Fight against child labour

One week after the Conference of First Ladies of West Africa and Sahel on the fight against Child Labour, the First Lady, Dominique Ouattara, President of the National Oversight Committee for Fight against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labour is at the front line to fight against this phenomenon.

To this end, the President of the CNS chaired, together with Princess Astrid of Belgium, on Tuesday 24^th October 2017, the opening ceremony of a forum on the prevention and abolition of child labour in cocoa farming, at the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire.

This forum, organized by the Belgian economic mission led by Princess Astrid, representing the King of Belgium, witnessed the participation of Mr. Jean-Claude Kouassi, Minister of Employment and Social Protection, the representatives of the chocolate industry, representatives of the organizations of the United Nations system, representatives of the European Union and Ivorian cocoa producer cooperatives. This forum held a few weeks before the summit of the European Union-Africa, shows how determine Côte d’Ivoire and Belgium are to overcome child labour in cocoa farming.

For the Minister of Employment and Social Protection, Jean-Claude Kouassi, also President of the Interministerial Committee against Trafficking, Exploitation and Child Labour (CIM), poverty remains the main cause of child labour. According to the latter, the Ivorian Government has set out its actions aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labour in comprehensive programs to promote sustainable human development. In addition, the government is  working to implement a system of social protection such as : free and compulsory schooling up to the age of 16, Universal Health Coverage projects and productive social safety nets. Before that, Mr. Jean-Claude Kouassi outlined the national plan of action to combat child labour in Côte d’Ivoire.