Incorporating Rights: Child Labor in African Agriculture and the Challenge of Changing Practices in the Cocoa Industry

Authors

Erika George, Boston University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2014

ISSN

1080-6687

Publisher

University of California - Davis

Language

en-US

Abstract

Millions of children around the world are working.¹ Many youth are fortunate to enjoy age-appropriate employment and learn valuable skills through work. Unfortunately, too many children labor under abusive conditions-some are trafficked, others are enslaved . These unfortunate children are denied the opportunity to enjoy the fundamental human rights essential to their development and guaranteed under international law.

This essay offers an overview of the issues associated with child labor eradication, a review of the legal instruments regulating the work of children, and an assessment of recent initiatives to address the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry as illustrative of evolving best practices. It is argued that protecting the rights of working children will require more than changes in law. Examples of constructive changes include recent international policy developments clarifying the responsibilities of business enterprises with respect to human rights and recent initiatives in the cocoa and chocolate industry sector incorporating respect for children's human rights into business practices. These developments, in combination with fair trade certification schemes, do hold promise for creating change.

Recommended Citation

Erika George, Incorporating Rights: Child Labor in African Agriculture and the Challenge of Changing Practices in the Cocoa Industry , in 21 U.C. Davis Journal of International Law & Policy 59 (2014).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3842