The Alliance 8.7 Supply Chains Action Group held its second global meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on 15th May. Over 140 participants, including Government representatives from 19 countries and over 40 Alliance 8.7 Partner Organisations, as well as Workers representatives 5ITUC And ITUC-Africa ) , representatives of regional and subregional institutions from the private sector, civil society, and the United Nations came together to discuss the way forward to achieve SDG Target 8.7.
This high-level meeting highlighted the progress made so far and the challenges ahead. It was also an opportunity to launch the ACCEL AFRICA project, which will work to eliminate forced labor and child labor in the cocoa industry’s supply chains.
Numerous personalities, including the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire Ms. Dominique Ouattara and the Regional Director Africa of the International Labor Office (ILO), Mrs. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, encouraged participants to act proactively to reach target 8.7 ODDS.
To further emphasize the need for a stronger global and particularly African response to forced labor and child labor, ILO Regional Director for Africa, Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, returned for her part. , on the acuteness of these plagues at the global and African level in particular.
"In 2016, there were 152 million child laborers in the world, including 72 million in Africa and more than 3.5 million victims of forced labor, modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor. Africa, "she said, before calling on all actors in supply chains to ensure that no child or any person in forced labor works there. "To achieve this, greater collaboration between government structures, the private sector, trade unions, other development actors and partners is urgently needed for coordinated and more effective action," she said.
The opening of this global consultation was also an opportunity for the International Labor Organization (ILO), which provides the executive secretariat of Alliance 8.7, to further demonstrate its commitment to act without delay to eliminate forced labor in some areas. supply chains in Africa, through the official launch of its sub regional project "ACCEL AFRICA" which will last until 2022.
This new project, which covers six African countries, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria and Uganda, receives financial support from the Government of the Netherlands. "As a major cocoa importer, the Netherlands has the responsibility to ensure that supply chains are freed from forced labor and child labor and that cocoa production is consistent throughout the chain. values, "said Dutch Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Robert Van Den Dool.
Peter Van Rooij, ILO Africa Deputy Regional Director, emphasized that ACCEL Africa has an important component of knowledge sharing and partnerships, in line with the objectives of the Alliance for Sharing Best Practices.
