In late June 2026, the ICI Office in Abidjan and the Daloa Prefecture hosted the wrap-up workshop for the Landscape and Referral project, an initiative aimed at strengthening coordination among stakeholders in the cocoa industry, government agencies responsible for child protection, and civil society organizations. The project was jointly launched in 2022 by ICI and its partners Nestlé, Barry Callebaut, Cargill, Ecom, Mars, Mondelez, CARE, Touton, Rainforest Alliance, Save the Children, and SOSTECI.
Aware of the multitude of sometimes scattered initiatives, overlaps, and duplications, and a lack of coordination of actions on the ground to tackle child labour, the project sought to strengthen coordination among stakeholders and the regional child protection system, as well as partnerships with the national Child Labor Monitoring System (SOSTECI).
Four years after it was launched in the Haut-Sassandra region (Daloa, Issia, Vavoua, and Zoukougbeu), this workshop—which marked the conclusion of the project—provided an opportunity to present achievements, lessons learned, and outcomes, and to formulate recommendations for ensuring the project’s sustainability. The event was attended by prefectural officials, a representative of the mayor of Daloa, representatives of member organizations of the regional coordination body for stakeholders combating child labour (decentralized administrative services, international and local NGOs), as well as the local press.
At the conclusion of the project, stakeholders and participants agreed that the main benefits of the project, included the creation of a framework for dialogue bringing together all stakeholders in the Haut-Sassandra region, the development of a map that illustrates interventions to tackle child labour, the harmonization of approaches, and efforts to address overlapping responsibilities.
Representing the Prefecture of the Haut-Sassandra region and Prefect of the Daloa department, Mr. Yaya Bamba, Second Secretary-General, praised the initiative, which he said had produced highly commendable results.
“You have done a good job. The project that is ending today served a valuable purpose. After four years, the achievements must be capitalized on. And you can count on the prefectural administration to support you,” he told the participants.
“Thanks to this project, greater synergy has been established in the actions implemented,” agreed Ms. Sossa Geneviève, head of the Daloa socio-educational complex.
During his presentation on the project’s achievements, Mr. Maxime Lohoues, Head of ICI’s Regional Office in Daloa, also underline the importance of the innovative regional coordination mechanisms that had been put in place. He referenced two collectively developed tools, including a technical guide for setting up school cafeterias and a manual for managing overlaps when cases of child labour have been identified.
In addition, he also noted the mapping of interventions explaining that the tool makes it possible to identify areas with low or high concentrations of activities, detect the risk of duplication, and reveal opportunities for collaboration among stakeholders.
These results deserve to be scaled up. “This synergy has strengthened ties among stakeholders. The Landscape and Referral project is an initiative worth continuing in the Haut-Sassandra region, as well as in other areas.” said Mr. Eric Djè Blé, Area Manager for the Western Region at Save the Children.
It is for this reason that Mr. Donatien Awokou, Acting Country Director of ICI, reiterated ICI’s ongoing commitment to continue supporting the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in the fight against child labour in cocoa-producing communities.
“Child protection is a collective responsibility, and we have laid the groundwork for this in Haut-Sassandra through the Landscape and Referral approach,” he added.
