2019 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

Interpretation provided in English and French

Session organized by the International Cocoa Initiative

Webcasting of the session:
Meeting link
Meeting number: 845 901 741
Password: rEUeS676

Session Overview
Focusing on the human rights challenges of child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector of West Africa, and building on the International Cocoa Initiative’s multi-stakeholder orientation to promoting solutions across business, governments and civil society, this session will spotlight efforts underway in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana to promote effective human rights due diligence in the cocoa supply-chain.
The session will examine the state of play in the sector’s roll out of Child Labour Monitoring & Remediation Systems (CLMRS), and the specific and interlinked roles of private and public actors for different aspects of this approach which currently covers approximately 10% of the cocoa supply chain, and which now demands urgent action if its coverage and promising impacts are to be scaled up. In line with the theme of the Forum, particular attention will be paid to the role of governments, as per the first pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; in cocoa-producing countries as enablers of due diligence and remediation, and as drivers of complementary root-cause solutions; and in cocoa-consuming nations as regulators and enablers of responsible business conduct.

Session Objectives:
To profile important efforts underway in the cocoa sector to scale up due diligence systems.

• To review current roles and responsibilities (between industry, government and civil-society) in these efforts, and to consider new approaches for coordinated, aligned, collaborative working.
• To highlight specific roles of governments in producing and consuming countries in helping businesses expand their efforts, and to engage session panelists and participants in a discussion to identify related opportunities and challenges in upscaling.
• To seek input from session participants into the design of an emerging post-2020 partnership on children’s rights in cocoa.

Key Discussion Questions:
Depending on the format (panel, round table or debate), questions could include:

• Where are we on the upscaling journey for due diligence in the cocoa sector?
• What are the specific challenges we’re facing?
• Do we have sufficient clarity on roles and responsibilities? If yes, how do they fall, if not, how can we get clarity?
• Are respective actors’ efforts sufficiently aligned and coordinated?
• Are producing country governments helping the upscaling effort? What more can they do?
• Are consuming country governments helping the upscaling effort? What more can they do?
• What more can other stakeholder groups (private sector, civil society, consumers) do to help the upscaling effort?
• What needs to happen, post-2020, to achieve greater coverage and impact?
• What lessons from cocoa can be applied to other commodities / sectors?