,

How The Production of Smartphones Harms Children


Now, more than ever, the world is becoming more interconnected. While the new societal and political inter-dependencies are obvious, even fields like manufacturing are a part of this trend. One product serves as a glaring example of this phenomenon: the smartphone. This hand-sized piece of technology has a shocking amount of components from a shocking number of places. Tech giant Apple sources materials from nearly 45 countries to make its products. While global interconnectedness can certainly be a positive thing, especially in worldwide manufacturing arrangements, at-risk communities in this process can pay a price. Though there is potential for exploitation at many stages of production, it is especially bad at the raw materials stage. Mining toxic minerals like nickel, cadmium and cobalt can come at a high cost to human health. Unfortunately, the production of smartphones harms children in poverty.

To explore the specific threats to child laborers, it is helpful to focus in on one microcosm within the larger mining industry. One particularly harmful mineral in cell phone production is cobalt. Largely mined by hand, cobalt is a silvery-gray metal that people use for many different products, including metal alloys in jet engines and powerful magnets. It is also common in lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable energy sources that power mobile devices. The rise in the prevalence of electric cars, which use the same technology, means the demand for cobalt is only rising.

What Conditions Do Children Face?

While countries like Russia and Cuba produce this ore, workers mine more than 50 percent of the world’s cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Due to this high rate of production, most of the exploitation in cobalt mines occur in this country. As mine operators struggle to keep up with demand, the poverty rate in the DRC stands at nearly 65 percent.  That means that many desperate people are willing to work in dangerous conditions for hardly any money.

In January 2016, Amnesty International published an investigation into human rights abuses in the DRC’s cobalt mines and it found horrifying conditions. Workers face permanent lung and skin damage, as well as immediate physical harm from cave-ins and other accidents. Not only that, but the investigation also found children as young as 7 years old employed in these conditions. This is how the production of smartphones harms children in poverty.

Children told Amnesty International that for 12 hours of work, they could expect to earn only $1 or 2. When government or industry authorities visited mines, supervisors order the children to hide or stay away from the mines for a few days so others would not spot them. These poor conditions and ill-policed regulations are the reasons why cobalt is known as “the blood diamond of batteries.”

How Can People Fix This Problem?

Some companies have taken the initiative to reduce child exploitation, especially in the years following the 2016 Amnesty International report. Electric car-maker Tesla and its battery provider, Panasonic, have worked hard to pursue cobalt-free battery alternatives. These companies managed to cut cobalt use by 60 percent in six years. However, current technologies have reached their limits. Removing more cobalt will start to pose a longevity problem, as well as a fire-risk.

Because cobalt will remain in use for at least the near future, it is essential to protect impoverished child workers. Most simply, because this issue seems far away, it is easy to forget its gravity. For that reason, remembering the power of consumer impact is important. Pay attention to how companies operate and support businesses that perform the necessary due diligence to run responsibly.

For example, Apple, like many large tech and development companies, has a website with details about the ethics of its supply chain. Read up on brands’ efforts, and make sure to voice any concerns (or potentially, any support) at a website like this one.

What Can People Do to Make a Personal Impact?

Direct habits also make a difference. Try to avoid buying new electronic devices if possible. There are many websites, such as Gazelle, where customers can buy like-new phones to prevent the need for mining new cobalt. Additionally, if a device bites the dust, consider recycling its components. While lithium-ion batteries cannot go into the usual blue recycling bins, resources like this one at call2recycle can help identify the most convenient option.

Lastly, consider learning more and keeping up with the latest news on the Cobalt Institute’s website. This group is a non-governmental trade association that provides information and assists in identifying and solving problems in the cobalt industry. With 62 years of experience and all of the major producers in membership, this group has great influence in these matters.

While today, the production of smartphones harms children in poverty, improving conditions are just around the corner. With responsible choices, better supply chain management and technical innovations, this problem could soon be one of the past.

– Molly Power
Photo: Wikipedia Commons

,

10 Facts About Child Labor in South Africa

10 Facts About Child Labor in South Africa
A report by the United Nations International Labor Organization (UNILO) reveals that about one in every five children partakes in child labor in South Africa. This contributes to the African continent’s reputation as the highest in numbers regarding child labor. Examples of explicit labor include, but are not limited to, working in agriculture for extremely low wages, working for factories in the black market or being forced into sex trafficking. The Child Labor Program of Action has defined child labor in South Africa as work by children under the age of 18 that is exploitative, hazardous or otherwise inappropriate for their age and detrimental to their schooling or social, mental, physical, spiritual or moral development. Here are 10 facts about child labor in South Africa.

10 Facts About Child Labor in South Africa

  1. Approximately 72.1 million African children engage in child labor, while 31 million are working hazardous jobs. These jobs include strenuous labor in agricultural work, mechanic work in unsanitary factories and selling their bodies.
  2. The 2016 Global Estimates of Child Labor indicates that one-fifth of all African children are child laborers. Nine percent of African children are working in hazardous jobs. Both figures are more than twice as high as any other region.
  3. In 2014, reports determined that 31,000 children of children absent from school or experiencing learning difficulties at school had suffered from work-related injuries. The number of reported injuries at work only dropped to 202,000 children in 2015.
  4. Inequality in the continent has led to high recordings of sex trafficking among female children between the ages of 8 and 16. Although people can also sell boys for the use of sex acts, records determine that people sell young girls the most. In these cases, families may sell them so they can pay off living expenses.
  5. More than 268,000 kids living in rural areas must work hard jobs in agriculture for ridiculously low wages and terrible working conditions. Earnings combined with their families’ incomes amount to less than $1.25 per day leading many families to fall below the poverty line.
  6. The unemployment rate amongst children who have completed school and those who have not is equal. This leads to fewer kids attending school and more seeking work so they can make money right away. A total of 80 percent of South African children will fail to complete high school due to the necessity of working in hazardous jobs to help their families pay off living expenses.
  7. The Survey of Activities of Young People stated that more than 120,000 children have already participated in economic affairs in 2010. Meanwhile, another 90,000 children have suffered an injury while working a job from 2011 to 2012.
  8. The International Labor Organization in 2002 launched World Day Against Child Labor. The goal is to draw attention to the practice of child labor globally and the event happens every year on June 12th. The ILO reflects on past accomplishments in minimizing child labor along with collaborating to find more solutions in compliance with the Alliance 8.7 organization.
  9. The Alliance 8.7 nonprofit organization is a global partnership to eradicate forced labor, modernized forms of slavery and human trafficking around the world. Its efforts have reduced the number of sex trafficking acts in South Africa along with working toward getting children out of hazardous working conditions.
  10. The International Labor Organization is continuing to grow the amount of Child Labor Units and National Steering Committee to eradicate child labor in South Africa by mobilizing globally and providing knowledge locally. The goal of these committees is to gain assistance from a global outreach in acquiring the right resources to eradicate child labor, provide knowledge of what child labor is, methods on how to reduce it and instigate action plans to disperse it.

These 10 facts about child labor in South Africa just scratch the surface of the dangerous realization of just how many young children child labor affects. Children are suffering life-threatening injuries, missing out on getting a proper education and working hazardous jobs for little wages. In 2017, South Africa made a significant advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The government passed a Child’s Protection Act prohibiting persons convicted of child trafficking from working with children. The adoption of Phase IV of the National Child Labor Program of Action for South Africa has increased funding for the Child Support Grant to provide monthly direct cash transfers to primary caregivers who have vulnerable children. While some changes are occurring to help improve child labor laws, the South African government requires more action to minimize the harm from this list of 10 facts about child labor in South Africa. With continued advancement, South Africa should continue to expect relief and improvement over the years.

– Aaron Templin
Photo: Flickr

,

10 Facts About Child Labor in Mexico

10 Facts About Child Labor in Mexico
Childhood is a time for growth, development and play; however, in countries like Mexico, countless boys and girls are deprived of what makes them children. Poverty in Mexico has forced many children to abandon play and begin employment. Child labor in Mexico is an issue that the country struggles to overcome, and these 10 facts about child labor in Mexico present the reasons the country has yet to defeat this phenomenon.

10 Facts About Child Labor in Mexico

1. The high rate of child labor in Mexico is due to large amounts of poverty across the country. As of 2016, 43.6 percent of the population lived below the poverty line. This means that nearly half of the population is experiencing significant financial burdens, which often result in a lack of food, adequate living conditions and educational opportunities. With almost half of the population of Mexico experiencing this high rate of poverty, it is no surprise that Mexico has the highest rate of poverty in all of North America.

2. Around 3.6 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 in Mexico are employed. Of this, nearly 870,000 are under the age of 13.

3. In Latin America 50 percent of all employed children live in Mexico. Latin America is spread across 33 countries and home to 626 million people. While Mexico is not the largest country in population or size in Latin America, it has the highest number of employed children.

4. Mexico’s Federal Labor Law prohibits children who are under the age of 14 to work. Furthermore, children under the age of 16 may not participate in what they call “unhealthy or hazardous work.” This type of work is defined as anything that may be detrimental to the child’s health, including work with various chemicals and industrial night labor. This law is in place in order to ensure the physical and mental health of children, along with safeguarding proper development.

5. In Mexico, the Department of Labor is responsible for protecting workers’ rights, including monitoring child labor; however, the enforcement of child labor laws is minimal and ineffective in smaller companies, agricultural work and construction. Yet, it is in these areas that the majority of child labor in Mexico takes place.

6. Under Mexican law, children under 16 are not allowed to work more than six hours per day. Despite this law, almost 97 percent of children work more than 35 hours per week, which is well above the legal six hours per day.

7. Children often drop out of school in order to help provide financially for their families. If they do not drop out of school, many children must work on top of attending school to help their families survive. The older the child is, the more this phenomenon occurs. For instance, by the age of 17, one-third of Mexicans are working. For families experiencing extreme poverty in Mexico, education is just another financial burden and is second to earning a salary and making a contribution.

8. More children who live in the north and in the countryside are employed, compared with their counterparts in the city and in the south. For example, 12 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 13 are employed in the southern states like Guerrero, whereas merely 1.4 percent of those children are working in the north, in states like Chihuahua.

9. Employed children in Mexico often work in difficult conditions that put their health at risk. Child labor in Mexico often revolves around children working with and carrying heavy materials, such as wood and cement. Further, children are often fieldworkers and servants.

10. Fortunately, the rate of child labor in Mexico has been slowly decreasing due to programs like Oportunidades. This Mexican anti-poverty program is working on decreasing child labor in Mexico by providing families with educational grants. With these grants, more children will be able to stay in school instead of working. The Oportunidades program has helped more than four million families and counting.

Child labor in Mexico continues to be an ongoing problem that the country faces. Still, with each new generation, statistics change and circumstances improve. With the help of anti-poverty programs, newer generations of Mexicans are realizing the importance of education and a fulfilling childhood. Lowering poverty in Mexico will not only lessen the amount of child labor, but also save the childhoods of boys and girls who deserve more than just a salary.

– Melissa Quist
Photo: Flickr

,

The Hidden World of Brickyards in Nepal

brickyards in nepal
In Nepal, where the world-renowned Himalayas are located, poverty continues to plague rural populations. The poverty rate in these regions is still around 35%. Due to a struggling agricultural industry, many are pushed to the cities, where they find jobs in less than desirable work conditions, such as the brickyards of Kathmandu.

The Brickyards in Nepal

During half the year, from late fall to early spring, laborers build thousands of bricks from the clay deposits found in Kathmandu. Many of the laborers are children, teenagers, women, and even the elderly. Whole families move into the brickyards in order to make a few dollars. The work is physically demanding and becomes dangerous near the kilns, where smokestacks bake the bricks and spew toxic chemicals into the air.

An estimated 750 brick factories are in operation in Nepal, but only a little over half of them are registered with the government. Due to lack of funds to enforce child labor laws, brickyards around Nepal still employ approximately 13,530 children in Kathmandu valley. Even more unfortunate, most families depend on their children to work in order to cover all of their expenses.

The Economic Angle

Several economic factors keep both the brickyards in operation and the families in bonded labor. First, construction remains one of the largest industries in Nepal, contributing NPR $55121 Million in 2018 to Nepal’s GDP. Brickyards in Nepal directly fuel this industry, and the government lacks legislative potency in order to reform brickyards’ working conditions. Second, middlemen often entice families to labor in brickyards with the false promise of good pay to get them through a dry season in the job market. In reality, families receive low pay for their work, which makes them unable to pay off their debts and forces them to stay in the brickyard, for years or possibly even generations.

Breaking the Cycle

The brickyards in Nepal present a raw picture of the cycle of poverty that still exists worldwide and exposes the structures and factors that keep families in economic bondage. While hopes of alleviating the situation seem dire, there are a variety of ways that nonprofit and activist organizations are mobilizing to alleviate the suffering in the brickyards in Nepal:

  1. Humanitarian: Ceramic Water Filter Solution is a company whose mission is to bring safe water home. One of their projects started in 2015 and 2016, has been to provide clean water to families working in brickyards in Nepal, where water is scarce. They provide many ways to volunteer, donate, and support their work on their website:
  2. Medical: Terres des Hommes collaborate with local partners to establish healthcare camps to provide aid, particularly to women and children. They have set up facilities in 20 brickyards in the districts of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. This initiative supports workers by monitoring children’s diets and checking on workplace health conditions. To help with these programs in Nepal, there are a variety of options for people to donate and to volunteer on their website.
  3. Technical: For brickyard owners, one initiative, the Global Fairness’s Better Brick Nepal (BBN) program, could, at a minimum, improve the working conditions of their brickyards. The program aims at providing technical assistance to make brickmaking safer and more efficient. In 2017, the BBN project has extended to 40 kilns in 14 districts. Ultimately, those who have started the BBN hope to enforce standards that brickyard owners must comply with in order to operate profitable businesses.
  4. Political: A research and activist group, BloodBricks seeks to end the “modern slavery-climate change nexus” of the construction industry in countries like Cambodia, Nepal, and Pakistan. Their studies trace the injustice of the “booming” construction industry in these countries and seek to fight these issues through further advocacy and discussion.

Deep-Rooted Issues

There are many different ways organizations are placing pressure on the system of brickyards in Nepal. While the issue is complex, involving deep-rooted economic and political structures, this situation is worth fighting, as one way to combat poverty and suffering in Nepal. Additionally, solving this issue has broader implications for economic bondage in brickyards in other countries and bringing this issue to light has wide impacts in terms of advocacy and awareness.

–Luke Kwong
Photo: Flickr

, ,

8 Facts About How Social Media Affects Human Trafficking

social media affects human traffickingNearly two decades into the 21st century, more than 2.5 billion people use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Youtube. There’s no doubt that these types of digital realms alter human interaction and communication. Many users view these high-tech advances as ways to connect with communities they might not have been able to connect with otherwise. Unfortunately not everyone with social media accounts use them solely to stay connected with old friends and distant relatives; human traffickers utilize social media to recruit, run operations and control their victims. Here are eight facts about modern-day slavery in Europe and how social media affects human trafficking.

8 Facts About How Social Media Affects Human Trafficking

  1. Human trafficking doesn’t only include forced transportation for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. In addition to servitude and prostitution, trafficking also consists of the removal of vital organs and forced criminality, such as pickpocketing, shoplifting and drug trafficking.
  2. Human traffickers lure, abduct and control victims solely for their own financial gain. They may lure victims by offering an escape from extreme poverty or abusive homes. As Professor AnnJanette Rosga, who oversaw the “Research on Child Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina” report stated, “the global sex trade is as much a product of everyday people struggling to survive in dire economic straits as it is an organized crime problem.” Some individuals and families believe that the financial benefits will outweigh the costs of modern-day slavery or that victims will be able to escape. Addressing root causes of what makes people vulnerable to human trafficking, such as poverty, lack of job opportunity and lack of safe migration opportunities, will certainly decrease the prevalence of human trafficking.
  3. Developing European countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania each have millions of internet users. These and other Eastern European countries oftentimes have histories filled with corruption, civil strife and authoritarian government that contribute to high unemployment levels, leaving civilians vulnerable. Young girls and women struggling with poverty create optimal conditions for criminals to connect with vulnerable people like them without immediately exposing themselves as criminals.
  4. “Poly-criminal” gangs create fake social media accounts, marketing them as employment agencies to target young and vulnerable victims. Hiding behind fake profile pictures and information can transform any criminal into someone who might seem trustworthy, especially to young people who want to help their families living in poverty.
  5. Likewise, human traffickers will manipulate their victims’ social media accounts to maintain control. Social media oftentimes seems like a connection to friends and family members, but traffickers will restrict or monitor use of social media to keep their victims powerless.
  6. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization, works against human trafficking in several countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Albania. The OSCE recommends combating modern-day slavery through a three-step framework: prevention, which includes raising awareness and addressing root problems, prosecution, which includes investigation and cooperation with international law enforcement, and protection of victims’ rights, which includes assistance and compensation.
  7. La Strada International is a leading network of eight independent organizations that work on a grassroots level to combat human trafficking in Europe. La Strada has offices in Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine, but they lobby at the international level, advocating for changes in policy and stressing the importance of human rights.
  8. Ariadne is a regional network of 16 organizations in 12 countries, dedicated to combating human trafficking in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. Their most recent joint project focuses on developing effective reintegration models for survivors of human trafficking in the Western Balkans.

While the Information Age continues to bring about life-altering knowledge and technologies, there are always those who will manipulate technological advances for criminal activity. With increasingly new gadgets and technologies, 21st-century caveats include cybersecurity and data privacy issues as well as catfishing. While poverty, lack of opportunity and weak labor rights are some causes for humanitarian injustices, high prevalence and ease for traffickers to disguise themselves and their intentions are how social media affects human trafficking.

– Keeley Griego
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Poverty in Republic of Suriname

Poverty in SurinameThe Republic of Suriname, bordered by Guyana and French Guiana, is home to approximately 566,000 people, 47 percent of whom live in poverty. Here are four issues contributing to poverty in Suriname:

  1. Child Labor
    Many children in Suriname are forced to work in order to help their families make ends meet. While the legal working age in Suriname is 14, eight percent of children between the ages of five and 14 are forced into work. The majority work on the streets, which is a safety risk, or in agriculture, handling toxic and dangerous materials. Since these children are working illegally, their wages are unregulated and they are often grossly underpaid.
  2. Health Issues
    The people of Suriname are especially susceptible to major infectious diseases. There are high instances of food or waterborne diseases, such as typhoid fever, and vector-borne diseases, such as malaria. AIDs has also become one of the main causes of death in children under five. Families in poverty struggle to get treatment for these diseases and are thus often impacted the most. Malnutrition is also a concern for many people living in Suriname. Undernourishment affects 8.4 percent of the population.
  3. Disparities Between Rural and Urban Populations
    There are clear differences between the living conditions in urban and rural areas. Only 61.4 percent of rural populations have access to sanitation facilities, while 88.4 percent of the urban population does. The quality of education, which affects future income, also depends on location. Rural areas have poorly trained teachers compared to urban areas, which puts rural children at a disadvantage. The rural Maroon population, for example, has lower educational attainment, higher malnutrition, and less access to resources like electricity, sanitation and healthcare than urban populations. Rural populations’ disadvantages are partly due to the fact that geographic isolation restricts their opportunities to participate in policymaking.
  4. Discrimination
    High rates of discrimination in Suriname have hurt the wellbeing of minority ethnic groups. Compared to majority groups, people in the ethnic minority have limited access to quality education, good healthcare and other public services. Children from minority ethnic groups are also more likely to be forced into labor or sexually exploited as they try to earn money.

While the country is facing difficult issues, there are a number of programs and government efforts in place working to reduce these inequalities and address the health and labor issues that contribute to poverty in Suriname.

– Alexi Worley

Photo: Flickr