Fight against child labor in cocoa production:

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) Foundation honored on Monday, November 18^th, 2013, First Lady Mrs. Dominique Ouattara’s commitment to improve the living conditions of children in Côte d'Ivoire. For that, Nick Weatheril, Executive Director of ICI submitted on behalf of his structure, an honorary diploma to Mrs. Dominique Ouattara, the First Lady of Côte d'Ivoire for all of her actions in favor of the well-being of children in the country. It was on the occasion of the third meeting of the International Cocoa Initiative Foundation’s partners held at the Golf Hotel in Abidjan. The theme of that meeting was as follows: "The fight against child labor in the cocoa production, a shared responsibility." The meeting was chaired by the First Lady, Mrs. Dominique Ouattara, who is also the President of the National Oversight Committee of actions against Child Labor, Exploitation and Trafficking (CNS).

Seizing this opportunity, Mrs. Dominique Ouattara, President of the CNS presented the efforts of the Ivorian State to address the phenomenon of child labor in cocoa sector. Thus, she said that the dynamic infused in the country has achieved significant progress. "One of the indicators is the reclassification of Côte d'Ivoire from Tier 2 under oversight to Tier 2 in 2012 and 2013 reports of the U.S. State Department on human trafficking," she revealed to the guests. Despite this qualitative leap, Mrs. Dominique Ouattara acknowledges that much remains to be done to completely eradicate the phenomenon. "But the challenges are still important to achieving the elimination of this scourge and therefore, future actions will seek to consolidate the achievements, and value all national and international initiatives", stated First Lady Dominique Ouattara. Because for her, only a true synergy of actions of the different actors can help break the blots of child labor in cocoa production . "The sustainability of the cocoa sector can only be achieved if all stakeholders in the value chain, are committed to the fight against child labor, as a priority. That is why, dear partners, I invite you to continue to support our efforts to eliminate this scourge from our country. This is the price that we will pay to provide all children in our territories, a protective environment to ensure their full development and a bright future, "said Mrs. Dominique Ouattara.