Child labour project Dutch garment covenant

This project will be executed in the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Dhaka, and India, Tamil Nadu. The project is coordinated by Stop Child Labour/HIVOS and implemented with a number of garment and textile companies, UNICEF, the India Committee of the Netherlands, local partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs), FNV, INretail and the Social and Economic Council.
The project partners follow-up on the commitments made in the Agreement on a Sustainable Garment and Textile sector. Their project goal is to permanently prevent and eliminate child labour in the garment supply chains, including the lower tiers. Their goal in the long term is to provide children and young workers (14 to 18 years of age working under exploitative circumstances) identified in the garment supply chains and their families, with a sustainable solution addressing the root causes of child labour and access to education.

Their aim is to achieve this through:

1. Creating insight and transparency in the value chain of the collaborating companies beyond the first tier;
2. Developing methods for control mechanisms that go beyond auditing;
3. Assessing and identifying risks that are encountered there;
4. Adjusting the companies’ policies accordingly; and most importantly:
5. Designing and implementing an action plan to effectively and sustainably address the issue of child labour and its root causes.

In doing so, they engage communities and local stakeholders to improve the lives of children and prevent them from being employed throughout the value chain. Through actively sharing lessons learnt on an effective approach with:

• All signatory companies of the Agreement; and
• Other stakeholders interested, they aim to ensure an impact reaching beyond their own value chains.