice, coordination efforts and technical advocacy work also contribute to wider impact on the cocoa sector as a whole, in addition to its direct action, supporting the scale up of impact.

Our vision

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

Our mission

ICI works together with its partners to improve the lives of
children and adults at risk of child labour or forced labour in
cocoa-growing communities. ICI innovates, catalyses and
supports 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.

Message from the Executive Director

2021 was the first year of our new five-year strategy in addition to being the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. It was also the year I took on the role as ICI’s Executive Director. While I have been with the organisation for many years, taking on this position has been an exciting new start for me, and I look forward to working with all our members to accelerate change under our new strategy.

To help us deliver on our ambitious new strategy, we made a few changes to the way our organisation is run and to what it means to be an ICI member. For example, we have introduced reporting requirements for members, which I believe will help to recognize the efforts that are currently being made and motivate further action and investment, in addition to driving the rigour and transparency necessary in the sector. We were also very happy to welcome many new members during the year, underlining the increased motivation within the sector to tackle these challenges, and ICI’s continued strong reputation.

Throughout the year, we continued to innovate, test out and improve tools and approaches to tackle child labour and forced labour in cocoa. For example, we improved risk models to help ensure support gets to where it is most needed, and we explored the impact cash transfers can have on child labour and the use of child friendly spaces. We continued to strengthen the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) in addition to furthering our work on forced labour.

2021 also saw important policy and regulatory developments. We advocated for human rights due diligence legislation at the European level, joining other civil society organisations and cocoa and chocolate companies within the Cocoa Coalition, in addition to collaborating in a number of European sustainable cocoa platforms and the EU Cocoa Dialogue. Our relationship to our government partners in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire is more important than ever and you can read more details from our Country Directors here.

Thanks to ICI and its members 590,000 cocoa-farming households were targeted by CLMRS and other equivalent systems during in 2021.

This is an important step forward that must be recognized but still only accounts for about a third of the supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. We must work harder and more efficiently to scale up actions to cover the full supply chain, including those farmers involved in the indirect supply chain (for the year in figures please click here).

We look forward to building a stronger future with you, our partners and stakeholders, and I am confident that together we can create a sustainable and responsibly-managed cocoa supply chain.

Matthias Lange, ICI Executive Director

Clear objectives

ICI’s new 2021–2026 strategy sets out a vision of thriving cocoa-growing communities within a dignified, sustainable and responsibly-managed cocoa supply chain.

In order to achieve this, we need the scaling up of effective human rights due diligence systems, complemented by effective national policies, programmes and systems, all operating in a more coordinated and integrated way.

Our overarching aim is that, by 2025, the whole of the cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana is covered by systems that effectively prevent and remediate child labour, and that systems that tackle forced labour have been significantly scaled up. However, the strategy recognises that ICI cannot achieve this level of coverage alone. Therefore, our ability to engage with, support and inspire, other actors within the sector is key. For more information on this aspect of our work please see the section on Technical Advocacy.

Our overarching aim is that, by 2025, the whole of the cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana is covered by systems that effectively prevent and remediate child labour, and that systems that tackle forced labour have been significantly scaled up.

Strong governance

In recognition of our new strategic objectives, and the important role of ICI as a catalyst driving good practices throughout the cocoa sector, 2021 also saw a strengthening of the organisation’s governance, with an updated Code of Conduct, Terms of Partnership, Members Compliance Procedure as well as newly introduced reporting responsibilities for members.

These reporting responsibilities are a first for ICI and represent an important step forward in the organisation’s evolution. A stronger sense of what it means to be an ICI member, with associated responsibilities, will ensure continued credibility of the organisation, and help to retain and attract new members. This is particularly important at a time when there is increasing interest in the organisation and its work, and an increasing appetite for human rights due diligence in the cocoa supply chain.

Strengthening internal capacity

The ability of our organisation to deliver on our new strategic objectives is dependent on talented and dedicated staff, who are well trained and supported to perform their functions.

To achieve this, a new Internal Competency Framework and a new Compensation and Benefits Policy were introduced to help employees understand and embody the organisation’s values, strengthen ICI’s employer offering and attract and retain talented staff.

New members

In 2021, seven companies joined ICI, reflecting the organisation’s growing attractiveness to a diverse range of players in the sector. New members include a number of Asian companies, a region not historically strongly represented in ICI’s membership, in addition to some West African traders, also a first for the organisation. This reflects the growing importance of cocoa sustainability and human rights issues across the world. For a full list of our members click here.

Cémoi is the largest privately-owned French chocolate and confectionery manufacturer. In joining ICI, Cémoi is advancing the goals of its current sustainability programme, Transparence Cacao.

“This partnership with ICI means a lot to us as it will allow us to learn from others in the cocoa sector and receive support to continue our current activities dedicated to preventing and fighting child labour in our supply chain.” Patrick Poirrier, CEO of Cémoi at end 2021

Cyrian International is a cocoa trading company based in Côte d’Ivoire.

“Joining ICI reflects our commitment to fighting child labour in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire. We are interested to use ICI tools to fight child labour such as the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System and we would like to make a difference to rural communities by ensuring a decent wage for cocoa producers, access to health care for producers and their families and access to education for their children.” Arland Assoma, CEO of Cyrian International

Guan Chong Berhard (GCB), headquartered in Malaysia, is one of the world’s largest cocoa processors and industrial chocolate manufacturers.

“We are committed to addressing child labour in our supply chain and joining ICI is a way for us to tap into the expertise of the network. We are also really pleased to be able to contribute to the collaborative efforts to address child labour and strongly believe that being part of this multi-stakeholder partnership will help us to better tackle these issues.” Elsa Tay, Commercial Director of GCB

Indcresa is a family-owned company headquartered in Barcelona that has been manufacturing cocoa products since 1915.

“We believe that achieving a transformational change for the sustainable cocoa sector requires engagement from all stakeholders across the whole cocoa value chain. That’s why after joining the Cocoa & Forests Initiative to tackle deforestation in 2018, Indcresa has now taken a step further by joining ICI as a Contributing Partner to support their catalytic work promoting child protection and tackling child labour, as well as forced labour, in the cocoa sector.” Mario and Carlos Crehuet, co-CEOs of Indcresa

Meiji sources its cocoa from all over the world and started its farmer support programme, Meiji Cocoa Support, in 2006.

“I strongly believe that by being a member of ICI and by sharing knowledge and experience among its members, we will together make a significant advance towards solving the problems of child labour in the cocoa industry.” Katsunari Matsuda, President and Representative Director of Meiji Co., Ltd.

Quang Thien Imex S.A, established in Cote d’Ivoire in 2009, specialises in supply chain management of agricultural products.

“We have seen, through ongoing efforts to improve overall sustainability in our supply chain, that child labour is a particularly pressing problem in the cocoa sector. As a company we are dedicated to tackling this challenge and we are happy to be able to partner with ICI to make this happen.” Bobby Quang Thien VO, Director General of QTI

Walter Matter is a Geneva-based cocoa and coffee merchant. The 100-year, family run company sources its cocoa from various countries around the world, including Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.

“Joining ICI is a way for us to partner with experts to address the crucial issue of child labour in the cocoa sector. ICI and its members have shown significant know-how over the past years, and we will be pleased to bring our contribution.” Nicolas Matter, CEO of Walter Matter

The International Labour Organisation and Alliance 8.7 declared 2021 the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, challenging stakeholders at all levels to shift from commitment to action, and to accelerate progress in the fight against child labour.

In response to this call, and in line with the objectives in our 2021–2026 strategy, ICI and its members pledged to scale up systems that prevent and address child labour, in line with human rights due diligence (HRDD) efforts, from 450,000 households at the end of 2020 to 540,000 cocoa-growing households in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana by the end of 2021.

In fact, this pledge was surpassed.

Thanks to collective efforts from our members across industry and civil society, by the end of 2021, 590,000 households across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana had been targeted with systems that prevent and address child labour.

By the end of 2021, thanks to the collective efforts of our members across industry and civil society, 590,000 households in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana were targeted with CLMRS or equivalent human rights due diligence systems.1

Targeted means that a household is registered in a CLMRS, and an in-person monitoring visit or reliable risk assessment is planned but may not yet have been done.

About one third (205,000) of these households are registered as part of ICI implemented or supported CLMRS. The remaining two thirds of the households are registered in CLMRS or equivalent HRDD systems run independently by ICI members or cooperatives, showing widespread adoption of such an approach in the sector and underlining ICI’s role as a catalyst in addition to an implementer.

Illustration CLP visiting farmer with child

1. This was part of the pledge made by ICI and its members for the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.

ICI implemented or supported CLMRS

Percentages calculated on data from the launch of the CLMRS to end 2021

146,259 households covered

By the end of 2021, 146,259 households were covered by an ICI implemented or supported CLMRS, and 218,200 children were interviewed.

Covered means that a household is registered in a CLMRS, and a monitoring visit or household-level risk assessment has been done.

25% of children were found in child labour*

25% of children interviewed were identified in child labour and the three most common hazardous tasks were carrying heavy loads, using sharp tools for weeding or using sharp tools overhead to harvest cocoa pods.

Most hazardous tasks (transparent background)

75% of children received support*

75% of children in the system received support to prevent and address child labour.

43%* of those found in child labour are no longer in child labour after the first follow up visit.

34%* of those found in child labour are no longer in child labour after two consecutive follow up visits.

This shows the importance of regular monitoring and awareness raising to stop children from falling back into child labour.

*ICI implemented CLMRS only

Support to prevent and address child labour

When a child is identified at risk, we provide support tailored to the needs of the individual child, family or community.

Here are some examples of support provided in 2021:

How effective are CLMRS at helping to stop children from engaging in child labour?
The CLMRS is built around community facilitators (often farmers themselves) who visit households, raise awareness on the dangers of child labour, and identify children engaged in hazardous work. If a child is found in child labour, they are recorded in the system and support is provided to the child, their family and community.

Child labour is a complex problem. Even after receiving support, it is not always easy for a child to stop working definitively, especially as the risk of child labour increases as a child grows older. This is why it is important to conduct regular follow-up visits – facilitators aim to do so every six months – to check how children are getting on and determine whether further support is required.

Data collected by the CLMRS shows us that just over 40% of children found in child labour have stopped doing hazardous work by their first follow-up visit. But by their next visit, some are involved in child labour once again. However, if children are found to be not in child labour for at least two consecutive visits, they are much less likely to return to doing hazardous work again. If we look at the children’s two most recent follow up visits, we see that over one third of children are no longer in child labour.

“I am happy I listened to the advice of the CLMRS community facilitators in my community. It is through this that I am now able to provide adequately for myself and my children. I now use myself as an example for other farmers in my community who find themselves in the situation, I was in. I do this so we can collectively eliminate child labour in Nkranfo Nkwanta through alternative income generation.”

Gabriel Adjei, cocoa farmer, Nkranfo Nkwanta, Ashanti, Ghana

“When we opened the fund and saw how much money we had saved, I was personally surprised. We were all happy. We celebrated that. We even brought out a uniform to celebrate. This year with the money I get from my savings, I would like to buy cloth and children’s clothes and resell them here in Koffiyaokro.”

Kouamé N’Guessan Félicité, President of the Women’s Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), Koffiyaokro

“We didn’t like the old school. It was ugly and hot. When it rained, we didn’t go to school, because the rain made us wet.”

Yao Amoin Aude Flora Yasmine and her twin brother, Yao Kouamé Prince d’Avila, both 6 years old, when describing why they prefer their new school that opened in 2021, located in the Soleil district, Côte d'Ivoire

Strengthening CLMRS for increased adoption and impact

Two decades ago, Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) were developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). ICI has been pioneering the adaptation and use of these systems in the cocoa sector. In recent years their use to identify, monitor, address and prevent child labour has expanded greatly and current estimates suggest approximately 30% of the cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are now covered. With that expansion set to continue (in our 2021–2026 strategy we are aiming for full coverage of the supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) the need for clear definitions and benchmarks to track progress has become more important.

The “Benchmarking study: Overview and definition of child labour monitoring and remediation systems” defines a shared understanding of what a CLMRS is, what it needs to do and how to measure success. ICI facilitated this collective exercise (commissioned by the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa), which is based on inputs from national authorities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, Unicef, ILO, and multiple companies implementing CLMRS in cocoa. Members of the Swiss, German, Dutch and Belgian Platforms for sustainable cocoa also provided inputs and feedback.

The operational definition states that a CLMRS must be able to successfully implement four core activities:

Raise awareness on child labour and resulting harm amongst farmers, children, and members of the wider community.
Identify children in child labour through an active monitoring process, using standardised data collection tools.
Provide both prevention and remediation support to children in child labour, and others at risk, and document the support provided.
Follow-up with children identified in child labour to monitor their status on a regular basis until they have stopped engaging in child labour.

Key indicators that can be used to measure the impact of a CLMRS include:

the number of households and children monitored by a CLMRS,
the number and percentage of children identified in child labour,
whether children receive prevention and remediation support, and
whether identified children stop working.

ICI’s “Effectiveness Review of Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems in the West African Cocoa Sector” was also published in 2021 to help improve the effectiveness of CLMRS. It analyses data from over 200,000 children covered by 12 CLMRS to examine:

How effective are different types of system design and setup at identifying cases of child labour?
How effective are systems at keeping children out of child labour and improving their access to school?

Identification of cases: Identifying cases of child labour is not always easy for several reasons: child labour is a sensitive topic; children may not be present when a monitor visits; families may not always provide complete information; and the training, experience and motivation of monitors can vary. However, it is important to identify as many of the cases as possible, so that support can be provided to all who need it. This review highlights several ways to improve identification rates: adapting awareness-raising campaigns and monitoring visits to match seasonal patterns, recruiting and retaining more female monitors and those with higher levels of education.

Protecting children from child labour: Once a child is identified, providing support does not automatically mean that the child will stop working and different children require different types of support. Many children go in and out of child labour over time, underlining the importance of continued monitoring and response to their changing needs. Results suggest that interventions to improve access to quality education (such as the provision of school kits, the renovation of classrooms, and the organisation of bridging classes for out-of-school children) are particularly promising strategies to help children out of hazardous work.

Research to action – increasing the number of female monitors

Findings show that female monitors can be more effective than their male counterparts at identifying child labour cases, yet women represent less than 5% of monitors in the systems reviewed.

In partnership with Tony’s Chocolonely, we worked in two cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire to address barriers to recruiting and retaining women as monitors.

A targeted recruitment campaign successfully increased the proportion of female monitors to over 30% of new recruits. Motorcycle driving lessons, flexible working hours, and working in pairs are being tested to help overcome some of the barriers identified.

“My name is Christianne Kouamé Angèle, I am a coach as part of the CLMRS within the ECAO cooperative. During our training we have learned how to approach the farmers and raise awareness of child labour. This awareness raising is done using posters, either with individuals or groups. The posters show the different kinds of work, light work versus hazardous work. We go into the households to explain the difference. In the morning I go to the fields to check, sometimes I surprise the farmer, to see whether his child is working. The child can work but only if he isn’t doing a hazardous task such as using a sharp tool. Due to a lack of means, farmers use children as labour instead of sending them to school. This is what motivates me to visit the farmers: to tell them that a child’s place is not on the farm but in school.”

Christianne Kouamé Angèle, Coach

“My role is to validate the data synchronised by the Community Facilitators who collect it using a mobile application for the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems.

When I receive the data, I validate it. Then I accompany the Community Facilitators to organise awareness campaigns in our different localities. We organise these campaigns according to the period. For the major cocoa harvest, we raise awareness on weeding, tree felling, and charcoal making; and for the small harvest, we educate on the use of phytosanitary products because it is at this time of the year that producers use many more products.

Since the establishment of the system, we have seen a clear improvement in the situation of child labour. We have set up community service groups that help producers in their plantations, where before their children were used. We have created income generating activities for women. These activities consist of renting tarpaulins. This allows them to help their husbands with the schooling of their children. When it comes to education, we have distributed school kits, which has helped parents in times of difficulty. And for the children aged 9 to 14 years old who are out of school, we have set up bridging classes. These children were eventually integrated into regular schools so that they could continue their studies. The system must continue because it is an effective tool in the fight against child labour in cocoa farming.”

Djroh Jean Valérie Joël has been working as a Monitoring and Remediation Agent at the Entreprise Coopérative Agricole de Bonon, in Côte d'Ivoire since 2015

Predicting Child Labour Risk – Accurate and quality data is required

ICI has continued work on predicting the risk of child labour, so that vulnerable households and children can be identified more quickly and at a lower cost.

Our new study, "Risk models to predict child labour: A review of different approaches to identify children at risk of child labour in cocoa" presents case studies of risk models for Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, developed by several actors. The research shows that models can be highly effective, with the most successful correctly predicting child labour in more than 95% of cases. In practice, this means that fewer household visits are required to identify children at-risk.

However, up-to-date and good quality data on households is needed to use these models, which often remains challenging in practice. With support from GIZ, ICI has been working with cooperatives to build their capacity to collect and manage good quality data on their members and to use an online risk model to help identify and support vulnerable households more efficiently. Beyond the use of risk models to predict child labour, improving the quality of available data on farming households can bring immediate benefits to cooperatives for certification, sustainability, and commercial purposes.

Learning from children

Children have the right to participate in decisions that affect them; and listening to them is key to understanding their aspirations, priorities, and the challenges they face, as well as to finding appropriate solutions.

In partnership with Nestlé, during 2021 we initiated consultations with children and adolescents aged 10–17 in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Using child-friendly participatory approaches, we explored their perceptions and experiences of education, work, health and wellbeing; the challenges they face in their daily lives; and asked for their ideas on how to solve them.

"I want to be a nurse. This is because there is none in my family. All my family members are school dropouts. I believe I can be a nurse if I learn hard. My parents will be so proud of it. So, in 2021 I am determined to do better.” Girl, 15, Tweapease

Insights and proposed solutions

Children saw education as a pathway to a ‘better’ future, especially secondary and tertiary education. But many were also aware of the financial constraints that might prevent them from continuing their studies. They suggested that more awareness raising with their parents/ guardians could help them to focus on their education as opposed to being asked to work on the farm.
All the children had clear aspirations as to what they would like to do in the future, but none of them wanted to become cocoa farmers.
Many children engaged regularly in light work both at home and on farms to support their parents or guardians and contribute to their household. Children were aware of the difference between light and hazardous work but explained that they often had little choice but to do as their parents instructed.
Children suggested that improving the provision of essential services often lacking in many cocoa-growing communities (such as schools, health clinics, water, mobile connectivity, and public transport) in addition to improving access to cash transfers, Village Savings and Loan Associations, school kits, etc. could help.

“To prevent children like us from engaging in dangerous tasks on cocoa plantations, parents need to be educated on hazardous labour.” Boy, 15, Tiémélékro

Where next?
These consultations show that when given the opportunity and a supportive environment, children are more than capable of sharing relevant and practical solutions to the challenges they face. We were reassured to learn that children’s priorities are generally well aligned with the types of support currently provided. ICI staff in Ghana have now been trained in the principles of child participation and using participatory methods with children. We are using these findings to rethink the way we communicate our work to children and their families, as well as to better incorporate children's views in the way we design and implement future programmes.

Innovative interventions to prevent and address child labour

Child Friendly Spaces
With support from the Jacob’s Foundation, ICI developed 3 child-friendly spaces in 2021, to offer children a safe space to interact with peers and play, and to provide an alternative to being on the farm. In total, 456 children participated in activities conducted through the centres in 2021. The child friendly spaces aim to:

promote children's development by giving them space to play and participate in decisions that affect them,
create a safe space where children can express themselves and interact with peers, and
provide an alternative to going to the fields after school.

Trained facilitators receive regular support from ICI and we are exploring how to ensure the long term sustainability of the approach after the end of the pilot in 2022.

Cash transfers
ICI’s new study on the impact of a cash transfer programme in Ghana was the first of its kind to measure the impact of cash transfers on child labour in cocoa. The research, funded by an innovation grant from the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Nestlé, shows that cash transfers made households more resilient to unexpected adverse events. Two thirds of the households involved in the study experienced illness, a death in the family, a poor harvest, or another type of shock, which negatively affected their financial situation. Families who received the cash transfers, worth around 30 CHF per month, were better able to cope with these unexpected events, while households not receiving the cash transfer were significantly more likely to resort to negative coping strategies, such as reducing the family’s food consumption or using child labour.

The cash transfers reduced child labour by 9 percentage points – this corresponds to a 16% decrease from a prevalence rate of 58% in the sample. The study also showed that the cash transfers had a positive impact on children’s material wellbeing, with children in households receiving the transfers more likely to own essential items such as blankets, shoes, and clothes. These results are very encouraging and demonstrate the important role of income in tackling child labour. However, they also underline that it cannot solve the issue alone. Even after the programme, child labour prevalence remained relatively high at around 50%, suggesting income support needs to be one part of a broader set of measures to prevent and address child labour.

Following these positive results, the cash transfer program is now being extended in Ghana, in collaboration with Nestlé and ECOM. The second phase will test whether providing cash directly to women, as well as other interventions to promote gender equality, can further increase the impact on child labour.

Yaw Donkor, a farmer from Sankore, was one of the recipients of the cash transfer programme. His story is a good example of the consequences of a sudden illness. “I was seriously sick” explained Yaw, who could not work for several months. “I had some issues
with my eyes…if not for the money I have no idea how my children and I would have survived that period.”

Hydroponic Agriculture
Within a recent project run with Nestlé in Ahondo, Côte d’Ivoire, women’s groups were trained and supported to use hydroponic agriculture to cultivate tomatoes. The technique uses less water and space than traditional agriculture and is designed so the plants come to maturity quicker, thereby helping to both preserve the environment and give women in cocoa-growing communities a strong alternative income generating activity. The women have since decided to cultivate other crops such as lettuce and okra using their new knowledge and skills.

“I got involved in this activity to be able to support my husband and our children, to take care of them. I am proud to be in this programme. I am sure that thanks to this project, my children will succeed tomorrow.” N'guessan Akissi Léa, mother of five children who was involved in the project.

Promoting gender equality through Village Savings and Loan Associations
Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are a low-cost, widely used strategy to provide access to credit services in remote communities and help improve household cash flow management. Often organised with groups of women, they can also support women’s empowerment. However, if men are excluded from the process, women’s participation in such groups can trigger feelings of injustice and at times lead to conflict within families. To avoid these negative effects and help contribute to lasting change, VSLAs can be paired with other interventions to advance gender equality.

In 2021, ICI and Nestlé, with support from the World Cocoa Foundation and USAID’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Initiative, organised dialogue sessions for couples alongside the creation of Village Savings and Loan Associations in a number of communities in Côte d’Ivoire. The sessions cover communication and trust within the couple, improving self-esteem, the concept of gender, gender stereotypes, power, law and politics and gender-based violence. The sessions have been well-received by both women and men.

Forced labour pilot

In 2021, we continued our work to improve the management of forced labour risks for both children and adults in cocoa-growing communities within the forced labour pilot. The aim of this project is to adapt, develop and test approaches and tools to better identify, prevent and respond to forced labour risks.

During the year, we tested awareness raising materials, data collection questionnaires, contract templates, cooperative policy templates and mediation, with 5 communities in Ghana and 5 in Côte d’Ivoire. While the pilot is still ongoing, preliminary results suggest that community level mediation can be an important first step in improving working conditions and lowering risk. For example, farm workers who felt that the details of the tasks to be done, their working and/or living conditions, and/or payment terms had not been clear at recruitment (all forced labour risk factors) were comfortable turning to community mediation committees for support, which often led to the signing of formal contracts between worker and farm owner. In addition, it is clear that awareness and understanding of forced labour is still limited within cocoa-growing areas in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and training is key for case identification and response.

In 2021,

What is forced labour?
Forced labour is defined by the International Labour Organization as "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the threat of a penalty and for which the person has not offered himself or herself voluntarily." Cases can often involve deception and manipulation, such as workers doing work they did not originally agree to or having their identity papers taken from them, in addition to physical violence or its threat.

For children, forced labour is defined as working because of a penalty (or the threat of one) from someone other than the parent. This could be a threat to the child or to the parent. At times children are forced to work because their parents themselves are in forced labour.

What are the risk factors?
Several factors can increase the risk of forced labour:

Illiteracy, linked to a lack of access to quality education, means workers often struggle to understand their rights or employment contracts.
Traditional patterns of migration often uproot workers from the societies that protect them.
Poverty, combined with a lack of income diversity, often render workers more vulnerable to predatory or abusive working relationships.
In the cocoa sector a lack of formal contracts for farmers and farm workers, as well as low awareness of labour laws and a weak capacity to enforce them in remote rural areas, further increase the risk of forced labour and allow potentially abusive working relationships to go unchecked.

ICI’s 2021–2026 Strategy recognises the important role of the organisation in driving sector-wide change. By promoting knowledge and learning, by engaging in the development of policies and standards and by supporting all stakeholders to align their actions for a more coordinated approach, we believe we can inspire others to act and create the necessary enabling environment to see real impact.

European Human Rights Due Diligence
As part of our ambition to foster a supportive environment that promotes responsible business conduct, we advocated for ambitious and harmonised human rights due diligence legislation at the European level. We joined other civil society organisations and cocoa and chocolate companies within the Cocoa Coalition (an informal group aiming to support the development of relevant EU policy measures), to advocate for the key elements that EU human rights due diligence legislation should include.

It is important that such legislation is in line with existing international standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. In addition, we argued that, in order to be beneficial, such legislation must also be accompanied by meaningful support from the European Union to cocoa producing countries in the form of partnership agreements in addition to sector specific guidelines.

Furthermore, we were active in the European Cocoa Talks (the European Commission’s multi-stakeholder dialogues on sustainable cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) throughout the year, contributing as a technical expert on social traceability and child labour in addition to sharing expertise and knowledge in the sessions organised in West Africa.

National Sustainable Cocoa Platforms in Europe
In order to further drive sector coordination, and mutually share learning and best practices we joined a number of the European sustainable cocoa platforms during the year, including DISCO, Beyond Chocolate and GISCO (the Dutch, Belgian and German sustainable cocoa platforms respectively). We were already a member of SwissCo.

We welcome the increasing alignment of these platforms at both the strategic and operational level, including the signing of a joint Memorandum of Understanding that underlines an intent to work towards shared objectives and jointly monitor progress. Joint working groups at European level have been formed for each key sustainability theme, including child labour and monitoring, both co-chaired by ICI. In addition, we are members of a further 13 working groups allowing us to take part in more targeted conversations around child labour, forced labour, human rights due diligence, and traceability. For example, engagements within the group around monitoring will help support coherence between our new members reporting responsibilities and exercises led by other sustainable cocoa platforms and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF).

Workshops and learning events
ICI’s efforts to promote knowledge and learning within and beyond the cocoa sector have included events in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and at global level.

In 2021, we also aimed to reach out to stakeholders beyond the cocoa sector, presenting at events organised by 4C coffee platform, Be Slavery Free, GIZ and the UN Global Compact. We also sought the expertise of others, organising workshops for members and partners on effective referrals and forced labour, as well as sharing research on the effectiveness of CLMRS, predicting child labour risk, and the
impact of cash transfers on child labour.

Engaging in standards development
To support alignment and coherence across the sector, ICI has actively engaged in the development of ambitious new standards, and the strengthening of existing ones. Our objective is that standards on child labour and forced labour are strengthened by incorporating effective approaches to protect children's and workers’ rights, that they are in line with key principles of human rights due diligence and that they reflect the latest benchmarking and measurement indicators that have been commonly agreed upon within the sector.

For example, in 2021 we took part in the review of the FairTrade Standard for cocoa. We supported the extension of the standard to sharecroppers and caretakers (which extends the benefits of certification to more adults and children, as well as helping to tackle forced labour); we ensured that requirements for CLMRS were aligned with commonly agreed benchmarks and findings on effectiveness; and we provided feedback on indicators that can be used to help predict child labour and more effectively target children at risk. We also continued to be active in the development of the African Standard for Sustainable Cocoa (ARS 1000). In particular, we focused on sharing knowledge and experience around the sections of the standard that focus on child rights and child labour, and the use of child labour monitoring and
remediation systems.

Actively engaging with the development of standards is an important way of sharing our experience and learning from others, of ensuring alignment between different players, of creating a level playing field and helping to measure impact and progress. Ultimately it will help ensure that the polices and standards that shape the sector will truly benefit cocoa farmers and their families.

Actively engaging with the development of standards is an important way to help ensure alignment between different players, create a level playing field and measure impact and progress.

Message from Country Director: Côte d'Ivoire

In 2021, we saw a strengthening of our collaboration with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire in several areas related to child protection, reflecting ICI’s increasingly important role in bringing different stakeholders together and as a catalyst for change as highlighted in our new 2021–2026 strategy.

We provided support to the development of two mapping tools: one on public and private actors in charge of child protection, and the other on the operational mechanisms of public and private child labour monitoring systems. These maps will help strengthen the fight against child labour in cocoa-growing communities.

We also collaborated in the revision of tool 4 of the Ivoirian Child Labour Monitoring System (SOSTECI), developed by the Government of Côte d'Ivoire to ensure alignment and coordination with private sector mechanisms. This tool allows organisations to transfer data collected in the field to the SOSTECI database, therefore reinforcing a connection between private sector systems and those led by the Ivoirian Government.

In addition, ICI has been actively involved in the development of the Operational Guide which will accompany the African Regional Sustainable Cocoa Standard, focusing in particular on the "Children's Rights" and "Child Labor and Worst Forms of Child Labor" components.

Furthermore, we have provided a number of governmental structures involved in the fight against child labour with technical and material support, in order to enable them to better play their role in supporting children in, or at risk of, child labour, in addition to their coordination and reporting responsibilities. In particular, we have worked with the Ministry of Women, Family and Children and the Ministry of Employment and Social Protection.

We will continue this capacity strengthening work with staff of the Coffee and Cocoa Council (Conseil de Café Cacao), aiming to support all governmental structures to better play their coordinating role, in light of the new EU legislation currently under discussion. Finally, we are pleased with the excellent quality of collaboration that our organisation maintains with all stakeholders, to whom we extend our most sincere thanks, and we look forward to extending this positive relationship in the future.

Euphrasie Aka, Country Director: Côte d'Ivoire

Message from Country Director: Ghana

2021 saw important strides made in collaboration with the Ghanaian government to support national development of child safeguarding policies and frameworks.

The government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), began the review of the Hazardous Activities Framework (HAF) in 2021 and we were actively involved in the first workshop, where the last review exercise focused specifically on the Cocoa HAF. The ILO is currently consulting with the MELR to ensure the framework meets ILO standards, after which the HAF is expected to undergo Parliamentary revision. The HAF is an important tool to combat child labour in cocoa-growing communities as it outlines tasks that are deemed to be hazardous for children of a certain age, providing a framework for all actors working in the sector.

In support of the MELR’s Child Labour Unit (CLU), ICI created an inventory and interactive map of existing governmental and non-governmental services that provide protection and support for children engaged in, or at risk of child labour and for children and or adults who are victims, or at risk of forced labour in cocoa-growing communities. The interactive map, which will be owned by the CLU, was designed to create an ecosystem of social protection systems for both members of the community as well as actors working in vulnerable communities, so that they can easily locate the established support systems when required. In this way we are supporting the CLU’s capacity to refer and respond to cases of human rights abuses.

We also supported the review of the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS), for which the data collection tools have been revised and are currently being piloted. The software and framework have also been amended and once the pilot is completed, will then be rolled out. We have worked closely with the Ghanaian government on this national system, sharing our experience of successfully implementing our Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) in cocoa communities, the ultimate objective being to ensure that all monitoring and remediation systems are compatible and work well together, regardless of who is implementing them. We are pleased with the positive collaboration we have had with our stakeholders this year and look forward to continuing to build on these relationships in the years to come.

Mike Arthur, Country Director: Ghana

Several new members, in addition to new project contracts, contributed to a total revenue of approximately 13.1m CHF in 2021 (in comparison to 9.9m CHF in 2020 and 12m CHF in 2019). Approximately one third of this revenue is from member contributions that serve to implement the operational plan of our strategy, and two thirds represents restricted income relating to specific projects. The lifting of many Covid-19 related restrictions, in addition to the successful adoption of new ways of working, led to a more normalised spending situation when compared with 2020, with total expenditure near equal to revenue at around 13.2m CHF.

2021 financial statement

Revenue	CHF
Member contributions (Core funds)	4,328,750
Restricted income for use on specific projects (Project funds)	8,756,058
Total Revenue	13,084,808

Expenditure	CHF
Activities and operations supported by Core funds	4,497,376
Activities supported by Core funds	2,035,745
Operations supported by Core funds	2,461,630
Activities and operations supported by Project funds	8,687,819
Restricted programme activities	7,390,813
Indirect costs to support restricted programme activities	1,297,007
Total Expenditure	13,185,195

Results before non-operating income / Expense and use of reserves	-100,386
Miscellaneous other income	6,026
Net use of reserves	373,450
Excess of revenue over expenditure after net variation of capital	279,090

Isabelle Adam (Touton) and Mil Niepold (Independent Expert), ICI Co-Presidents

Message from ICI Co-Presidents

ICI has evolved in important ways over the last year. Our ambitious new targets, as defined in the 2021–2026 strategy, and the changing context in which we operate, inspired ICI to review and enhance its terms of engagement with members and stakeholders. As a result, in dialogue with our multi-stakeholder membership, we have, in particular, reinforced a commitment to accountability and transparency, through the introduction of a new Members’ Code of Conduct and annual reporting obligations. This will help strengthen ICI, ensure its continued credibility and impact, while helping us to recognise progress, drive transparency and motivate further action in the sector.

This is particularly important considering the urgent need to scale up effective human rights due diligence systems throughout the cocoa sector, which is one of ICI’s overarching strategic objectives and is also increasingly reflected in a number of evolving legislative frameworks. To successfully scale up such systems, it is important to collectively define what success looks like, where we stand today and how to measure progress. As a multi-stakeholder initiative, ICI plays an important role in doing this. In 2021, collective benchmarking efforts, collaboration with various national platforms for sustainable cocoa in Europe, with structures in producing countries, and with the World Cocoa Foundation, in addition to our own member reporting requirements, have significantly contributed to setting ambitious standards to aim for.

In addition to legislation in cocoa-consuming countries, governments in cocoa-producing countries will also need the right support to create an enabling environment that promotes meaningful change. Our close collaboration with government partners in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire is therefore ever more important, along with other stakeholders including civil society organisations, donors and the cocoa and chocolate industry.

As always, our ability as an organisation to bring different actors together within the sector, and to coordinate and drive progress is our key strength. Only by working together will we be able to truly make progress in the fight against child labour and forced labour in cocoa.

Isabelle Adam (Touton) (L) and Mil Niepold (Independent Expert) (R), ICI Co-Presidents

ICI board members, contributing partners and other donors end 2021