Organizations "ON a Roll" to End Child Slave Labor
by Matthew Daly
November 2005
Most people think slavery, simply in the sense of African- Americans being forced to work for white plantation owners, was ended with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the civil war, but slavery still exists and it is just as real and cruel today as it was during the time of Lincoln. Slavery today is not African- Americans being forced to work on plantations for long hours at a time, but it is equally disturbing. Today much of the slavery around the world consists of children as young as 5 years old stitching soccer balls for major companies such as Adidas, Nike, Puma, and many others well-known brands. Child slaves in countries like Pakistan, India, and Brazil work in terrible, unhealthy, and dangerous conditions receiving pay that is exceedingly lower than minimum wage. Fortunately for these children, there are many organizations all around the world with a common goal to end child slave labor.
In India, Pakistan and Brazil child slave labor is an ever-growing problem. Children as young as five years old can be found working up to twenty hour shifts in unsafe and unhealthy conditions sewing together soccer balls for major companies like Adidas. Some four million children in Brazil are forced to work in unfair conditions. There are as many as ten thousand children working on soccer balls in western Indian's Punjab region, and another fifteen thousand children can be found in Pakistan, near the city of Sialkot, slaving over the production of soccer balls. The factories that these children work in are so unsanitary and dangerous that it is not uncommon for children to lose their eyesight, become cursed with chronic back and neck pain, cut their fingers, and even completely deform their fingers for life. Many of these children work their twenty-hour days in windowless factories where they are exposed to dangers such as harsh chemicals and intense heat. Child slave labor in India, Pakistan, and in Brazil is a grave problem.
Child slaves are indirectly forced to work in these hazardous conditions because of the lack of money their parents are making in the same factories. In Pakistan the average daily wage of an adult worker is twenty rupees or nearly sixty cents, and in India the average adult earning for soccer ball stitching is Rs. 20, which is less than half a dollar. The minimum wage for adults in India is Rs. 63. Adult workers are only making Rs. 20, which is less than one third of the minimum wage of India. When parents are not even making enough money to buy food or pay the bills which supply their shelter their children are forced to either work everyday after school, or drop out of school and work full time in factories with their parents, earning even less money for the same amount of the same work. This prevents the children of these countries from being educated and ultimately makes the process into one big cycle. Even with the help of their children, a families combined income is not enough to support them and many times drives them to starvation. It is only logical to think that when a company such as Adidas sells its, "Fevernova World Cup Match" soccer ball for a price of $149.99, they would be able to pay the child who made this ball more than sixty cents for making it.
Fortunately for all the unlucky children enslaved throughout the world, there are many organizations fighting against the perils of child slave labor. One of the biggest organizations involved in putting an end to child slave labor is the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, or the WFSGI. The WFSGI is based in Verbier, Switzerland and is and independent association formed in 1978 by sports industry suppliers. The WFSGI works to improve the well being of mankind though sports. On and international scale the WFSGI works within committees that regularly meet around the world. One of the most active committees is the Committee on Ethics and Fair Trade or the CEFT, which was created in 1995 by the chairman of the WFSGI, Stephen Rubin. The CEFT was created to " address some of the more complex issues coming to light around the ethical business practices and to establish a venue for the industry to understand, analyze, and act upon a wide range of issues of corporate social responsibility."
One of the fist major feats of the CEFT was to organize an international conference in Verbier, in November of 1995. This conference was very important because it brought many different international groups to participate in the fight against child slave labor. "Participants in this initial gathering included the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), Save the Children, Anti-Slavery International, the Fair Trade Foundation, the Clean Clothes Campaign, and the international NGO Terre Des Hommes." This conference was so important because it was a pivotal moment for slave labor. This conference broke the ice and welcomed many organizations and individuals to act against child slave labor on an international scale.
One battle in the fight against child slave labor that CEFT was fighting was an attempt to take children completely out of the soccer ball stitching factories, but CEFT was concerned that these children would then be forced to work in even more dangerous factories. "In response, the industry decided to commit to a social protection program and to provide educational opportunities for children phased out of employment, along with social and financial support for their families." The result was the Atlanta Agreement. The Atlanta Agreement's goal was to eliminate child labor in the soccer ball industry in Pakistan. "Thirty-one companies, representing more than 80 percent of export production, and 55 international brands, representing virtually the entire global branded market, initially agreed to participate in the program." The international brands promised to only purchase soccer balls in Pakistan from Companies who cooperated with the agreement.
"The ILO created a protocol of surprise inspections, using well-trained and well-compensated inspectors to visit villages where stitching was done. Save the Children agreed to participate, focusing on protecting the interests of children in the process. UNICEF conducted outreach to children and families, and local NGOs were engaged to provide transitional schooling for displaced children and micro-credit loans for communities and families."
The Atlanta Agreement resulted in great success. Nearly ninety companies from Sialkot, Pakistan are enrolled in the program, and over ninety-five percent of export production is monitored and child- free. Over 6,000 children have been taking out of the factories and put back into the schooling system. Organizations like the WFSGI are needed in order for the children of countries around the world to become educated and live the healthy and safe life every human deserves.
Brazil plays a very important role in the fight against child slave labor. Over the past eleven years the Brazilian government, the ILO, local businesses and corporations, and NGOs have decreased the number of child slave laborers by 50 percent. In 1996 the government instituted the Bolsa- Escola. The Bolsa- Escola is a regular fixed payment paid by the government, which helps support keep children of poor families in school. The government has also upped the number of labor inspections in search of child labor. The Brazilian government also created the National Forum for the Prevention of Child Labor (FNPETI). "Founded in November of 1994, the forum constructed in 1999 a National Network to Eradicate Child Labor, and individual forums within each of Brazil's 27 states. FNPETI is made up of these 27 bodies, plus 48 other entities that include commercial and business associations, trade unions, the ILO, the various bodies that enforce child labor statutes and prosecute child labor violations, and nongovernmental organizations that work to combat child labor." The FNPETI has accomplished much in the fight against child slave labor.
Its accomplishments include:
It has developed strategies for intervention in situations where child labor exists. First implemented to remove children from the dangerous and unhealthy work of producing charcoal in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, forum practices have become the pattern for programs throughout the country. For example, Mato Grosso do Sul's extended day program has successfully kept children in school and involved in other activities, and away from producing charcoal.
It assisted in the development of the government's Program for the Eradication of Child Labor (PETI).
It lobbied successfully for Brazil's ratification of ILO Convention 138, concerning minimum working age, and Convention 182, concerning the worst forms of child labor.
It drafted the "Parameters for the Formulation of a National Policy to Combat Child Labor," which became the basis for national policy.
It participated in the creation of the National Plan for the Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of the Adolescent Worker as a founding member of the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor (CONAETI).
Slavery is a very serious matter today, and child slave labor is a growing threat to our world. Without organizations like the WFSGI and the FNPETI children of almost every country on almost every continent would have no hope for the future. These many different organizations are the future of child slave labor. They act as a beam of hope for the millions of young children enslaved in company factories. These very unfortunate children are very fortunate to have such strong, international, and influential supporters fighting for their well-being.
http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=69
by Matthew Daly
November 2005
Most people think slavery, simply in the sense of African- Americans being forced to work for white plantation owners, was ended with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation during the civil war, but slavery still exists and it is just as real and cruel today as it was during the time of Lincoln. Slavery today is not African- Americans being forced to work on plantations for long hours at a time, but it is equally disturbing. Today much of the slavery around the world consists of children as young as 5 years old stitching soccer balls for major companies such as Adidas, Nike, Puma, and many others well-known brands. Child slaves in countries like Pakistan, India, and Brazil work in terrible, unhealthy, and dangerous conditions receiving pay that is exceedingly lower than minimum wage. Fortunately for these children, there are many organizations all around the world with a common goal to end child slave labor.
In India, Pakistan and Brazil child slave labor is an ever-growing problem. Children as young as five years old can be found working up to twenty hour shifts in unsafe and unhealthy conditions sewing together soccer balls for major companies like Adidas. Some four million children in Brazil are forced to work in unfair conditions. There are as many as ten thousand children working on soccer balls in western Indian's Punjab region, and another fifteen thousand children can be found in Pakistan, near the city of Sialkot, slaving over the production of soccer balls. The factories that these children work in are so unsanitary and dangerous that it is not uncommon for children to lose their eyesight, become cursed with chronic back and neck pain, cut their fingers, and even completely deform their fingers for life. Many of these children work their twenty-hour days in windowless factories where they are exposed to dangers such as harsh chemicals and intense heat. Child slave labor in India, Pakistan, and in Brazil is a grave problem.
Child slaves are indirectly forced to work in these hazardous conditions because of the lack of money their parents are making in the same factories. In Pakistan the average daily wage of an adult worker is twenty rupees or nearly sixty cents, and in India the average adult earning for soccer ball stitching is Rs. 20, which is less than half a dollar. The minimum wage for adults in India is Rs. 63. Adult workers are only making Rs. 20, which is less than one third of the minimum wage of India. When parents are not even making enough money to buy food or pay the bills which supply their shelter their children are forced to either work everyday after school, or drop out of school and work full time in factories with their parents, earning even less money for the same amount of the same work. This prevents the children of these countries from being educated and ultimately makes the process into one big cycle. Even with the help of their children, a families combined income is not enough to support them and many times drives them to starvation. It is only logical to think that when a company such as Adidas sells its, "Fevernova World Cup Match" soccer ball for a price of $149.99, they would be able to pay the child who made this ball more than sixty cents for making it.
Fortunately for all the unlucky children enslaved throughout the world, there are many organizations fighting against the perils of child slave labor. One of the biggest organizations involved in putting an end to child slave labor is the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, or the WFSGI. The WFSGI is based in Verbier, Switzerland and is and independent association formed in 1978 by sports industry suppliers. The WFSGI works to improve the well being of mankind though sports. On and international scale the WFSGI works within committees that regularly meet around the world. One of the most active committees is the Committee on Ethics and Fair Trade or the CEFT, which was created in 1995 by the chairman of the WFSGI, Stephen Rubin. The CEFT was created to " address some of the more complex issues coming to light around the ethical business practices and to establish a venue for the industry to understand, analyze, and act upon a wide range of issues of corporate social responsibility."
One of the fist major feats of the CEFT was to organize an international conference in Verbier, in November of 1995. This conference was very important because it brought many different international groups to participate in the fight against child slave labor. "Participants in this initial gathering included the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), Save the Children, Anti-Slavery International, the Fair Trade Foundation, the Clean Clothes Campaign, and the international NGO Terre Des Hommes." This conference was so important because it was a pivotal moment for slave labor. This conference broke the ice and welcomed many organizations and individuals to act against child slave labor on an international scale.
One battle in the fight against child slave labor that CEFT was fighting was an attempt to take children completely out of the soccer ball stitching factories, but CEFT was concerned that these children would then be forced to work in even more dangerous factories. "In response, the industry decided to commit to a social protection program and to provide educational opportunities for children phased out of employment, along with social and financial support for their families." The result was the Atlanta Agreement. The Atlanta Agreement's goal was to eliminate child labor in the soccer ball industry in Pakistan. "Thirty-one companies, representing more than 80 percent of export production, and 55 international brands, representing virtually the entire global branded market, initially agreed to participate in the program." The international brands promised to only purchase soccer balls in Pakistan from Companies who cooperated with the agreement.
"The ILO created a protocol of surprise inspections, using well-trained and well-compensated inspectors to visit villages where stitching was done. Save the Children agreed to participate, focusing on protecting the interests of children in the process. UNICEF conducted outreach to children and families, and local NGOs were engaged to provide transitional schooling for displaced children and micro-credit loans for communities and families."
The Atlanta Agreement resulted in great success. Nearly ninety companies from Sialkot, Pakistan are enrolled in the program, and over ninety-five percent of export production is monitored and child- free. Over 6,000 children have been taking out of the factories and put back into the schooling system. Organizations like the WFSGI are needed in order for the children of countries around the world to become educated and live the healthy and safe life every human deserves.
Brazil plays a very important role in the fight against child slave labor. Over the past eleven years the Brazilian government, the ILO, local businesses and corporations, and NGOs have decreased the number of child slave laborers by 50 percent. In 1996 the government instituted the Bolsa- Escola. The Bolsa- Escola is a regular fixed payment paid by the government, which helps support keep children of poor families in school. The government has also upped the number of labor inspections in search of child labor. The Brazilian government also created the National Forum for the Prevention of Child Labor (FNPETI). "Founded in November of 1994, the forum constructed in 1999 a National Network to Eradicate Child Labor, and individual forums within each of Brazil's 27 states. FNPETI is made up of these 27 bodies, plus 48 other entities that include commercial and business associations, trade unions, the ILO, the various bodies that enforce child labor statutes and prosecute child labor violations, and nongovernmental organizations that work to combat child labor." The FNPETI has accomplished much in the fight against child slave labor.
Its accomplishments include:
It has developed strategies for intervention in situations where child labor exists. First implemented to remove children from the dangerous and unhealthy work of producing charcoal in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, forum practices have become the pattern for programs throughout the country. For example, Mato Grosso do Sul's extended day program has successfully kept children in school and involved in other activities, and away from producing charcoal.
It assisted in the development of the government's Program for the Eradication of Child Labor (PETI).
It lobbied successfully for Brazil's ratification of ILO Convention 138, concerning minimum working age, and Convention 182, concerning the worst forms of child labor.
It drafted the "Parameters for the Formulation of a National Policy to Combat Child Labor," which became the basis for national policy.
It participated in the creation of the National Plan for the Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of the Adolescent Worker as a founding member of the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor (CONAETI).
Slavery is a very serious matter today, and child slave labor is a growing threat to our world. Without organizations like the WFSGI and the FNPETI children of almost every country on almost every continent would have no hope for the future. These many different organizations are the future of child slave labor. They act as a beam of hope for the millions of young children enslaved in company factories. These very unfortunate children are very fortunate to have such strong, international, and influential supporters fighting for their well-being.
http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=69
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