Dr. Nyagoy Nyong, interim Global CEO,
131-456: Fairtrade International , or Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International E.V. is a product-oriented multistakeholder group aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. Fairtrade's work is guided by a global strategy focused on ensuring that all farmers earn a living income, and agricultural workers earn a living wage . Fairtrade works with farmers and workers of more than 300 commodities. The main products promoted under
262-432: A breadwinner , as a result of death or abandonment, obliging many children to work from a young age. In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-powered cotton mills were described as children. A high number of children also worked as prostitutes . The author Charles Dickens worked at the age of 12 in a blacking factory, with his family in a debtor's prison . Child wages were often low,
393-411: A category, or the selection of the person to represent a stakeholder organization. Multistakeholder governance arrangements are being used - or are being proposed to be used - to address a wide range of global, regional, and national challenges. These governance challenges, often ones that have a significant political, economic, or security impact can be categorized as the following - (1) those involving
524-429: A central institution (be it a business, a project, or a government agency) should engage more formally with related institutions (be it other organizations, institutions, or communities). In multistakeholder governance, the central element of multistakeholder undertaking is a public concern (e.g. protection of the climate, management of the internet, or the use of natural resources), not a pre-existing organization. Second,
655-416: A child's work is usually crucial for his or her own survival or for that of the household. Income from working children, even if small, may be between 25 and 40% of the household income. Other scholars such as Harsch on African child labour, and Edmonds and Pavcnik on global child labour have reached the same conclusion. While poverty is a significant factor, the relationship between poverty and child labor
786-451: A daily basis. In Brazil, the minimum working age has been identified as fourteen due to constitutional amendments that passed in 1934, 1937, and 1946. Yet due to a change in the dictatorship by the military in the 1980s, the minimum age restriction was reduced to twelve but was reviewed due to reports of dangerous and hazardous working conditions in 1988. This led to the minimum age being raised once again to 14. Another set of restrictions
917-426: A democracy, there is only one elemental category for public decision-making, the 'citizen'. Unlike the concept of 'citizen' in democratic governance theory, the concept of 'stakeholder' in multistakeholder governance theory and practice remains unsettled and ambiguous. In multistakeholder governance, there are three tiers of 'stakeholder' definitions: (1) the definition of the 'stakeholder category' (e.g. business); (2)
1048-535: A given multistakeholder group, provided leave to participate in their personal, professional capacity, or formally designated to represent a specific organization. This ambiguity between commitment of the institution as a whole and the participation of a representative of a specific office or agency can affect a number of different roles inside and outside the multistakeholder group. The multistakeholder group may well appreciate being able to assert publicly that x governments or y transnational corporations are part of
1179-625: A global multistakeholder body by the World Bank and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in response to growing opposition to large dam projects. The twelve Commission members came from a variety of backgrounds, representing a broad spectrum of interests in large dams – including governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), dam operators and grassroots people's movements, corporations and academics, industry associations and consultants. In WCD's final report from 2000,
1310-876: A minimum a multistakeholder group must have two or more actors from different social, political, or economic groups. If not, then the group is a trade association (all business groups), a multilateral body (all governments), a professional body (all scholars), etc. Almost all multistakeholder bodies have at least one multinational corporation or business-affiliated body and at least one civil society organization or alliance of civil society organizations as key members. Alternative terminologies for multistakeholder governance include multi-stakeholder initiatives(MSIs), Multi-StakeHolder (MSH), multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs), public-private partnerships (PPPs), transnational multistakeholder Partnerships (transnational MSPs), informal governance arrangements, and non-state regulation. The key term 'multistakeholder' (or 'multistakeholderism')
1441-421: A multistakeholder board. For products, the goal is to facilitate ethical, environmental, and development-friendly products that are desired by consumers and beneficial for producers, manufacturers and retailers. Processes refer to new, rapidly evolving, complex and high impact technologies on the international market that lack domestic standards or regulatory oversight. The multistakeholder groups determine how
SECTION 10
#17327837638311572-634: A new approach to global water policy and development". The role of multistakeholder processes in internet governance dominated the 2003-2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). However the summit failed to address the digital divide to the satisfaction of developing countries. The final outcome of the Summit, the Tunis Agenda (2005), enshrined a particular type of multistakeholder model for Internet governance, in which, at
1703-500: A number of arenas, opposing forces are actively challenging the legitimacy, accountability, and effectiveness of these experimental changes in global governance. Stakeholder management theory , stakeholder project management theory, and stakeholder government agency theory have all contributed to the intellectual foundation for multistakeholder governance. The history and theory of multistakeholder governance however departs from these models in four ways. The earlier theories describe how
1834-559: A number of principles that should define a multistakeholder partnership. Governments "stresse[d] ...[A partnership should have a] common purpose, transparency, bestowing no unfair advantages upon any partner of the United Nations, mutual benefit and mutual respect, accountability, respect for the modalities of the United Nations, striving for balanced representation of relevant partners from developed and developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and not compromising
1965-558: A policy intervention is necessary but governments or intergovernmental organizations are unwilling or unable to resolve a policy matter. Most multistakeholder governance groups meet independently of multilateral organizations , while some may include the multilateral system for their endorsement or support. Examples of policy-oriented multistakeholder governance groups: Product, finance and process-oriented multistakeholder groups are organizations that set standards for internationally traded products and processes and/or provide financing with
2096-868: A position statement defending their use of private standards in response to a report from The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (MSI Integrity). A list of hazardous materials whose use in production of Fairtrade products is prohibited or restricted is maintained by Fairtrade International, divided into sections known as the "Red List", "Orange List" and "Yellow List" respectively. The Red List covers materials which are prohibited and may not be used in Fairtrade products. The Orange List details materials which may only be used in specified conditions; some of these were to be disallowed from June 2020 or June 2022. The Yellow List covers materials which are flagged as hazardous and only to be used with caution. The organisation relied on international conventions including
2227-634: A product to carry the Fairtrade Mark, it must come from FLOCERT inspected and certified producer organizations. The crops must be grown and harvested in accordance with the International Fairtrade Standards set by Fairtrade International. The supply chain is also monitored by FLOCERT to ensure the integrity of labelled products. Only authorized licensees can use the Fairtrade Mark on their products. Multistakeholder governance model Multistakeholder governance
2358-700: A senior official in the US Department of State's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. She argued that "Every meeting that is enriched by multistakeholder participation serves as an example and a precedent that opens doors for multistakeholder participation in future meetings and fora." There are generally accepted definitions for 'stakeholder' in management theory and generally accepted processes for selecting 'stakeholders' in project management theory. However, there are no commonly accepted definition of 'stakeholder' and no generally recognized process to designate 'stakeholders' in multistakeholder governance. In
2489-638: A specific section of the conference report. A separate government effort to define multistakeholder governance has been a series of United Nations General Assembly resolutions on 'partnerships'. The earliest resolution (2002) drew "the attention of Member States to multi-stakeholder initiatives, in particular, the Global Compact Initiative of the Secretary-General, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations ,
2620-444: A specific task and, as mutually agreed, to share risks and responsibilities, resources and benefits". Civil society organizations have had a series of parallel but distinct exchanges on the theory and practice of multistakeholder governance. Two elements of the definition of multistakeholder governance that are not central to the intergovernmental debate are (1) the connection between democracy and multistakeholder governance and (2)
2751-595: A stakeholder category, the category members could be social scientists, physicists, philosophers, environmental experts, professors of religion, lawyers, university administrators, or a professional association affiliated with scholarly work. At the G7 summit (Cornwall, UK, 11-13 June 2021) G7 leaders highlighted the importance of standards in line with their values and affirmed their support for “industry-led, inclusive multi-stakeholder approaches to standards setting”. The definition 'inclusive' multi-stakeholder approach called for
SECTION 20
#17327837638312882-487: A stakeholder group. Having an individual from a given organization participate in the leadership of a multistakeholder group does not necessary mean that the sponsoring organization (be it a business, civil society organization or a government) is itself on board. The participation of any given individual may only mean that a particular office or department has chosen to work with that multistakeholder group. The individual involved may have been granted permission to liaise with
3013-678: A stakeholder individual or group "as one that has an interest in any decision or activity of an organization" ( ISO 26000 ). Hemmati, a co-founder of the MSP Institute, a multistakeholder support organization, defines stakeholders as "those who have an interest in a particular decision, either as individuals or representatives of a group. This includes people who influence a decision, or can influence it, as well as those affected by it. The trade association of international environmental and social standard setting bodies, ISEAL, defines stakeholder groups as those "that are likely to have an interest in
3144-625: A traditional state-based response. While the evolution of multistakeholder governance is occurring principally at the international level, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are domestic analogues. Stakeholders refer to a collection of actors from different social, political, economic spheres working intentionally together to govern a physical, social, economic, or policy area. The range of actors can include multinational corporations , national enterprises, governments , civil society bodies, academic experts, community leaders , religious figures, media personalities and other institutional groups . At
3275-739: A week and did not attend school. There are also many initiative and policies put in place to decrease the prevalence of child labour such as the United States generalised system of preferences, the U.S.-Cambodia textile agreement, ILO Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project, and ChildWise Tourism. An Ecuadorean study published in 2006 found child labour to be one of the main environmental problems affecting children's health. It reported that over 800,000 children are working in Ecuador, where they are exposed to heavy metals and toxic chemicals and are subject to mental and physical stress and
3406-638: A wide variety of social actors: (a) UN agencies and bodies, (b) civil society and non-governmental organizations and their networks, (c) international agricultural research systems, (d) international and regional financial institutions and (e) representatives of private sector associations and (f) private philanthropic foundations. Unlike the multiple definitions inside the UN system, the definition of stakeholder categories for autonomous multistakeholder groups are generally versions of "interest-based" definitions. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines
3537-505: Is a means to learn and practice that trade from a very early age. Similarly, in many cultures the education of girls is less valued or girls are simply not expected to need formal schooling, and these girls pushed into child labour such as providing domestic services. Biggeri and Mehrotra have studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They focus their study on five Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines. They suggest that child labour
3668-419: Is a practice of governance that employs bringing multiple stakeholders together to participate in dialogue, decision making, and implementation of responses to jointly perceived problems. The principle behind such a structure is that if enough input is provided by multiple types of actors involved in a question, the eventual consensual decision gains more legitimacy, and can be more effectively implemented than
3799-544: Is a series of broad policy papers on multistakeholder governance and a broad array of theme-specific policy options. These policy and thematic program recommendations were designed to display the new governance structure's ability to respond to a range of global crises. These global policy areas include investment flows; educational systems; systemic financial risk; philanthropy and social investing; emerging multinationals; fragile states; social entrepreneurship; energy security; international security cooperation; mining and metals;
3930-443: Is a serious problem in all five, but it is not a new problem. Macroeconomic causes encouraged widespread child labour across the world, over most of human history. They suggest that the causes for child labour include both the demand and the supply side. While poverty and unavailability of good schools explain the child labour supply side, they suggest that the growth of low-paying informal economy rather than higher paying formal economy
4061-497: Is amongst the causes of the demand side. Other scholars too suggest that inflexible labour market, size of informal economy, inability of industries to scale up and lack of modern manufacturing technologies are major macroeconomic factors affecting demand and acceptability of child labour. Systematic use of child labour was commonplace in the colonies of European powers between 1650 and 1950. In Africa, colonial administrators encouraged traditional kin-ordered modes of production, that
Fairtrade International - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-881: Is an estimated five million children who are currently working in the field of agriculture which steadily increases during the time of harvest. Along with 30% of children who are picking coffee, there are an estimated 25,000 school age children who work year round. What industries children work in depends on whether they grew up in a rural area or an urban area . Children who were born in urban areas often found themselves working for street vendors, washing cars, helping in construction sites, weaving clothing, and sometimes even working as exotic dancers. While children who grew up in rural areas would work on farms doing physical labour, working with animals, and selling crops. Many children can also be found working in hazardous environments, with some using bare hands, stones and hammers to take apart CRT -based televisions and computer monitors. Of all
4323-411: Is complex. Research suggests that child labor generally decreases as household productive wealth (measured by agricultural per capita land holding in rural areas) increases. However, there can be a significant spike in the relationship between child labor and landholding at moderate levels of land per capita. Lack of meaningful alternatives, such as affordable schools and quality education, according to
4454-412: Is hiring a household for work not just the adults. Millions of children worked in colonial agricultural plantations, mines and domestic service industries. Sophisticated schemes were promulgated where children in these colonies between the ages of 5 and 14 were hired as an apprentice without pay in exchange for learning a craft. A system of Pauper Apprenticeship came into practice in the 19th century where
4585-479: Is increasingly spelled without a hyphen to maintain consistency with its predecessor 'multilateralism' and to associate this new form of governance with one of the key actors involved that is also generally spelled without a hyphen; ' multinationals '. 'Multistakeholderism' is similarly used in parallel to bilateralism and regionalism . As an evolving global governance form, only a limited number of organizations and institutions are involved in multistakeholderism. In
4716-507: Is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation worldwide, although these laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, family duties, supervised training, and some forms of work undertaken by Amish children, as well as by Indigenous children in the Americas. Child labour has existed to varying extents throughout history. During
4847-445: Is needed for children to engage in activities that are crucial for their development. Another issue that often comes into play is the link between what constitutes as child labour within the household due to the cultural acceptance of children helping run the family business. In the end, there is a consistent challenge for the national government to strengthen its grip politically on child labour, and to increase education and awareness on
4978-707: Is not uncommon for the founders of a multistakeholder groups to select a key individual to be a member of a multistakeholder group and then retroactively classify that individual and/or the individual's organization into an appropriate definitional category. At the United Nations Rio conference in 1992, governments formally accepted nine Major Groups as 'stakeholder' categories. The designated Major Groups were Women, Children and Youth, Indigenous Peoples, Non-Governmental Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business and Industry, Scientific and Technological Community, and Farmers. Two decades later,
5109-647: Is now cited as 'Major Groups and Other Stakeholders'. The International Labour Organization (ILO)'s governance system functions with just three constituencies: 'workers', 'business', and 'government'. In this tri-partite arrangement, workers and business are on the same footing as governments. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has different main categories: 'Members', 'Participants’ and 'Observers'. The CFS sees itself as "the foremost inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition for all". Their 'Participants' category however includes
5240-634: Is often the major cause of the high rate of child labour in India. On 23 June 1757, the English East India Company defeated Siraj-ud-Daula , the Nawab of Bengal, in the Battle of Plassey . The British thus became masters of east India (Bengal, Bihar, Orissa) – a prosperous region with a flourishing agriculture, industry and trade. This led to many children being forced into labour due to
5371-667: Is rarely a concept of childhood in the modern sense. Children often begin to actively participate in activities such as child rearing , hunting and farming as soon as they are competent. In many societies, children as young as 13 are seen as adults and engage in the same activities as adults. The work of children was important in pre-industrial societies, as children needed to provide their labour for their survival and that of their group. Pre-industrial societies were characterised by low productivity and short life expectancy ; preventing children from participating in productive work would be more harmful to their welfare and that of their group in
Fairtrade International - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-452: Is really worth it. In European history when child labour was common, as well as in contemporary child labour of modern world, certain cultural beliefs have grounded it. Some view that work is good for the character-building and skill development of children. In many cultures, particular where the informal economy and small household businesses thrive, the cultural tradition is that children follow in their parents' footsteps; child labour then
5633-504: Is the Global Food Safety Initiative which is designed to define their benchmarking requirements thus controlling the minimum requirements in the schemes they recognize. The difference between international standards and private standards is explained by a publication from ISO . Each organization designated to "represent" a stakeholder category can use its own method to select an individual to participate in
5764-489: Is the largest employer of child labour. The vast majority of child labour is found in rural settings and informal urban economies; children are predominantly employed by their parents, rather than factories. Poverty and lack of schools are considered the primary cause of child labour. UNICEF notes that "boys and girls are equally likely to be involved in child labour", but in different roles, girls being substantially more likely to perform unpaid household labour. Globally
5895-517: Is unclear due to the government categorising child labour data as "highly secret". China has enacted regulations to prevent child labour; still, the practice of child labour is reported to be a persistent problem within China, generally in agriculture and low-skill service sectors as well as small workshops and manufacturing enterprises. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor , where China
6026-540: Is very dangerous due to the physical and psychological implications that come with these jobs. Yet despite the hazards that come with working with drug dealers, there has been an increase in this area of employment throughout the country. Many factors played a role in Britain's long-term economic growth, such as the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and the prominent presence of child labour during
6157-640: Is widely regarded to have started with the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (more commonly known at the Rio Conference ). There, governments created nine major non-state groups which could be part of the official intergovernmental process. Ten years later in Johannesburg the follow-up conference created a new multistakeholder implementation process called officially "type II conference outcomes," where transnational corporations, NGOs, and governments pledged to work together to implement
6288-477: The Mui tsai (妹仔), was rationalised as a cultural tradition and ignored by British authorities. The Dutch East India Company officials rationalised their child labour abuses with, "it is a way to save these children from a worse fate." Christian mission schools in regions stretching from Zambia to Nigeria too required work from children, and in exchange provided religious education, not secular education . Elsewhere,
6419-485: The National Child Labor Committee . Factories and mines were not the only places where child labour was prevalent in the early 20th century. Home-based manufacturing across the United States and Europe employed children as well. Governments and reformers argued that labour in factories must be regulated and the state had an obligation to provide welfare for poor. Legislation that followed had
6550-600: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2014) in formulating its list. Earlier versions of the list distinguished between "red" (prohibited) and "amber" (under consideration for prohibition) elements. Fairtrade prohibits child labour and anyone under 15 years old cannot be employed by Fairtrade organisation. Children under 18 years old can be employed, but their employment cannot interfere with their education or development. Children are only allowed to work on family farms under strict conditions,
6681-587: The World Economic Forum 's Global Redesign Initiative (GRI). Its 2010 600-page report "Everybody's Business: Strengthening International Cooperation in a More Interdependent World" was a comprehensive proposal for re-designing global governance. The report sought to change in fundamental ways the global governance system built since World War II. The report authored by the leadership of the World Economic Forum, including Klaus Schwab ,
SECTION 50
#17327837638316812-466: The 1980s that it was discovered that almost nine million children in Brazil were working illegally and not partaking in traditional childhood activities that help to develop important life experiences. Brazilian census data (PNAD, 1999) indicate that 2.55 million 10- to 14-year-olds were illegally holding jobs. They were joined by 3.7 million 15- to 17-year-olds and about 375,000 5- to 9-year-olds. Due to
6943-458: The 19th and early 20th centuries, many children aged 5–14 from poorer families worked in Western nations and their colonies alike. These children mainly worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining , and services such as news boys —some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws ,
7074-862: The CEO, the COO, and the CVO (Chief Value Officer). Given the development focus of fair trade, related standards contain minimum requirements that all producer organisations must meet to become certified as well as progress requirements in which producers must demonstrate improvements over time. There are two types of fairtrade standards for disadvantaged producers: standards for small farmers' organizations and for hired labor situations. For some products, such as coffee , only fair trade standards for small farmers' organizations are applicable. For others, such as tea , both small farmers' organizations and plantations can be certified . Fair trade standards and procedures are approved by
7205-789: The Canadian Dominion Statutes in form of so-called Breaches of Contract Act, stipulated jail terms for uncooperative child workers. Proposals to regulate child labour began as early as 1786. Children working at a young age has been a consistent theme throughout Africa. Many children began first working in the home to help their parents run the family farm. Children in Africa today are often forced into exploitative labour due to family debt and other financial factors, leading to ongoing poverty. Other types of domestic child labour include working in commercial plantations , begging, and other sales such as boot shining. In total, there
7336-461: The Caribbean region have lower overall population density, but at 14 million child labourers has high incidence rates too. Accurate present day child labour information is difficult to obtain because of disagreements between data sources as to what constitutes child labour. In some countries, government policy contributes to this difficulty. For example, the overall extent of child labour in China
7467-616: The FLO Standards Committee, an external committee comprising all FLO stakeholders (labeling initiatives, producers, and traders) and external experts. Fair trade standards are set in accordance to the requirements of the ISEAL Code of Good Practice in standards setting and are in addition the result of an extensive consultation process, involving a variety of stakeholders: producers, traders, external experts, inspectors, certification staff etc. In 2020, Fairtrade issued
7598-578: The Fairtrade label are coffee, cocoa, banana, flowers, tea, and sugar. Fairtrade is an association of three Producer Networks, nineteen National Fairtrade Organisations (formerly: Fairtrade Labelling Organisations) and eight Fairtrade Marketing Organisations that promote and market the Fairtrade Certification Mark in their countries Producer Networks exist in Latin America, The Caribbeans, Africa, Middle East, Asia and
7729-490: The ILO, is another major factor driving children to harmful labour. Children work because they have nothing better to do. Many communities, particularly rural areas where between 60 and 70% of child labour is prevalent, do not possess adequate school facilities. Even when schools are sometimes available, they are too far away, difficult to reach, unaffordable or the quality of education is so poor that parents wonder if going to school
7860-622: The Indian government began to take extensive actions to reduce the number of children working, and to focus on the importance of facilitating the proper growth and development of children. International influences help to encourage legal actions to be taken in India, such as the Geneva Declaration of the Right of Children Act was passed in 1924. This act was followed by The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 to which incorporated
7991-691: The Pacific. National Fairtrade Organisations exist in 16 European countries as well as in Canada , the United States , Japan , Australia and New Zealand . Fairtrade International also oversees Fairtrade Marketing Organisations in the Czech Republic , Korea , Hong Kong , Taiwan , India , Philippines , and Poland . Fairtrade International was established in 1997. It set private standards relating to labour, cooperative organisation, and
SECTION 60
#17327837638318122-449: The U.S. In the early 20th century, thousands of boys were employed in glass making industries. Glass making was a dangerous and tough job especially without the current technologies. The process of making glass includes intense heat to melt glass (3,133 °F (1,723 °C)). When the boys are at work, they are exposed to this heat. This could cause eye trouble, lung ailments, heat exhaustion, cuts, and burns. Since workers were paid by
8253-457: The United States. This included children who rolled cigarettes, engaged in factory work, worked as bobbin doffers in textile mills, worked in coal mines and were employed in canneries. Lewis Hine 's photographs of child labourers in the 1910s powerfully evoked the plight of working children in the American south. Hine took these photographs between 1908 and 1917 as the staff photographer for
8384-465: The age of fifteen years, or fourteen years for light work. Significant levels of child labour appear to be found in Cambodia. In 1998, ILO estimated that 24.1% of children in Cambodia aged between 10 and 14 were economically active. Many of these children work long hours and Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 reported that approximately 65,000 children between the ages of 5 and 13 worked 25 hours
8515-478: The assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of multistakeholder projects. In 2019 Felix Dodds , a founder of the Stakeholder Forum, argued that "involving stakeholders in the decision-making process makes them more likely to partner with each other and with governments at all levels to help deliver on the commitments associated with [intergovernmentally adopted] agreements". In this perspective,
8646-526: The chair Professor Kader Asmal described the Commissioners' views about multistakeholder governance this way: "We are a Commission to heal the deep and self-inflicted wounds torn open wherever and whenever far too few determine for far too many how best to develop or use water and energy resources. That is often the nature of power, and the motivation of those who question it. Most recently governments, industry and aid agencies have been challenged around
8777-697: The child workers, the most serious cases involved street children and trafficked children due to the physical and emotional abuse they endured by their employers. To address the issue of child labour, the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child Act was implemented in 1959. Yet due to poverty, lack of education and ignorance, the legal actions were not/are not wholly enforced or accepted in Africa. Other legal factors that have been implemented to end and reduce child labour includes
8908-467: The colonial master neither needed the native parents' nor child's approval to assign a child to labour, away from parents, at a distant farm owned by a different colonial master. Other schemes included 'earn-and-learn' programs where children would work and thereby learn. Britain for example passed a law, the so-called Masters and Servants Act of 1899, followed by Tax and Pass Law, to encourage child labour in colonies particularly in Africa. These laws offered
9039-622: The conditions under which children were employed. Children as young as four were employed in production factories and mines working long hours in dangerous, often fatal, working conditions. In coal mines , children would crawl through tunnels too narrow and low for adults. Children also worked as errand boys, crossing sweepers , shoe blacks, or selling matches, flowers and other cheap goods. Some children undertook work as apprentices to respectable trades, such as building or as domestic servants (there were over 120,000 domestic servants in London in
9170-432: The decline of child labour included financial changes in the economy, changes in the development of technology, raised wages, and continuous regulations on factory legislation. In 1933 Britain adopted legislation restricting the use of children under 14 in employment. The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 , defined the term child as anyone of compulsory school age (age sixteen). In general no child may be employed under
9301-598: The definition 'exclusive' multi-stakeholder approach, where multinational corporations in the private sector create exclusive multi-stakeholder initiatives, adopting non-consensus private standards and holding majority voting rights. Not meeting the WTO principles described above. Exclusive multi-stakeholder initiatives, adopting private standards are discussed a report from The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (MSI Integrity), another example of an exclusive multi-stakeholder initiative adopting private standards
9432-419: The definition or the specification for selecting organizations or institutions within a 'stakeholder category' (e.g. micro-enterprises or women-owned businesses); and (3) the definition or the specification for selecting an individual person to represent a designated organization or institution within a stakeholder category (e.g. the CEO, the external affairs officer, or a professional staff member). In practice it
9563-438: The earlier theories aimed to strengthen a pre-existing institution. In multistakeholder governance, multistakeholder groups can strengthen associated institutions but they can also marginalize institutions or functions of existing governance bodies (e.g. governmental regulatory authorities, UN system). As earlier theories were concerned with improving the operations of corporations and project management, they did not need to address
9694-514: The effect of moving work out of factories into urban homes. Families and women, in particular, preferred it because it allowed them to generate income while taking care of household duties. Home-based manufacturing operations were active year-round. Families willingly deployed their children in these income generating home enterprises. In many cases, men worked from home. In France, over 58% of garment workers operated out of their homes; in Germany,
9825-463: The eighteenth century. By the end of the eighteenth century, 20 per cent of the population was made up of children between the ages of 5 and 14. Due to this substantial shift in available workers, and the development of the industrial revolution, children began to work earlier in life in companies outside of the home. Yet, even though there was an increase of child labour in factories such as cotton textiles, there were large numbers of children working in
9956-488: The evolution of multistakeholder governance marks a positive transformation from representative democracy to stakeholder-based participatory democracy . The 2019 Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam report on multistakeholderism takes a different perspective. It considers that democracy is at great risk from multistakeholder governance. TNI sees the lack of a legitimate public selection process for 'stakeholders';
10087-413: The field of agriculture and domestic production. With such a high percentage of children working, the rising of illiteracy, and the lack of a formal education became a widespread issue for many children who worked to provide for their families. Due to this problematic trend, many parents developed a change of opinion when deciding whether or not to send their children to work. Other factors that lead to
10218-476: The formulation of public policies with minimal or marginal government participation; (2) those involved in setting market-governing standards that were previously a state function; and (3) those involved in implementing large-scale projects, often large-scale infrastructure projects, with government participation. Policy-oriented multistakeholder governance groups are used to address an international policy issue. These groups tend to arise when global actors believe
10349-414: The future of government; ocean governance; and ethical values. What sets the World Economic Forum's proposal apart is that it was developed as a cooperative effort involving 750 experts from the international business, governmental, and academic communities working in sixty separate task forces for one and a half years (2009/2010). WEF also had over fifty years' experience convening leading stakeholders from
10480-608: The global response that came into force in 1979 by the declaration of the International Year of the Child. Along with the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations, these two declarations worked on many levels to eliminate child labour. Although many actions have been taken to end this epidemic, child labour in Africa is still an issue today due to the unclear definition of adolescence and how much time
10611-487: The governance of the Fairtrade benefits. The organisation was divided in January 2004 into two independent organisations as below: The following are National Fairtrade Organizations and Fairtrade Marketing Organizations: These initiatives were joined in 2007 by three Producer Networks: Fairtrade International is divided into six units: The coordination of all global activities is led by a Global Leadership Team, made of
10742-601: The importance of effectively engaging these nine sectors of society was reaffirmed by the Rio+20 Conference . However that conference added other stakeholders, including local communities, volunteer groups and foundations, migrants and families, as well as older persons and persons with disabilities. Subsequently, governments also added as stakeholders private philanthropic organizations, educational and academic entities and other stakeholders active in areas related to sustainable development. The 'Major Groups' designation
10873-411: The incidence of child labour decreased from 25% to 10% between 1960 and 2003, according to the World Bank . Nevertheless, the total number of child labourers remains high, with UNICEF and ILO acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged 5–17 worldwide were involved in child labour in 2013. Child labour forms an intrinsic part of pre-industrial economies. In pre-industrial societies , there
11004-493: The incidence rates of child labour fell. As of 2023 , in the world's poorest countries, around one in five children are engaged in child labour, the highest number of whom live in sub-saharan Africa , where more than one in four children are so engaged. This represents a decline in child labour over the preceding half decade. In 2017, four African nations ( Mali , Benin , Chad and Guinea-Bissau ) witnessed over 50 per cent of children aged 5–14 working. Worldwide agriculture
11135-444: The increasing need of cheap labour to produce large numbers of goods. Many multinationals often employed children because that they can be recruited for less pay, and have more endurance to utilise in factory environments. Another reason many Indian children were hired was because they lack knowledge of their basic rights, they did not cause trouble or complain, and they were often more trustworthy. The innocence that comes with childhood
11266-417: The independence and neutrality of the United Nations system in general and the agencies in particular". In the same resolution, government further defined the 'common purpose' and 'mutual benefit and respect' as voluntary partnerships and as "collaborative relationships between various parties, both public and non-public, in which all participants agree to work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake
11397-497: The industrial age. Children who worked at an early age were often not forced; but did so because they needed to help their family survive financially. Due to poor employment opportunities for many parents, sending their children to work on farms and in factories was a way to help feed and support the family. Child labour first started to occur in England when household businesses were turned into local labour markets that mass-produced
11528-443: The industrial exploitation of labour, including child labour. Industrial cities such as Birmingham , Manchester , and Liverpool rapidly grew from small villages into large cities and improving child mortality rates. These cities drew in the population that was rapidly growing due to increased agricultural output. This process was replicated in other industrialising countries. The Victorian era in particular became notorious for
11659-480: The inherent power imbalance between categories of 'stakeholders', particularly transnational corporations and community groups; and the intrusion of business interests in formal international decision-making as counter to the development of a globally representative democratic system. Gleckman, an associate of TNI and a senior fellow at the Center for Governance and Sustainability, UMass-Boston, advances other arguments on
11790-412: The inherently un-democratic character of multistakeholder governance. The 1991-1994 Commission on Global Governance , the 2003-2007 Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy ., and the 1998-2001 World Commission on Dams each addressed the evolution of the concept of multistakeholderism as a force in global governance. For example, The World Commission on Dams (WCD) was established in 1998 as
11921-601: The insecurity caused by being at risk of work-related accidents. Minors performing agricultural work along with their parents help apply pesticides without wearing protective equipment. In 2015, the country of India is home to the largest number of children who are working illegally in various industrial industries. Agriculture in India is the largest sector where many children work at early ages to help support their family. Many of these children are forced to work at young ages due to many family factors such as unemployment, large families, poverty, and lack of parental education. This
12052-543: The international, regional and national levels, social movements, religious bodies, professional associations, development organizations, humanitarian groups or environmental NGOs. The 'business' stakeholder category could mean multinational corporations, medium-sized national enterprises, small- and micro- local businesses, business trade associations at the international, national, or local level; businesses from developing countries, minority own businesses, women-owned enterprises or green global businesses. When 'academics' are
12183-534: The issue of children working below the legal age limit. With children playing an important role in the African economy, child labour still plays an important role for many in the 20th century. From European settlement in 1788, child convicts were occasionally sent to Australia where they were made to work. Child labour was not as excessive in Australia as in Britain. With a low population, agricultural productivity
12314-405: The long run. In pre-industrial societies, there was little need for children to attend school. This is especially the case in non-literate societies. Most pre-industrial skill and knowledge were amenable to being passed down through direct mentoring or apprenticing by competent adults. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the late 18th century, there was a rapid increase in
12445-438: The major growth economies, Maplecroft ranked Philippines 25th riskiest, India 27th, China 36th, Vietnam 37th, Indonesia 46th, and Brazil 54th, all of them rated to involve extreme risks of child labour uncertainties, to corporations seeking to invest in developing world and import products from emerging markets. The ILO suggests that poverty is the greatest single cause behind child labour. For impoverished households, income from
12576-505: The mid-18th century). Working hours were long: builders worked 64 hours a week in the summer and 52 hours in winter, while servants worked 80-hour weeks. Child labour played an important role in the Industrial Revolution from its outset, often brought about by economic hardship. The children of the poor were expected to contribute to their family income. In 19th-century Great Britain, one-third of poor families were without
12707-537: The multi-stakeholder dialogue process of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Information and Communication Technologies Task Force ". Over the next 17 years until 2019, the governments at the United Nations continued to evolve their understanding of multistakeholder governance by adopting eight other related resolutions. In the most recent partnership resolution from 2019, governments identified
12838-455: The multilateral system. National project-oriented groups address a public need that the relevant government is not able to fulfill. These may operate on the local, state, or national level. Project-oriented multistakeholder groups are frequently called public-private partnerships (PPP). Child labour Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or
12969-450: The multistakeholder group in order to garner greater political-economic recognition. Internally the other participants may believe that the institutional capacities and financial resources of the parent organization may be available to meet the goals of the multistakeholder group. There is no on-going international effort to standardize the core multistakeholder governance concept of 'stakeholder', nor any international efforts to standardize
13100-410: The national, regional, county/provincial and municipal levels, regional inter-government organizations (e.g. European Commission, Organization of American States), intergovernmental secretariats (e.g. FAO, WHO) or include members of parliaments, regulatory bodies, technical experts in specific government departments and courts. The 'civil society' category could similarly involve non-state organizations at
13231-675: The native people the legal ownership to some of the native land in exchange for making labour of wife and children available to colonial government's needs such as in farms and as picannins . Beyond laws, new taxes were imposed on colonies. One of these taxes was the Head Tax in the British and French colonial empires. The tax was imposed on everyone older than 8 years, in some colonies. To pay these taxes and cover living expenses, children in colonial households had to work. In southeast Asian colonies, such as Hong Kong, child labour such as
13362-523: The nineteenth century. The first documentation of child labour in Brazil occurred during the time of indigenous societies and slave labour where it was found that children were forcibly working on tasks that exceeded their emotional and physical limits. Armando Dias, for example, died in November 1913 whilst still very young, a victim of an electric shock when entering the textile industry where he worked. Boys and girls were victims of industrial accidents on
13493-420: The number of full-time home operations nearly doubled between 1882 and 1907; and in the United States, millions of families operated out of home seven days a week, year round to produce garments, shoes, artificial flowers, feathers, match boxes, toys, umbrellas and other products. Children aged 5–14 worked alongside the parents. Home-based operations and child labour in Australia, Britain, Austria and other parts of
13624-439: The once homemade goods. Because children often helped produce the goods out of their homes, working in a factory to make those same goods was a simple change for many of these youths. Although there are many counts of children under the age of ten working for factories, the majority of children workers were between the ages of ten and fourteen. Another factor that influenced child labour was the demographic changes that occurred in
13755-410: The piece, they had to work productively for hours without a break. Since furnaces had to be constantly burning, there were night shifts from 5:00 pm to 3:00 am. Many factory owners preferred boys under 16 years of age. An estimated 1.7 million children under the age of fifteen were employed in American industry by 1900. In 1910, over 2 million children in the same age group were employed in
13886-530: The political, economic, cultural, civil society, religious, and other communities to discuss the way forward in global affairs. As the three co-chairs observed in their introduction to the GRI report: "The time has come for a new stakeholder paradigm of international governance analogous to that embodied in the stakeholder theory of corporate governance on which the World Economic Forum itself was founded." The United Nations effort to develop multistakeholder governance
14017-405: The potential conflicts of interests between 'business' stakeholders and their commercial markets; (c) the asymmetric power of different categories of stakeholders and different organizations representing stakeholder categories within a multistakeholder group; and (d) the lack of a review structure or judicial mechanism to appeal the selection of stakeholder categories, stakeholder organizations within
14148-482: The procedure for designating an organization or an individual within any given stakeholder category. Unlike the use of 'stakeholder' in management theory and project management theory, there are a number of demographic, political, and social factors that can impact the use of the 'stakeholder' concept in governance. Among the identified issues are (a) the difficulty in balancing gender, class, ethnicity, and geographic representation in any given multistakeholder group; (b)
14279-406: The processes can best function internationally between competing commercial interests. These groups work with social justice civil society organizations, academic and government bodies to resolve conflicts and plan a path forward. Unlike traditional philanthropic organizations, finance-oriented multistakeholder groups operate with a governing body that explicitly designates individuals to "represent"
14410-548: The public governance consequences of multistakeholder decision-making. They also provide little or no guidance to autonomous multistakeholder groups on their internal rules of governance, as the pre-existing institution had its own functioning decision-making system. As multistakeholderism is an evolving system of governance, a good deal of its theoretical underpinning is a combination of formal theoretical writing and theory-derived from practice. The most extensive theoretical writing and most detailed practical proposals comes from
14541-498: The raised age restriction of 14, at least half of the recorded young workers had been employed illegally, which led to many not being protected by important labour laws. Although substantial time has passed since the time of regulated child labour, there are still many children working illegally in Brazil. Many children are used by drug cartels to sell and carry drugs, guns, and other illegal substances because of their perception of innocence. This type of work that youth are taking part in
14672-448: The rural areas (70%) and informal urban sector (26%). Contrary to popular belief, most child labourers are employed by their parents rather than in manufacturing or formal economy. Children who work for pay or in-kind compensation are usually found in rural settings as opposed to urban centres. Less than 3% of child labour aged 5–14 across the world work outside their household, or away from their parents. Child labour accounts for 22% of
14803-452: The second half of the 19th century, child labour began to decline in industrialised societies due to regulation and economic factors because of the Growth of trade unions . The regulation of child labour began from the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution. The first act to regulate child labour in Britain was passed in 1803. As early as 1802 and 1819 Factory Acts were passed to regulate
14934-425: The standard or that are likely to be affected by its implementation, and provides them with mechanisms for participation that are appropriate and accessible." There is also no consistent definition or selection process to define the individual organization(s) that may "represent" a given category of stakeholders in a given multistakeholder group. For example, the 'government' category can involve government offices at
15065-516: The textile industry, and further agitation led to another act in 1847 limiting both adults and children to 10-hour working days. Lord Shaftesbury was an outspoken advocate of regulating child labour. As technology improved and proliferated, there was a greater need for educated employees. This saw an increase in schooling, with the eventual introduction of compulsory schooling . Improved technology, automation and further legislation significantly reduced child labour particularly in western Europe and
15196-504: The type of work that children can perform. In all states, children are obliged to attend school until a minimum leaving age, 15 years of age in all states except Tasmania and Queensland where the leaving age is 17. Child labour has been a consistent struggle for children in Brazil ever since Portuguese colonisation in the region began in 1500. Work that many children took part in was not always visible, legal, or paid. Free or slave labour
15327-511: The urging of the United States, the key function of administration and management of naming and addressing was delegated to the private sector, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This US policy of using multistakeholder processes in effect to favor privatization of functions which had been traditionally performed by government agencies was well expressed in a 2015 statement by Julie Napier Zoller ,
15458-414: The use of common standards encouraging collaboration with International Organization for Standardization . ISO standards are voluntary consensus , therefore inclusive, developed using the core WTO Technical barriers to trade principles of transparency, openness, impartiality and consensus, effectiveness and relevance, coherence, and addressing the concerns of developing countries. In comparison,
15589-438: The views of specific stakeholder categories. Examples of product-oriented multistakeholder groups: Examples of process-oriented multistakeholder groups: Examples of finance-oriented multistakeholder groups: Project-oriented multistakeholder groups accomplish global or national tasks that governments or the multilateral system are unable to accomplish. Global project-oriented groups accomplish governance goals implemented by
15720-477: The wages were as little as 10–20% of an adult male's wage. Karl Marx was an outspoken opponent of child labour, saying British industries "could but live by sucking blood, and children's blood too", and that U.S. capital was financed by the "capitalized blood of children". Letitia Elizabeth Landon castigated child labour in her 1835 poem "The Factory", portions of which she pointedly included in her 18th Birthday Tribute to Princess Victoria in 1837. Throughout
15851-500: The work must be age appropriate and outside of school hours or on holidays. Fairtrade faced backlash as child labour was found on one of its cocoa plantations. The Fairtrade Mark is an international independent consumer Mark which appears on products as a guarantee that producers and traders have met fair trade standards. The Fairtrade Mark is owned and protected by Fairtrade International, on behalf of its 25-member and associate member labeling initiatives and producer networks. For
15982-624: The workforce in Asia, 32% in Africa, 17% in Latin America, 1% in the US, Canada, Europe and other wealthy nations. The proportion of child labourers varies greatly among countries and even regions inside those countries. Africa has the highest percentage of children aged 5–17 employed as child labour, and a total of over 65 million. Asia, with its larger population, has the largest number of children employed as child labour at about 114 million. Latin America and
16113-463: The working hours of workhouse children in factories and cotton mills to 12 hours per day. These acts were largely ineffective and after radical agitation, by for example the "Short Time Committees" in 1831, a Royal Commission recommended in 1833 that children aged 11–18 should work a maximum of 12 hours per day, children aged 9–11 a maximum of eight hours, and children under the age of nine were no longer permitted to work. This act however only applied to
16244-444: The world for deciding the destiny of millions without including the poor, or even popular majorities of countries they believe to be helping. To confer legitimacy on such epochal decisions, real development must be people centred, while respecting the role of the state as mediating, and often representing, their interests...we do not endorse globalisation as led from above by a few men. We do endorse globalisation as led from below by all,
16375-578: The world was common. Rural areas similarly saw families deploying their children in agriculture. In 1946, Frieda S. Miller – then Director of the United States Department of Labor – told the International Labour Organization (ILO) that these home-based operations offered "low wages, long hours, child labour, unhealthy and insanitary working conditions". Child labour is still common in many parts of
16506-1121: The world. Estimates for child labour vary. It ranges between 250 and 304 million, if children aged 5–17 involved in any economic activity are counted. If light occasional work is excluded, ILO estimates there were 153 million child labourers aged 5–14 worldwide in 2008. This is about 20 million less than ILO estimate for child labourers in 2004. Some 60 per cent of the child labour was involved in agricultural activities such as farming, dairy, fisheries and forestry. Another 25% of child labourers were in service activities such as retail, hawking goods, restaurants, load and transfer of goods, storage, picking and recycling trash, polishing shoes, domestic help, and other services. The remaining 15% laboured in assembly and manufacturing in informal economy, home-based enterprises, factories, mines, packaging salt, operating machinery, and such operations. Two out of three child workers work alongside their parents, in unpaid family work situations. Some children work as guides for tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and restaurants. Child labour predominantly occurs in
16637-409: Was a common occurrence for many youths and was a part of their everyday lives as they grew into adulthood. Yet due to there being no clear definition of how to classify what a child or youth is, there has been little historical documentation of child labour during the colonial period. Due to this lack of documentation, it is hard to determine just how many children were used for what kinds of work before
16768-522: Was attributed 12 goods, the majority of which were produced by both underage children and indentured labourers. The report listed electronics, garments, toys, and coal, among other goods. The Maplecroft Child Labour Index 2012 survey reports that 76 countries pose extreme child labour complicity risks for companies operating worldwide. The ten highest risk countries in 2012, ranked in decreasing order, were: Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Burundi, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Of
16899-561: Was higher and families did not face starvation as in established industrialised countries. Australia also did not have significant industry until the later part of the 20th century, when child labour laws and compulsory schooling had developed under the influence of Britain. From the 1870s, child labour was restricted by compulsory schooling. Child labour laws in Australia differ from state to state. Generally, children are allowed to work at any age, but restrictions exist for children under 15 years of age. These restrictions apply to work hours and
17030-404: Was passed in 1998 that restricted the kinds of work youth could partake in, such as work that was considered hazardous like running construction equipment, or certain kinds of factory work. Although many steps were taken to reduce the risk and occurrence of child labour, there is still a high number of children and adolescents working under the age of fourteen in Brazil. It was not until recently in
17161-432: Was utilised to make a profit by many and was encouraged by the need for family income. A variety of Indian social scientists as well as the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have done extensive research on the numeric figures of child labour found in India and determined that India contributes to one-third of Asia's child labour and one-fourth of the world's child labour. Due to many children being illegally employed,
#830169