10 Year Anniversary of the Harkin-Engel Protocol

Halloween is fast approaching, and many of us will soon be buying chocolate treats. As you stand in the candy aisle, consider this - the chocolate you buy could be tainted with child labor.

Today, Sept. 19, is the 10-year anniversary of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, an agreement by America's largest chocolate companies to stop forced child labor on cocoa farms in West Africa by 2005. Sadly, not much progress has been made, and hundreds of thousands of children are still forced to work under abusive conditions for long hours on these farms.

The largest and most iconic chocolate manufacturer in the United States, Hershey, lags behind its competitors in ending these abuses. Hershey has also been accused of exploiting student guest workers here in the U.S. as part of a cultural exchange visa program.

Hershey must raise the bar and certify its chocolate as Fair Trade, ensuring that forced child labor is removed from its many chocolate products. Please urge Hershey via its online contact form or at 800-468-1714, to protect workers and certify its chocolate as Fair Trade, ensuring that forced child labor does not produce its products.

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

1. Participate in the Hershey: Raise The Bar! campaign. Distribute flyers/petitions as part of the campaign asking Hershey to go Fair Trade and end child and forced labor in the cocoa industry. Pdf available at www.globalexchange.org/cocoa.

 

2. Organize a screening of “The Dark Side of Chocolate” at your home, school, congregation, etc. during Halloween week. This important new documentary reveals that the nightmare of child labor, trafficking and slavery is continuing in the cocoa fields. The screening toolkit includes a petition for viewers to sign asking Hershey to end child labor/slavery and go fair trade. More information is available at the Web sites of Global Exchange, Green America and International Labor Rights Forum.

3. Participate in Reverse Trick-or-Treating   You can learn about how much fun Reverse Trick-or-Treating can be by watching a video. (Portland specific info, here).

4. Distribute Reverse Trick-or-Treating flyers on Halloween, whether or not you request a kit. Download the flyer at Reverse Trick-or-Treating. 

5. Distribute fair-trade-certified chocolate minis to trick-or-treaters who visit your household. To purchase the mini chocolates, visit Global Exchange Store, Equal Exchange Coop, Sweet Earth Chocolates, Coco-Zen. or another of your favorite fair-trade chocolate companies..

6. Use fair trade chocolate for your next fundraiser.

     Equal Exchange has school and inter-faith fundraising tool kits. 

7.  Become a member of the Northwest Fair Trade Coalition

     Click the link on the right hand side of the website to learn more about membership opportunities.