Culture, Compliance, and Child Labor

Speakers

• Julio César Arroyo, Executive Director, Asociación Azucarera de El Salvador
• Maureen Mazurek, Director, Corporate Responsibilty, Monsanto Company
• Dionne Harrison, Director Operations, Impactt Limited
• Ayesha Barenblat, Director, Stakeholder Collaboration, BSR (Moderator)

Highlights

• Child labor will not end until poverty ends. It cannot be addressed without understanding the social, economic, and cultural context within which child labor exists.

• The welfare of the child is the most important principle to follow when seeking solutions to child labor. Approaches are not necessarily about remediation, but about giving children life choices and hope.

• Child labor is one of the highest reputational risks for companies. It is important to take the fear out of communication and management of the issue by recognizing its existence and developing pragmatic approaches, rather than knee-jerk responses.

Memorable Quotes

“An auditing/policing approach to child labor does not produce solutions.” —Ayesha Barenblat, BSR

“We won’t stop until there are zero cases of child labor, and when it is zero we won’t stop because this is an ongoing process.” —Maureen Mazurek, Monsanto

“Governments recognize that putting a citizen behind bars because he broke the law will cost $1,000 or more, but keeping a kid in school will cost the government $250.” —Julio César Arroyo, Asociación Azucarera de El Salvador

Overview

Barenblat opened the session by emphasizing the complexity and pervasiveness of child labor across diverse industries. Child labor cannot be addressed without taking culture into account, which is reinforced by cases where age documentation does not exist, and the alternative to child labor includes more precarious situations such as prostitution.

Designed as a session focused on identifying solutions, Barenblat turned to the panelists to share examples of practical approaches to tackling child labor. Harrison shared Impactt Limited’s experience working in the industrial sector, particularly in China, where the prevalence of child labor has been affected by the global economic situation. She believes that solutions should be identified on a child-by-child basis, with a focus on building life choices for children and supporting employers to prevent the recurrence of child labor. In addition to understanding what remediation really means and what is realistic in the local culture, Harrison emphasized the importance of “creating a safe space for suppliers to speak about the issue” because the issue will only worsen if it is hidden.

Monsanto’s work on child labor began with the 2006 implementation of the company’s human rights policy, which revealed child labor in India to be one of the most critical risks in the company’s supply chain. Mazurek said one of the factors that played an important role in driving the company’s work forward was the engagement of an executive champion and creating partnerships on the ground for awareness raising and assessments. Additionally, the company engaged third-party auditors to do random audits of cotton fields, and utilized the philanthropic arm of the company, the Monsanto Fund, to establish a learning center for children found working in the fields. Monsanto’s holistic approach to addressing child labor has been recognized by institutional investors, one of whom moved from a top 50 investor to a top 10 investor following the implementation of Monsanto’s program in India.

Arroyo shared some of the lessons learned and offered practical advice from the Sugar Association of El Salvador’s experience working in partnership with government, the International Labour Organization, and companies like Coca-Cola. A 2004 Human Rights Watch report exposing child labor in the sugar industry in the country represented a critical juncture for the Association in acknowledging and taking action on the issue. Arroyo added that analyzing the root cause and understanding that “it is not just an economic problem, but also a social and cultural issue” are particularly important. Offering advice to participants, Arroyo suggested companies set goals and expectations for action.

As an example, following the publication of the Human Rights Watch report, Arroyo explained that companies could have decided to stop buying sugar from El Salvador, but instead Coca-Cola committed to continue purchasing from the country and working with the Association to build an approach to tackling child labor. This work with the Association led to an 85-percent reduction in child labor in the industry. The Association’s goal is 100 percent, but beyond the numbers, one of the greatest achievements is helping the government and other actors understand that “prevention is more effective than finding remedies.”

Following the panelists’ presentations, participants broke out into groups to share practical approaches to remediation. Participants discussed the importance of engaging local stakeholders and thinking beyond primary school education to include vocational and technical training. Moreover, participants emphasized that solutions should include empowering and equipping family members to find alternatives for children.

Barenblat closed the session by reminding participants of the tools and resources available to companies, including the Fair Labor Association standards, as well as Impactt Limited’s Child Labor Operating Procedures, which are aimed at helping companies in the industrial sector through the process and understanding the pinch points in the decision-making process. BSR also worked with the Association to publish a manual intended to help other sugar producers and agricultural industries in Central America learn from the Salvadoran experience and replicate practices.