One in three children living in cocoa-growing areas in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are estimated to be involved in child labour. This prevalence continues to be of great concern, despite great progress from within the cocoa sector to tackle the issue. Forced labour is also a risk faced by the cocoa sector (albeit at a different, more localized and limited scale) and there are increasing calls on the sector to take more focused action to address it.
The International Cocoa Initiative’s 2021-2026 Strategy acts as a road map to achieve scale-up of action within the cocoa sector. At ICI, we want to see cocoa-growing communities thrive within a dignified, sustainable and responsibly-managed cocoa supply chain, where child rights and human rights are protected and respected, where child labour and forced labour are eliminated.
As outlined in its Strategy, ICI will work together with its partners to innovate, catalyze and support the development and scale-up of effective policies and practices that promote human rights and that prevent or remediate child labour and forced labour. By 2025, we expect to achieve 100% coverage of human rights due diligence systems that prevent and remediate child labour and forced labour in the cocoa supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
