About 1.8 million children in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana labor on cocoa plantations to produce 70% of the world's cocoa. These children range from age 5 to 16, work long hours under hazardous conditions, and are generally unpaid and uneducated. Some work to support their families, while others are enslaved. The Harkin-Engel protocol's objective is to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sector. Thus far, the efforts of the US DOL along with major chocolate corporations have fallen short.
We petition to raise the issue and hold the government accountable for their efforts in eliminating child labor. This includes acting responsibly towards goals in the Harkin-Engel protocol, especially with more direct intervention to improve the lives of these children.