4.12.2008 - 05:00pm ET

(CSRwire) London, UK – April 12, 2008 - Verité, the US-based nonprofit that provides solutions to labor abuses worldwide through innovative corporate social responsibility, held a landmark conference in London last week to explore ways to ensure that independent verification further strengthens efforts to eliminate child and forced adult labor in the cocoa sector in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The conference, entitled "Why Verify? Making Cocoa Verification Count," was one of a series of NGO-Industry Consultative Meetings designed to inform and guide the International Cocoa Verification Board (ICVB) as they launch the verification phase of the Harkin–Engel Protocol.

Verité is known for its ability to draw together diverse stakeholders on complex labor issues. Meeting participants included high-ranking representatives from the governments of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, global industry leaders, African and international NGOs, trade unionists, and scholars, who convened to share their views on how best to ensure a transparent and effective verification process, starting from the premise that child-centered interview techniques are the key to ensuring that this effort yields the highly-reliable and actionable data that will guide and strengthen remediation.

The London meeting highlighted government participation from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The government of Côte d’Ivoire was represented by Madame Amouan Assouan Acquah, Special Counselor to the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire and Member of the ICVB who reiterated the commitment on the part of her government to work across sectors "in order to guarantee a future for cocoa producers and their children." As part of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, she said, verification should "keep decision makers focused on the living conditions of the poorest" by offering a system of continuous improvement as a central part of the certification effort.

Ghanaian representative Madame Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment (MMYE), and Member of Parliament, presented on the National Programme for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (NPECLC). Madame Frema detailed Ghana’s surveying techniques and affirmed that these efforts were not meant to lead to a product certification, rather that they were "meant to inform change on remediation" as part of the cocoa certification process as a whole.
Meeting participants also had the opportunity to hear directly from the field. Théodore Séka from the NGO RENFCAP in Côte d’Ivoire stressed the importance of training and education to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. Evelyne Adom, from Afrique Secours et Assistance, spoke of the challenges and opportunities of development in the rural cocoa production zones and detailed how awareness among farmers of hazardous child labor has greatly increased since the creation of the Protocol. Members of the ICVB were introduced to participants and answered questions regarding their structure, the goals of their organization and their next meeting.

Both Industry and NGO experts shared their thoughts on verification. Jeff Morgan, of Mars Incorporated and the ICVB, announced at the meeting that the Global Industry Group (GIG) has contributed more than $35 million over the past three years to cocoa certification and remediation. Mr. Morgan emphasized industry’s continued commitment to improving conditions in West Africa.

Anita Sheth, of Save the Children Canada, gave a presentation on the need for the verification efforts to emphasize child-centered methodologies. Approaches she mentioned included acknowledging children as social actors as well as victims, utilizing surveying techniques designed for children's unique needs, and triangulating child and adult responses.

Third-party input has a direct impact on the verification process and is a central part of the ICVB's operations. The day following the London conference Verité generated a "recommendations report" to the ICVB summarizing the feedback and suggestions from meeting participants. Several of the key recommendations from the meeting are already being implemented by the Board and helped inform their selection of verifiers. More information about the accomplishments of the ICVB meeting will be released shortly.

About Verité

Verité ensures that people worldwide work under healthy, safe, fair and legal conditions and provides solutions to labor abuses worldwide through innovative corporate social responsibility. Verité works in over 60 countries to empower companies, factories, NGOs, governments, and workers to create sustainable workplace practices in the factories and communities where our consumer goods are made.

In 2007 Verité was awarded one of ten Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship and named a Social Capitalist Award winner by Fast Company magazine/Monitor Group, having been recognized as one of the top organizations able to "translate their vision into action, and meet the harsh market standards of performance and accountability." For more information visit www.verite.org

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