Malaysia-headquartered cocoa processor Guan Chong Berhard (GCB) has joined ICI as a contributing partner, as part of its focus on tackling child labour in the cocoa supply chain.
The company, which sources from many locations, including West Africa, is one of the world’s largest cocoa processors and industrial chocolate manufacturers, producing products such as cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and industrial chocolate.
For GCB, joining ICI is a way to learn from the experiences and expertise of the organization and its members on tackling child labour, at a time when it is expanding its direct sourcing operations in Côte d’Ivoire.
“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 multistakeholder partnership will help us to better tackle these issues,” said Elsa Tay, GCB’s Commercial Director.
The company will be working with ICI to set up Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems (CLMRS) within their supply chains. These systems are designed to tackle child labour by raising awareness on the dangers of child labour, identifying children engaged in hazardous work and providing targeted support to either the child, their family or the community. CLMRS have been found to be effective in both identifying and addressing child labour, with results showing it can reduce child labour by up to 50% among identified children.
As GCB’s Community Development Assistant in Côte d’Ivoire, Anne-Marie Coulibaly, explained: “We are delighted to work with ICI to set up CLMRS throughout our supply chain and benefit from the partnership’s knowledge and experience. Together we can effectively protect children and build the better world of tomorrow, today.”
For ICI, GCB’s membership is an important step forward in the collective journey towards tackling child labour and forced labour in the cocoa supply chain.
“We are very pleased to welcome GCB to the organization and look forward to supporting them in implementing CLMRS throughout their supply chain. It is great to see increasing motivation from companies all over the world to address these challenges. The support of companies such as GCB is an important step in our journey towards a responsibly managed cocoa supply chain” said Nick Weatherill, ICI’s Executive Director.