Consumption without child labor
Terre des Hommes publishes tips for fair shopping
On the International Day Against Child Labour on June 12th
Whether it's fruit, coffee, spices, textiles, toys, or handicrafts – child labor is involved in the production of many of these items. Reports indicate that the labor of 138 million children is behind such products. Around 54 million of them are exploited, toiling, for example, twelve hours or more a day on cotton fields contaminated with pesticides. A growing number of consumers are aware of this and are specifically buying Fair Trade products, which are manufactured without child exploitation or environmental destruction. But are all these labels truly reliable and easy to understand? What exactly do the individual certifications mean?
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“On the International Day Against Child Labour, the children’s rights organization Terre des Hommes clarity to the multitude of labels with a new brochure. This helps people make informed purchasing decisions without unintentionally contributing to child labor,” explains Joshua Hofert, spokesperson for the board of Terre des Hommes. “However, Fair Trade with its important labels alone cannot eliminate the unjust global trade relations that lead to child labour. It is crucial that companies are obligated to respect human and children’s rights, as well as environmental and social standards, in their production and to take responsibility for their entire supply chain.”
The current situation is still far from this, as demonstrated by the ongoing tug-of-war over the German Supply Chain Act and the European Supply Chain Directive since 2021. Therefore, Terre des Hommes in a broad alliance, is calling for a strong supply chain law in Germany and the European Union. Exploitative child labour and environmental destruction must finally be stopped.
“Until then, the following applies: The more people pay attention to fair trade products when consuming them, the less children will be exploited at the beginning of the supply chain. Terre des Hommes supports working children in Asia, Africa and Latin America in going to school instead, so that they can later pursue a profession,” emphasizes Joshua Hofert.
The Frankfurter Rundschau reported on this. Click here for the article.
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