The worst forms of child labor by international definition is: the enslavement, sale, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom or compulsory labor of anyone under the age of eighteen. In the United States, minors are a protected class under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
This act prohibits the oppressive labor of children, and is meant to include anything deemed physically or emotionally damaging, hazardous, or would inhibit the well-being and education of such individuals. Outside of the United States, however, minors are not necessarily granted such special protection and may begin working under hazardous conditions without profit, access to education, ability to escape or hope of a future.
International Labor Organization
The International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency founded in 1919, estimates that there were 40.3 million people in modern slavery, a quarter of whom are children; in fact, in 2017, 152 million children were in child labor around the world.
“Alliance 8.7 is a global strategic partnership committed to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, which calls on the world to ‘take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 to end child labor in all its forms.”
This organization has made tremendous efforts towards attaining its goals to eliminate child labor completely. As evidence of progress, there has been a decrease of 94 million children previously engaged in child labor since the year 2000.
Slavery vs. Child Labor
The distinction between slavery and child labor is important to note, as it distinguishes between what is considered labor and involuntary servitude, which by definition is forced. “Slavery is the holding of people at a workplace through force, fraud, or coercion for purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor so that the slaveholder can extract a profit.”
Of the 40 million slaves today, the majority are female, and the prevalence of slavery is most common in the Asia & Pacific regions, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa. As noted above, slavery takes many different forms and about 10 million of the slaves in existence today are children.
Forms and Causes of Slavery
The most typical forms of slavery are: debt bondage, contract slavery, sex trafficking, forced or servile marriage, domestic servitude, worst forms of child labor and child soldiers. The breakdown of industries where slavery takes place is fifty percent through forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, fishing, mining and other physical labor industries; 12.5 percent sex slavery in forced prostitution; and 37.5 percent forced marriage.
Poverty alone clearly does not cause slavery to occur, however, it is a large determinant of what allows slavery to catalyze in the first place. Slavery arises out of vulnerability and, as with all forms of cruelty and evil, predators prey on the weak.
In addition to poverty, other susceptibilities to one being subjected to involuntary servitude include: a lack of awareness of rights and risks, absent or weak protective organizations, absence of critical services, inadequate legal protection and survivor vulnerability. Human trafficking occurs within approximately twenty-three percent of the people who make up the slave population.
A Network of Support
The creation of stronger support systems is one key action item to putting an end to slavery. This is termed capacity building, and includes improved training, technical training and assistance to already existing organizations. Support systems aid in identifying those at risk to poverty and child slavery, preventing slavery from occurring and helping those in the aftermath to thrive under post-traumatic conditions.
As with all other inhumane acts, raising awareness is a crucial component to the creation of a world without child slaves.
Child Labor
While slavery is an obvious unspeakable injustice that strips the innocence of nearly 10 million children, the other 152 million children who are child laborers equates to one in ten children across the globe. The child labor statistics mentioned are primarily related to work in agriculture, with a smaller amount who work in the service or industry sector.
By continents it is estimated that 72.1 million child laborers exist in Africa, followed by Asia and the Pacific at 62 million, the Americas at 10.7 million, Europe and Central Asia at 5.5 million and the Arab States at 1.2 million. Thirty-eight percent of children in hazardous work conditions were between the ages of 5 to 14 when this data was collected.
A Child-Slave-Free World
One way to commit to the creation of a slave-free world and end child labor is to be a responsible consumer. Simply buying products from reputable companies who use ethical practices to produce their goods is a step in the right direction towards positive change. For business owners or those in corporate professions, knowthechain.org aids businesses in how to make ethically sound choices with respect to labor practices.
Demonstrating support for legislation crafted to prohibit child labor and the creation of stricter deterrents to using slave labor is a means to a solution. Finally, preventative measures can be taken by raising awareness, and increasing availability of education so that all people around the world know their rights. It would also help if funding is allocated to organizations that work to create positive change through both prevention and assistance.
Also, Free the Slaves contains additional information on what can be done to fight slavery and make ethically sound purchases.
– Bridget Rice
Photo: Flickr
The Relationship Between Creativity, Innovation and Poverty
Mainstream thinking revolves around the idea that emerging nations need the industrialized world to bring innovation to them, since they lack the resources to innovate themselves. Silicon Valley and their cohort have proven themselves to be masters of advancing and solving first-world issues, but they do little to solve the very real problems that exist in the developing world. Their hearts lie in the right place, but, having grown up in a different world with a vastly different life, they tend to lack the knowledge to fully understand what will and won’t work.
The true innovators of our time are those who live within the borders of developing countries, as they are the ones who truly comprehend the complex relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty.
Creativity and Poverty
In an interview with Innovations Online, a technology and entrepreneurial digital magazine, Marcelo Giugale, a senior economic advisor at the World Bank, stated that “innovation is not the same as invention. Innovation is the actual application of an invention.”
According to Ken Burns, an Ashoka fellow in a similar interview with Innovations, the minds in first world countries often innovate for the sake of innovating. When people live in dire situations and are consistently faced with constrained resources, they may be driven to solve problems and create in ways that can fundamentally change their daily lives.
The creativity that comes from the people who live in extreme poverty has the potential to instate meaningful and large-scale change that can improve the lives of millions, and not just those in the middle and upper middle class seen in developed countries. The link between creativity, innovation and poverty is being acted upon within the minds of several talented individuals living in emerging countries.
Map Kibera and Insiders4Good
In 2009, young Kiberans of the Kibera division in Nairobi, Kenya, created Map Kibera, the first open and free digital map of their own community. Until then, it was just a blank spot on the map. The primary goal of Map Kibera was “to find a new solution to an old problem: the lack of participatory democracy in Kibera.” The platform aims to address the omission of Nairobi’s citizens from policy decisions, mass communications and city representation.
The site utilizes the digital age to allow the region’s inhabitants to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of data and information. They no longer must rely on the common methodologies of NGOs to learn the facts about HIV, gender, malaria, sanitation and other important health facts in their own community – they can now research the information themselves. Map Kibera has recently grown into a full interactive community project and has expanded to Mathare and Mukura.
Insiders4Good East Africa Fellowship is a training program that, in 2017, brought together 20 young entrepreneurs from Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania who had innovative business ideas that have the potential to improve their communities. The program consists of six months of technical and strategic mentorship from international and local leaders.
Mensa Healthcare and Worknasi.com
Many of these young entrepreneurs utilized the cross-section between creativity, innovation and poverty to address and solve many critical local problems. Using artificial intelligence, Peter Aketch’s Mensa Healthcare provides actionable data to pharmaceutical companies, public health organizations and governmental agencies.
The necessity for such an innovation is vital due to the healthcare system’s lack of comprehensive and efficient digital record keeping. This innovation will decrease the possibility of misdiagnosis and allow for a more robust collection of public health data.
Eighty percent of graduates in Tanzania struggle to find jobs. This has led to an increase in crime, extremism, drug abuse, and violence. Edgar Mwampinge’s Worknasi.com aims to help these youths by making it easier for start-ups and freelancers to succeed.
His goal is to make shared office space available by connecting these youths with business and office owners who wish to share their workspaces.
IV Drip Alert and Lyon Analytics
In Rwanda, Ange Uwambajimana’s IV Drip Alert enables nurses to more easily manage intravenous fluids through its wireless system. This creative innovation was in response to problems such as embolism which can occur if the medical observer forgets to change the IV at the right time.
And Kenya’s John Mugendi developed a breast cancer prediction system. He proposes that his Lyon Analytics will track the progression from onset to late stages.
2015 Website
2015 is a site that launched in the Middle East. It invites users to submit their own creations that help bring awareness to social issues such as poverty in the Arab region. The relationship between creativity, innovation and poverty is front and center on the site as it showcases images and videos of hunger, the vulnerable and of poverty.
This “movement,” as some have come to call it, was born out of a reaction to the promise made by the nearly 200 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. They pledged to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2015; however, as of 2012, the number of people still living in extreme poverty checked in at 3 billion.
The creative mind brings wonderous elements to the world — whether that be in new technological advances in the medical field, social satire, digital communications or a site dedicated to awareness. As long as ambition and goodwill prevail, there will always be a relationship that exists between creativity, innovation and poverty. The 2015 slogan reads, “Art changes perceptions, perceptions change people, people change the world,” and its mantra could not be more right.
– Aaron Stein
Photo: Flickr
Political Instability Affecting Credit Access in Libya
Starting in 2014, chronic shortages of dinar banknotes and weak valuation of Libyan currency have caused serious problems for Libyans, who are forced to spend their days lining up in front of banks in order to cash their paychecks or simply withdraw some money, only to find out that it cannot be done.
Political Instability a Roadblock to Credit Access in Libya
One of the main factors that has contributed to the lack of credit access in Libya is the precarious political scenario that has effectively held the country hostage. Political stability is all but necessary to kickstart any economy, and Libya has been struggling to achieve this. Ever since the Libyan Political Agreement was reached in Skhirat in December 2015, Libyans have been living under a divided and problematic system.
The eastern part of the country, controlled by the House of Representatives, is based in Tobruk and supported by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, but this conglomerate of political and military forces does not support nor recognize the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, which was established by the agreement and has international support.
In economic terms, this unstable political situation resulted in nominal GDP in 2016 falling by more than half compared to 2010, to $33.2 billion from $73.6 billion, and per capita income dropping to $5,000 in 2016 from more than $11,000 in 2010. Furthermore, those who took over the country after Qaddafi’s death kept the regime’s welfare system in place, which has been spending at unsustainable levels. Much of the clientelism, corruption and misappropriation that characterized the old regime has been allowed to continue.
Political instability also has led to a forceful block of hydrocarbon infrastructure by armed militias in the summer of 2013. Such action caused oil production to drop precipitously, from 1.45 million barrels per day in May 2013 to only 220,000 barrels per day in November 2013.
Immediate Efforts to Address the Credit Access Crisis
The most important step in alleviating the currently disastrous status of credit access in Libya is working towards political stability. However, more short-term efforts to remedy the situation are also underway.
In October 2017, public authorities, businesses and international donors gathered in Tripoli to discuss ways to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs in Libya. Many political authorities were present at the meeting, such as Ahmed Maitieg, Libya’s deputy Prime Minister, and Johannes Han, European Union Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations. This meeting established a new program funded by Libyan banks to provide €74 million of standard and subsidized loans to small and medium-sized businesses in 2018.
Such strategies can help small businesses survive and grow in the midst of the larger work towards political stability in Libya. Both short and long-term efforts are needed to create lasting stability and resolve the current credit access crisis.
– Luca Di Fabio
Photo: Flickr
How the US Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone
In May 2014, West Africa was struck by a deadly Ebola epidemic. By the epidemic’s end, more than 11,000 people had lost their lives and close to 28,000 total cases were reported. Among the West African countries most affected was Sierra Leone. Prior to the May 2014 outbreak, the Sierra Leonean economy was growing rapidly and democratization had begun to wash over the country.
Although the Ebola epidemic seriously stunted economic growth for a time, Sierra Leone has begun to vigorously bounce back. In addition to domestic reform, continued aid from the U.S. has aided greatly in improving the lives of Sierra Leonean citizens. However, this aid is not one-sided; the U.S benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone as well.
Containment of Infectious Diseases
According to U.S. foreign assistance statistics, Sierra Leone will receive $14.4 million in foreign aid from the U.S. in 2019. The majority of the aid will focus primarily on providing medical care for those affected by malaria. Even though malaria continues to be a major issue in Sierra Leone, the overall mortality rate attributed to malaria cases has fallen dramatically in recent years. Sierra Leone has pledged to reduce malaria-based infections by 40 percent by 2020.
If this goal were achieved, Sierra Leoneans would see increased life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and fewer cases of pregnancy complications in women. Increasing resistance to epidemics like Ebola or infectious diseases like malaria is a key way in which the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone. The risk of regional epidemics becoming global ones is of great importance to ensuring global security and health.
Promoting Democracy and Good Diplomatic Relations
Sierra Leone has seen progress in its democratic institutions since the end of a brutal civil war in 2002. In 2007, Sierra Leone experienced its first peaceful transition of power since the conflict through a democratic election. Approximately $2 million in U.S. foreign aid will be directed towards encouraging democracy, respect for human rights and good governance. Strengthening ties with another democratic ally in West Africa is one way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone’s poverty rates remain quite high and the majority of those living in poverty are girls and women. Due to stagnant economic growth during the Ebola epidemic and traditional cultural norms, women have been denied access to high-quality healthcare and education. As the Sierra Leonean government continues to root out entrenched corruption and institute economic reform, poverty rates across the country have begun to slowly decline.
Trade a Major Way the U.S. Benefits from Foreign Aid to Sierra Leone
Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Sierra Leone remain relatively strong. According to the State Department, “U.S. exports to Sierra Leone include transportation equipment, agricultural products, machinery and chemicals, while its imports from Sierra Leone include minerals, metals, machinery and agricultural products.” Having a strong economic partner in Africa increases the U.S.’ competitiveness with countries such as China, who has been investing heavily in Africa in recent years. Having a strong partner in trade is another way that the U.S. benefits from foreign aid to Sierra Leone.
With the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone contained and the country experiencing economic growth, the future looks quite bright for the small West African country. To see continued progress in strengthening its ties with Sierra Leone, the U.S. must continue to pledge its support in the form of foreign aid.
– Dalton Westfall
Photo: Flickr
Partnership Delivers Feed the Future Plan in Kenya
April 2018 marked the official start of the Feed the Future Kenya Country Plan, a USAID initiative to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Kenya. The plan was put into action by U.S. Ambassador Robert F. Godec at the Accelerating Value Chain Development (AVCD) National Conference, which took place in Nairobi during April 26-27.
Feed the Future
Feed the Future is a program developed by the Obama administration as part of the U.S. Global Food Security Strategy. It aims to promote agricultural production and help communities better cope with drought and climate change by introducing new technologies and innovative strategies to local farmers.
The Country Plan is actually the beginning of the second phase of Feed the Future in Kenya; the first phase was originally implemented five years ago. The hope for the second phase is to bolster the areas of the program which were successful and make improvements to the components that need work.
Progress in Combatting Poverty
So far, Feed the Future has been a huge success. Between 2011 and 2016, the program lifted an approximated 9 million people out from under the poverty line. Feed the Future farmers produce maize and groundnut crop yields that are 23 percent and 64 percent higher than the national average, respectively, which has resulted in an additional revenue of 2.6 billion dollars in agricultural sales.
Because of the progress made in the agrarian sector, an estimated 1.7 million households are no longer experiencing frequent hunger and malnutrition. In addition, there has been a 26 percent drop in stunted growth among children since the program began.
Agriculture and Economy Partner Up
The incredible numbers that have been achieved by Feed the Future are the result of partnerships between leading minds in the agricultural and economic fields. The program brings in speculation from scientists, successful businesses, nonprofits, food production companies and government agencies to create well thought out approaches to food insecurity.
Despite all of its accomplishments, there are still some issues that need to be worked out with Feed the Future. The most major of these is the focus of the program, which until now has been primarily on increasing crop yield.
While this is undeniably important, there should be more emphasis on education so that farmers understand what’s behind the positive trends and can continue them on their own for years to come — it’s called Feed the Future for a reason, after all.
Dual Success
But overall, Feed the Future is a promising initiative that has already delivered spectacular results to food insecure nations. It is important that projects like this one continue to receive attention and funding, not only for the sake of those in need but for the taxpayers who finance them as well.
A recent study by the U.K. Department for International Development in Ethiopia and Kenya found that over the next two decades, every dollar invested in strengthening the ability of communities to cope with drought and climate change could result in about $3 saved in short-term humanitarian aid. This means that funding the right programs today will save American taxpayer dollars tomorrow.
– Maddi Roy
Photo: Flickr
Five Organizations Working Towards Eliminating Malaria
For 130 million years, malaria has plagued humans as one of the most dangerous diseases on earth. Malaria is transmitted to humans and mammals through mosquitos that carry the parasite. Many African, Middle Eastern and South American countries are afflicted with malaria; however, due to health and technological advances, there are many organizations now fighting against malaria.
Roll Back Malaria – Partnership to End Malaria
Roll Back Malaria (RBM) has worked for many years to combat the spread of malaria. In 2008, RBM put in action the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) at the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit in New York, which was a movement endorsed by many world leaders. GMAP mapped out a strong advocacy plan in the fight towards eliminating malaria.
Eight years later, in 2016, RBM organized the Action and Investment to Defeat Malaria (AIM) 2016-2030 plan. AIM accompanies the WHO Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 plan, and both programs demonstrate how lowering and eliminating instances of malaria creates healthier and more successful societies.
The benefits of eradicating malaria was demonstrated in a statement made by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “Reaching our 2030 global malaria goals will not only save millions of lives, it will reduce poverty and create healthier, more equitable societies. Ensuring the continued reduction and elimination of malaria will generate benefits for entire economies, businesses, agriculture, education, health systems and households.”
USAID
Since 2000, USAID, who has partnered with the likes of RBM, the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has carried out The President’s Malaria Initiative. By 2015, USAID had helped reduce malaria deaths by over 60 percent, saved nearly 7 million lives and guarded against more than 1 billion malaria cases. USAID takes many precautionary measures to help prevent the spread of malaria including:
With USAIDs continuous efforts, the world is well on its way to eliminating malaria.
Together Against Malaria
Together Against Malaria (TAMTAM), a non-profit organization, fights to protect pregnant women and young children from the burden of malaria. TAMTAM works with researchers and policymakers at their offices to increase the usage of insecticide nets.
TAMTAM also distributes free bed nets to underprivileged districts via scientifically and cost-effective methods. The nets are given to health clinics to provide easy-access to everyone living in vulnerable situations, and helps protect pregnant women and children otherwise defenseless against malaria.
Against Malaria Foundation
The Against Malaria Foundation, another organization that helps to distribute insecticide nets, raises money through different organizations and events held each year to raise funds for net distribution. Their specific nets, called LLINs, are long-lasting, so as to ensure that people in these communities stay safe for longer periods of time without having to change out their nets.
The foundation’s charitable efforts include events such as the Speedo Swim Around the World, an event open to anyone, anywhere to help raise funds for the nets. There’s also the Speedo Elite Athletes 2010, which engaged the likes of celebrity swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin in addition to the group, Japan Swimming.
PATH
PATH is an organization working to eliminate malaria through scientific methods and advancements. The company’s preventive methods include vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices and system and service innovations. PATH is speeding up access to effective, affordable and more sensitive malaria diagnostic tools, while also ensuring a stable supply of antimalarial drugs.
PATH’s Center for Malaria Control and Elimination aids in vaccine distribution and diagnostics, and its main goal is to eradicate malaria altogether.
With technological and scientific advancements, eliminating malaria once and for all is a definite possibility for the future. By protecting health, these organizations are doing a world of good by fighting malaria and using the best measures possible to ensure that this debilitating disease does not spread any more.
– Rebecca Lee
Photo: Flickr
What You Need to Know About Girls’ Education in Iran
In recent years, girls’ education in Iran has fallen victim to many restrictions and limitations. While Iran was one of the first countries in the Middle East to allow women to study at the university level, many things have changed since the violence of the Iraq war and other related conflicts. Many Iranian politicians in the years after 9/11 have viewed girls’ education in Iran in a different light, often as a threat to political power.
Repression for Girls’ Education in Iran
The presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2013 ushered in an era of repression for girls’ education in Iran. Before his election, women accounted for more applications to universities than men in Iran. During Ahmadinejad’s presidency, however, many restrictions were introduced to girls education including separate entrances and classrooms, as well as separate social areas and a repression of the subjects women were allowed to study.
This trend represents what many politicians labeled a return to more traditional Islamic values and a “re-Islamisation” of the Iranian people. This call for change from political leaders placed an emphasis on reducing Western influence on Iranian culture and many of these reductions were felt by the female population in Iran. Conservative government officials made it known that they felt the education of women was leading to a diminishment of family values and desire for women to bear children and perform familial duties.
To promote this view, President Ahmadinejad’s administration primarily linked girls’ education in Iran to an increasing divorce rate and decreasing fertility rate. In addition to linking these factors, the administration promoted gender-based admission policies through the Iranian ministry of science, which selects who leads universities in Iran.
Change in Admissions and Leadership
In August 2012, Mehr news agency reported that women were being prevented from admissions in 77 majors, 36 universities and in important areas such as accounting, education, chemistry, engineering and advising in Iran. Many of the majors reserved for men included engineering, surveying, management and leadership positions.
In 2013, Iran elected Hassan Rouhani as its president, which marks a hopeful improvement in the fight for equal rights for women’s education. Rouhani criticized gender-based education in Iran, and has stated that his administration will not discriminate between men and women seeking employment or education in Iran. While the President and his administration feel that this is fair, many in Iran oppose his rollback of gender-based education and his administration has not had much effect on the state of women’s education in Iraq today.
An Upwards Battle
While the fight for girls’ education in Iran will undoubtedly be better received by the Rouhani administration, it is still an upwards battle for the women in Iran to see educational improvements in their lives. Even though girls’ education in Iran has largely been accepted and promoted since the turn of the twentieth century, in recent years many people have called for a return to a more traditional Islamic model of women having more familial duties in the home.
It is the hope of many people that Iran allows its women to gain the educational opportunities they want and deserve. With a presidential administration amenable to equal education for women, Iranian women may gain equal access to education soon.
– Dalton Westfall
Photo: Flickr
Labour Behind the Label Advocates for Clothing Workers’ Rights
The Clean Clothes Campaign’s United Kingdom-based nonprofit, Labour Behind the Label, is taking action to improve the deplorable work conditions found in factories across the world and provide support to workers in the garment industry. The organization promotes ethical clothing and collaborates with brands and trade unions to push for the reform of systemic problems found in the clothing business.
Change Your Shoes and Labor Rights
Recently, Labour Behind the Label held campaigns to uphold worker rights, such as the “Change Your Shoes” campaign, a project that called for shoe brands to provide greater transparency in their production process. Through its tireless efforts, Labour Behind the Label is working to amend the garment industry, combatting low wages, unsafe working conditions and abusive treatment, thereby holding brands accountable.
According to the organization, Labour Behind the Label is the United Kingdom’s only campaign group dedicated solely to labor rights in the worldwide garment industry. Past activity has included urging retailers to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, pushing for living wages for Cambodian garment workers, and bringing victims of the Rana Plaza factory disaster compensation.
Clean Clothes and Living Wages
The nonprofit was founded in 2001 as part of the Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s most prominent alliance of labor unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Labour Behind the Label’s endeavors include raising awareness and putting pressure on companies to support workers’ rights, as well as lobbying governments and policymakers.
The group is currently advancing programs such as the “Living Wage” campaign, working with the Asia Floor Wage Alliance to demand a living wage in Asian garment producing countries. The campaign would help provide garment workers, 80 percent of whom are women, with living wages to cover their basic needs.
Worker Safety and the Shoe Industry
The organization is also holding a “Worker Safety” campaign,” providing compensation for victims of Pakistan’s 2012 Ali Enterprises factory fire. In addition, it has led actions such as a weeklong initiative to lobby brands to ban dangerous practices such as the sandblasting of jeans.
Labour Behind the Label launched the “Change Your Shoes” campaign to look specifically at the operations of the shoe industry. Twenty-four billion pairs of shoes were produced in the year 2013, with 87 percent of them manufactured in Asia. The program has called upon leading shoe brands in the United Kingdom, as well as brands such as Prada, Birkenstock and Camper, to provide information pertaining to their production processes.
The program also asks members of the shoe industry to publish the names and addresses of suppliers, report on steps taken to move away from dangerous chemicals and demonstrate that the companies are providing fair wages and safe working conditions. The campaign has led research and investigations into the manufacturing processes of major shoe brands, observing that the system involves high-intensity labor, short deadlines and worsening living conditions of exploited workers.
Ending Fear and Silence
In many countries, there is a climate of fear and silence in the production chains. The project acknowledges that some companies, such as Nike and Adidas, have already begun to publish information about its processes and will hand its petition to brands to promote change.
Through projects such as the “Change Your Shoes” campaign, Labour Behind the Label is taking action to bring about fairer conditions in the garment industry worldwide. The organization is working to hold companies more accountable and create transparency in the industry, demanding living wages and calling for safer work environments in the clothing manufacturing business.
Ongoing Positive Change and Accountability
Labour Behind the Label’s activism has led to the creation of “codes of conduct” for companies, as well as “ethical trading” initiatives, which have promoted the annual inspection of factories. Labour Behind the Label acknowledges that sweatshop abuses are an elusive and deeply ingrained problem, as there are no easy solutions. But through its advocacy, campaigning, and research, Labour Behind the Label is taking steps to galvanize change in the clothing business on an international scale.
– Shira Laucharoen
Photo: Flickr
Sending Money Home: Record High Remittances to Mexico in 2017
Remittances to Mexico in 2017 reached the highest level ever recorded. Remittances provide many Mexican families with necessary supplemental funding and are one of Mexico’s most important sources of income. The record-breaking number of remittance payments were driven by the depreciation of the peso and uncertainty surrounding the future of Mexican exports to the U.S.
Remittances: Important Source of Income for Mexico
Remittance payments are one of Mexico’s largest sources of foreign income, with manufactured exports, oil exports and foreign direct investment. Although manufactured exports remain Mexico’s top source of foreign income, remittances outpace oil. Mexico is the largest recipient of remittance payments sent from migrant workers in the U.S.
Mexico’s poorest states tend to receive the most in remittance payments. In 2017, Michoacán received the most remittances — $2.915 billion. Michoacán is the sixth poorest state in Mexico, with a poverty rate of 54.4 percent. Remittances to Jalisco totalled $2.797 billion and remittances to Guanajuato were $2.56 billion.
According to the Bank of México, 2017 remittances from Mexican workers living abroad totalled $28.77 billion — a 6.6 percent increase over the $26.99 billion sent back to Mexico in 2016. Remittance payments to Mexico mainly come from the U.S.
Record-High Remittances Spurred by Two Factors
The record-high number of remittances to Mexico in 2017 were due to two major forces — depreciation of the peso and President Trump’s proposed tax on remittances to Mexico.
The peso dropped dramatically in 2016 after the U.S. election of President Trump. The election created uncertainty surrounding Mexican exports to the U.S., also known as Mexico’s largest export market. In 2016, the U.S. consumed 81.03 percent of all Mexican exports.
Specifically, the election of President Trump created fear that Mexican exports to the U.S. would be stifled either by the United States’ withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or by the imposition of tariffs on Mexican exports. Remittances to Mexico traditionally increase when the peso is weak, as foreign currency will buy more pesos.
The ‘Wall’ of Cash
Additionally, President Trump has proposed taxing or halting U.S. remittances to Mexico to fund a border wall. Trump has threatened to prevent wire transfers between Mexican workers in the U.S. and their families back home until the Mexican government agrees to a one-time, $5-10 billion payment to fund the border wall.
Taxing remittances has also been considered an alternate measure to fund the wall. Economists argue that uncertainty surrounding the future of remittances to Mexico encouraged Mexicans working in the U.S. to send more money home in 2017.
– Katherine Parks
Photo: Flickr
How the Media Misrepresents Uganda
One of Uganda’s most pivotal alliances is with the United States. Uganda and the U.S. established diplomatic relations in 1962 after Uganda gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
In January 2018, the Ugandan government and agencies were condemned for the mistreatment of incoming refugees. Corruption from multiple corners of government was found and squashed by U.N. aid agencies.
Some of the people meant to help refugees find new homes made up “ghost” refugees to push up numbers for extra funding. There was also notable evidence of extortion of refugees from anything to goods and what little money they had to sexual acts.
Amb Pacifici has praised Uganda and its Prime Minister for continued efforts and communication during challenging times in regard to regional issues. Most recently, in Kampala, the Ministry of Education announced that it would launch a framework into better sexuality education for students. This furthers the knowledge of Uganda’s hopeful youth.
The Ministry acknowledges the importance of the young minds and hopes that this will help guide the country to a more enriched development from the ground up. The guidelines will also allow for the public schools to follow along with the private school teachings when teaching sexuality education. None of this is mentioned in U.S. media leading to further evidence of how the media misrepresents Uganda.
The United States focuses on the problems of Uganda in media and less on how Uganda is turning itself around. One article, in particular, stood out but there was very little coverage overall on Uganda in the U.S. media when searched. Miniscule coverage of the positives going on in Uganda and an emphasis on continued problems of the region is yet another example of how the media misrepresents Uganda.
A recent CNN article gave multiple examples such as “modern colonization” and “secret deals,” fueling continued greed and corruption in Africa which robs the people of culture.
There are always bound to be conflicts in other countries but conflicts only ever make up part of a country’s story of progression. The media continues to misrepresent the true potential of Uganda, adding confusion to conflict.
Uganda shouldn’t be written off or labeled as a lost cause but rather seen for its truth, for the strength of its people and their rich culture. No place or thing can be ignored if true progress is to take place.
– Gustavo Lomas
Photo: Flickr
Child Slaves: A Closer Look at Involuntary Servitude and Child Labor
The worst forms of child labor by international definition is: the enslavement, sale, trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom or compulsory labor of anyone under the age of eighteen. In the United States, minors are a protected class under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
This act prohibits the oppressive labor of children, and is meant to include anything deemed physically or emotionally damaging, hazardous, or would inhibit the well-being and education of such individuals. Outside of the United States, however, minors are not necessarily granted such special protection and may begin working under hazardous conditions without profit, access to education, ability to escape or hope of a future.
International Labor Organization
The International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency founded in 1919, estimates that there were 40.3 million people in modern slavery, a quarter of whom are children; in fact, in 2017, 152 million children were in child labor around the world.
“Alliance 8.7 is a global strategic partnership committed to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, which calls on the world to ‘take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 to end child labor in all its forms.”
This organization has made tremendous efforts towards attaining its goals to eliminate child labor completely. As evidence of progress, there has been a decrease of 94 million children previously engaged in child labor since the year 2000.
Slavery vs. Child Labor
The distinction between slavery and child labor is important to note, as it distinguishes between what is considered labor and involuntary servitude, which by definition is forced. “Slavery is the holding of people at a workplace through force, fraud, or coercion for purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor so that the slaveholder can extract a profit.”
Of the 40 million slaves today, the majority are female, and the prevalence of slavery is most common in the Asia & Pacific regions, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa. As noted above, slavery takes many different forms and about 10 million of the slaves in existence today are children.
Forms and Causes of Slavery
The most typical forms of slavery are: debt bondage, contract slavery, sex trafficking, forced or servile marriage, domestic servitude, worst forms of child labor and child soldiers. The breakdown of industries where slavery takes place is fifty percent through forced labor in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, fishing, mining and other physical labor industries; 12.5 percent sex slavery in forced prostitution; and 37.5 percent forced marriage.
Poverty alone clearly does not cause slavery to occur, however, it is a large determinant of what allows slavery to catalyze in the first place. Slavery arises out of vulnerability and, as with all forms of cruelty and evil, predators prey on the weak.
In addition to poverty, other susceptibilities to one being subjected to involuntary servitude include: a lack of awareness of rights and risks, absent or weak protective organizations, absence of critical services, inadequate legal protection and survivor vulnerability. Human trafficking occurs within approximately twenty-three percent of the people who make up the slave population.
A Network of Support
The creation of stronger support systems is one key action item to putting an end to slavery. This is termed capacity building, and includes improved training, technical training and assistance to already existing organizations. Support systems aid in identifying those at risk to poverty and child slavery, preventing slavery from occurring and helping those in the aftermath to thrive under post-traumatic conditions.
As with all other inhumane acts, raising awareness is a crucial component to the creation of a world without child slaves.
Child Labor
While slavery is an obvious unspeakable injustice that strips the innocence of nearly 10 million children, the other 152 million children who are child laborers equates to one in ten children across the globe. The child labor statistics mentioned are primarily related to work in agriculture, with a smaller amount who work in the service or industry sector.
By continents it is estimated that 72.1 million child laborers exist in Africa, followed by Asia and the Pacific at 62 million, the Americas at 10.7 million, Europe and Central Asia at 5.5 million and the Arab States at 1.2 million. Thirty-eight percent of children in hazardous work conditions were between the ages of 5 to 14 when this data was collected.
A Child-Slave-Free World
One way to commit to the creation of a slave-free world and end child labor is to be a responsible consumer. Simply buying products from reputable companies who use ethical practices to produce their goods is a step in the right direction towards positive change. For business owners or those in corporate professions, knowthechain.org aids businesses in how to make ethically sound choices with respect to labor practices.
Demonstrating support for legislation crafted to prohibit child labor and the creation of stricter deterrents to using slave labor is a means to a solution. Finally, preventative measures can be taken by raising awareness, and increasing availability of education so that all people around the world know their rights. It would also help if funding is allocated to organizations that work to create positive change through both prevention and assistance.
Also, Free the Slaves contains additional information on what can be done to fight slavery and make ethically sound purchases.
– Bridget Rice
Photo: Flickr