| ICI Cocoa Initiative

Apprenticeships for youth: "I want to be a productive adult in the future"

One of the challenges of programmes designed to tackle child labour is covering children from fifteen years to seventeen years. These children, because they are at the age to be legally employed are

Tackling child labor: Cargill Cocoa Sustainability Director updates on 2025 goals

Almost two decades ago, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child declared that all children should be protected from dangerous work or anything that might harm their health or education

Cocoa Life wins Global Development Award at BITC Responsible Business Awards

Cocoa Life, Mondelez International’s sustainable cocoa-sourcing programme has achieved industry-wide recognition, being named the winner of the Unilever Global Development Award at the prestigious Business in the Community Responsible Business Awards 2018 held.

Barry Callebaut and Hershey team up to eradicate child labour

Article published by Barry Callebaut towards WDACL Monitoring the cocoa farmer communities from whom we source from on cases of the worst forms of child labor, is one example of how Barry Callebaut

Children and youth in Côte d’Ivoire at the center of our efforts: The Jacobs Foundation joins the International Cocoa Initiative

The Jacobs Foundation, a charitable foundation which invests in the future of young people, has joined the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) as a Non-Profit Contributing Partner. The objective of

Cocoa Life 2017 Progress report

Mondelez's sustainable cocoa supply reached 35% of its global needs, an increase of over 14 points compared with 2016. This is what emerges from our partner's 2017 annual report, which you can read

Solar panels allow the women of Gbokokro to learn at night

Gbokokro, a village in the southern centre of Ivory Coast, has more than a school for children. Together with TRECC, Jacobs Foundation's "Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities" program, and with the help of Nestlé, ICI offers classes for illiterate adults in the community. Most of these literacy classes consist mainly of women.

"Kweku and the bird" - Episode 1: Protecting children from dangerous work

In this episode, we learn that children should not engage in dangerous child labour and even if they perform light tasks for the household, these shouldn’t be done at the expense of going to school. Kweku, a boy of 12, is cutting down a tree when Mr Dubango, the teacher protects him from the falling tree; he then explains the type of work which is forbidden for children to do and mentions the light work which children can do only outside school hours. The episode ends with Kweku joining his classmates after a long period of absence due to the fact that he was helping his father on the cocoa farm.

"Kweku and the bird" - Episode 2: How school helps children find a better future

This episode deals with the importance of education. It highlights its value for children in cocoa communities and the need for educated business-minded young farmers to take over their parents’ farms. The episode starts with Kweku and Yao leaving school and their teacher giving them the telephone number for the text weather forecast messages, which Kweku’s father won’t be able to read.

"Kweku and the bird" - Episode 3: The role of women and economic activities

The third episode focuses on the key role women play in ensuring a better future for their children. By producing and selling soap for example, as is the case in the video, they are able to buy textbooks for their children. The episode starts with Kweku wondering what Mazi, his friend and a girl he likes, is doing next to her mom, who is stirring something.