Background Paper Mapping Child Labour Risks in Global Supply Chains An Analysis of the Apparel, Electronics and Agricultural Sectors © UNICEF/UN0280908/VISHWANATHAN 1 MAPPING CHILD LABOUR RISKS IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS An Analysis of the Apparel, Electronics and Agricultural Sectors Contents Acknowledgements ..............................2 Long work hours, fatigue, no schooling ......... 16 Health and safety risks ...................................... 16 Acronyms and abbreviations ...............2 Illegal and excessive overtime hours, lack of benefits and bonus pay .................................17 Child labour in global supply chains ...3 Coercion to keep working ..................................17 Tier 4 to Tier 1: Top risks for children ..18 Child labour and supply chain responsibility ...........................................................3 Child labour: Supply, demand and Tier 1 ........................................................................3 response ..............................................19 The upstream supply chain .................................4 Supply and demand factors ............................ 19 Mapping the supply chain ..................................4 Cotton, India ........................................................ 19 Tier 4: Raw material input ..................................8 Cobalt, Democratic Republic of the Congo ... 19 ......................................... Health and safety risks .........................................9 Cocoa, Côte d’Ivoire 20 Bonded labour, trafficking and sexual abuse....9 Efforts on the ground ........................................ 20 Extreme risks to safety and well-being .............9 Cotton, India ........................................................ 20 Health risks .......................................................... 10 ... Lack of access to schooling ............................. 10 Cobalt, Democratic Republic of the Congo 21 ........................................... Health and safety risks, injuries ....................... 10 Cocoa, Côte d’Ivoire 21 Migrants, trafficking, forced labour ................. 10 Challenges and innovations ...............22 Tier 3: Raw material processing ....................11 Challenges of traditional responses to child Long work hours, low pay .................................12 labour in supply chains ..................................... 22 Extreme risks to safety and well-being ...........12 Identifying supply chain actors beyond Tier 1 .. 23 Dangerous work, heavy loads...........................12 Influencing practices in the upstream Tier 2: Material transformation ..................... 13 supply chain ......................................................... 23 Poor living conditions, restricted Re-examining the audit toolkit ......................... 24 freedoms and sexual harassment ....................14 Considering the constraints of other child ............................................ Health and safety risks, fatal accidents ...........14 labour interventions 24 Informal employment, no benefits ...................14 Innovative approaches ...................................... 25 Wage advances, bonded labour .......................14 Addressing the root cause ................................ 25 Long work hours, abusive conditions ..............14 Long work hours, lack of contracts and Eliminating obstacles to access schooling .... 26 safety training .......................................................15 Creating child labour free zones ...................... 26 Forced student labour, illegal deposits ............15 Collaborating in a holistic manner.................... 26 Tier 1: Final product assembly ...................... 16 Bibliography ........................................27 11–12-year-olds working in the garment sector ................................................... 16 Endnotes..............................................30 2 MAPPING CHILD LABOUR RISKS IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS An Analysis of the Apparel, Electronics and Agricultural Sectors Acknowledgements This background paper was written by Alliance 8.7 report on “Ending child labour, forced Rachelle Jackson (consultant). It does not labour and human trafficking in global supply necessarily represent the views of UNICEF. chains,” published in November 2019. The report was written to inform the Acronyms and abbreviations ASM Artisanal and small-scale mining CBI Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (the Netherlands) EJF Environmental Justice Foundation FLA Fair Labor Association IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labour Organization ILPI International Law and Policy Institute LCD Liquid crystal display NGO Non-governmental organization UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund © UNICEF/UN061799/BROWN 3 MAPPING CHILD LABOUR RISKS IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS An Analysis of the Apparel, Electronics and Agricultural Sectors © UNICEF/UN0315473/ENGLISH Child labour in global supply chains Child labour and supply chain responsibility Global brands and retailers have worked for financial commitments to social responsibility and decades to eliminate child labour from their supply eliminating child labour. However, whether the chains, primarily through voluntary efforts sparked company is a multibillion-dollar consumer products by notions of social contract, peer performance retailer or a small or medium-sized manufacturer, or reputation management. Companies’ efforts the focus of these efforts has largely been on Tier may vary based on the size, geography and 1 supplier entities. nature of their supply chain, as well as their Tier 1 The so-called first tier (Tier 1) is the site where Tier 1 factories complete the assembly of ready- the final product ordered by a brand or retailer is for-market products. In agriculture, the Tier 1 may manufactured, assembled or processed and is be the final point of fruit or vegetable packing or usually owned and operated by a contracted third the site where food products are processed and party. For example, in the case of apparel, Tier 1 packaged, such as canned goods, flash-frozen factories are where garments are cut and sewn or food or more complex food preparation in a food assembled for export. In the case of electronics, processing factory. 4 MAPPING CHILD LABOUR RISKS IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS An Analysis of the Apparel, Electronics and Agricultural Sectors Companies’ efforts over the last few decades children remain present in the second, third and have vastly reduced the presence of children fourth tiers of the process, what is also known as working in the Tier 1 supply chain. However, the upstream supply chain. The upstream supply chain Unfortunately, the nature of work in the upstream market realities, such as traders’ and brokers’ supply chain can present even greater risks to unwillingness to disclose their sources for fear the well-being and safety of working children. In of getting cut out of the value chain. Other the apparel, electronics, and food and agriculture challenges include seasonal changes in commodity supply chains, children working in upstream sourcing partners, meaning that different farmers operations may carry out such labour activities as are in the supply chain year to year. In some cotton planting and harvesting, mineral mining or countries, the government determines annually to food growing and harvesting. whom farmers sell their crop, and those buyers, usually processors of some kind, are mandated to Buyers traditionally have had less visibility into purchase from those farmers. these areas of the supply chain and therefore have directed fewer resources to the identification These challenges are explored further in this report, and elimination of child labour in these tiers. In which provides examples of company and multi- recent years, traceability efforts have helped to stakeholder platform engagement with the upstream define a visual path into the upstream supply supply chain in ways that may be modelled to chain but these efforts may be constrained by eliminate child labour and improve child rights. Mapping the supply chain The following supply chain maps for apparel, In reality, even to make a simple cotton T-shirt, the electronics, and food and agriculture provide further actual supply chain can be much more complex, as insight into the workings of these supply chains, shown in the expanded flow chart see( Figure 2). along with a brief introduction to each sector. In Figure 2, the light green circles show the APPAREL addition of traders, agents, processors and subcontractors that are part of the cotton apparel An estimated 60 to 75 million people are involved value chain shown in blue. The orange boxes in the worldwide production of textiles, garments indicate non-cotton materials or inputs that may be and footwear.1 Among these, millions are children used in a variety of apparel production, including performing illegal and hazardous work. While materials for producing polyester or rayon threads it has been known for decades that children and fabrics and components such as buttons and are among those working in the apparel supply zippers. The origin and input of wood pulp or chain, the exact numbers are difficult to ascertain metal or the compounds used to create ethylene since their work is often hidden deep within for polyester production are not included in this the global supply chain, pushed to undisclosed chart but would add even greater complexity to the subcontracted factory sites where they do