- Hardly four percent of the working children go to school.
- They work under the worst conditions of child labour.
- In Ivory Coast, there is the biggest trafficking in children to work on a cacao farm.
Oxfam Belgium has started a campaign to combat the abuse in the cacao sector. Their slogan is: “I don’t like child slavery. Fair trade chocolate = really child friendly”
I think everyone knows that there is a lot of child labour in the world, specifically in the third world. But when we eat chocolate, we don’t think about the people who made the chocolate and in which working conditions they did that. We have to become more conscious of this big problem and fight against the child labour. If we don’t do anything, it will change nothing and the cacao farmers will take advantage of this situation.
Lobke Callens - Group 5
Child labour is definitely one of the bigger downsides of our current trade model which is characterized by minimal cost and maximal returns. The model labels the workforce as merely a cost while actually they are much more than that.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenWhen organisations (like Oxfam) try to tackle this social issue, they can’t consider the companies as their starting point but have to address directly to the consumers. Once their state of mind has been changed, the business world will have no choice but to follow. In my opinion this way of campaigning seems to be the most effective way to deal with the problem.
Even so, I do think the process of convincing people to change their shopping habit, is evolving to slow for the moment. So what is it that keeps most people (including myself) sceptic about the Fairtrade initiatives?
Jules Branswyck - Group 5
I think we all agree that child labour is a huge problem that has to disappear immediately. Every human being deserves a decent standard of living, and child labour is below that standard. So there is no doubt at all: this campaign is a great initiative.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBut, as Jules says, the current problem is that most of the consumers don’t pay attention to this problem at all when they are buying goods. That is a normal reflex because everybody prefers to buy the cheapest products. So, I’m afraid that this kind of campaigns aren’t big enough to change the shopping habits of the consumers.
According to me, the government should intervene more. I think they have the keys to halt child labour by setting up campaigns on a larger scale. They can make the consumers more aware of the problem than any other organization, for example by a making television ‘commercial’ that deals with this problem
So I conclude that I really like this campaign, but I’m afraid that only the authorities have the possibilities and the power to change human behaviour and to stop child labour.
Bert Aelter - Group 5
Unfortunately, child labour is indeed one of the biggest issues our economy is dealing with nowadays. Companies are only concerned about maximizing profits to keep their shareholders satisfied, even if this includes child labour and other unethical interventions, such as corruption and bribing the local government. Of course, multinationals make us believe they are doing everything within their power to produce in an ethical way. But headquarters in Europe all know about the harrowing working conditions in their Chinese factories.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenTherefore, Oxfam and also consumers like you and me, must stand up for these people. We all know they have to work in so-called sweatshops, in unbearable conditions, only to produce our favorite bar of chocolate. We have to show the multinationals that this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated.
Yet, this is easier said than done in a world dominated by corruption and deceit.
Justine Bleuze – Group 5
Last weekend, I read an article in “Het Nieuwsblad” about Oxfam chocolate.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenSaturday,Sinterklaas came to Antwerp, where he only gave out fair trade chocolate because Oxfam had made a deal with Ketnet. It is a good signal to consumers that a person with such an influence didn’t give out chocolate which is made by children. It is true, as Bert says, that the prices of fair trade products can’t compete with the prices of multinationals, and that we all want to buy the cheapest products. In my opinion, it is important that we all take our responsibility for the future of the third world.
In the article is also written that more and more people buy fair trade chocolate. Since 2007, the sales of Oxfam chocolate have risen by 150 percent. Also Barry Callebaut, a big chocolate producer, has launched a fair trade assortment.
If every person, who is conscious of this big problem, buys fair trade products, there will change a lot…
Lobke Callens - Group 5
I think we all agree that child labour is a huge problem that has to disappear immediately. Every human being deserves a decent standard of living, and child labour is below that standard. So there is no doubt at all: this campaign is a great initiative.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBut, as Jules says, the current problem is that most of the consumers don’t pay attention to this problem at all when they are buying goods. That is a normal reflex because everybody prefers to buy the cheapest products. So, I’m afraid that this kind of campaigns aren’t big enough to change the shopping habits of the consumers.
According to me, the government should intervene more. I think they have the keys to halt child labour by setting up campaigns on a larger scale. They can make consumers more aware of the problem than any other organization, for example by making a television ‘commercial’ that deals with this problem.
So I conclude that I really like this campaign, but I’m afraid that only the authorities have the possibilities and the power to change human behaviour and to stop child labour.
Bert Aelter - Group 5