Grievance mechanisms allow individuals to raise complaints about actions that may have impacted their human rights or labour rights. In cocoa production, the most common human rights and labour rights issues include a lack of formal contracts, withholding wages or workers performing tasks that were not specified at the time of recruitment. Grievance mechanisms can be used to resolve disputes, investigate allegations of abuse, provide solutions for those affected, and ultimately prevent further harm.
This document summarises how to set up community-based grievance mechanisms to address forced labour risks in cocoa-growing communities. It draws on learnings from community-based grievance mechanisms in 89 cocoa-growing communities in Ghana.
