11 May 2005

Addressing Child Labor: An Industry Approach

Young girls in Pakistan sew soccer balls. (© International Labour Organization/G. Cabrera/www.ilo.org)

By Andre Gorgemans

Helping to stop international child labor is not just an issue for governments — industry must also take an active role. A decade ago the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry initiated efforts to stop child labor in all processes involved in making sporting goods, including monitoring subcontractors. The federation followed up by providing educational opportunities for children phased out of employment, along with social and financial support for their families. For example, as a result of these programs 6,000 Pakistani children have been phased out of production of soccer balls for export and are back in school. Similar programs are being implemented in India.

Andre Gorgemans is secretary general of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry.

The child labor problem has been a key concern of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) for the past decade. The WFSGI, which is based in Verbier, Switzerland, is an independent association formed in 1978 by sports industry suppliers, national manufacturers' associations, and well-known brands such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Puma, and others. As such, it plays a strategic role in the support and promotion of the sporting goods industry and provides a forum in which the countries of Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Oceania cooperate in promoting free and fair trade and ethics, and work to improve the well-being of mankind through sports.

Internally, the WFSGI functions within committees, which meet regularly throughout the world. One of these committees—the Committee on Ethics and Fair Trade (CEFT) — was created in 1995 by then WFSGI chairman Stephen Rubin to address some of the more complex issues coming to light around ethical business practices and to establish a venue for the industry to understand, analyze, and act upon a wide range of issues of corporate social responsibility.

The committee's first major accomplishment was to convene a groundbreaking international conference in Verbier in November 1995 to discuss child labor. The conference was unique in that it attracted a wide array of international sporting goods industry brands and national governments, international agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Participants in this initial gathering included the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the International Labor Organization (ILO), Save the Children, Anti-Slavery International, the Fair Trade Foundation, the Clean Clothes Campaign, and the international NGO Terre Des Hommes.

The 1995 conference represented the first time that the global sporting goods industry had formally sat down with most of these organizations, some of which had been openly critical of industry practices and individual companies. That first conference opened the door for dialogue and began the process of establishing a trust that would later translate into tangible, successful programs.

MEETING THE CHALLENGES

The ethics committee's biggest challenge was to mobilize the industry to address very serious allegations of child labor in the production of soccer balls [footballs] in South Asia, initially in Pakistan. Several global brands and national federation representatives traveled to the region to meet with local industry executives, government officials, and NGO officials. The task force commissioned independent observers to conduct an in-depth analysis of the problem, including recommendations for resolution.

It was a long, sometimes difficult, learning process. Many industry critics resorted to mistruths and fabrications to exploit the international concern about child labor. And our own independent studies showed that some child labor was being utilized in soccer ball production.

Much of the problem was directly related to subcontracting, where stitching was done far from the manufacturers' factory locations, which suggested that the industry did not track all production processes. Over time, it became evident that monitoring of facilities and stitching locations would be required for the industry to be able to show the world that it was not using child labor.

A second challenge facing CEFT was to determine the scope of our effort. Our original mission was to ensure no children would be employed in the production of hand-stitched soccer balls. Once engaged, CEFT came to understand that simply eliminating the use of children in all soccer ball production might solve our immediate problem, but that it ultimately might adversely affect the children, who would be pushed into other more dangerous and exploitive work such as prostitution or brick making.

In response, the industry decided to commit to a social protection program and to provide educational opportunities for children phased out of employment, along with social and financial support for their families.

Former child workers participate in a demonstration in India against the use of child labor in the manufacturing of soccer balls.

THE ATLANTA AGREEMENT

This commitment came to fruition with the historic Atlanta Agreement to Eliminate Child Labor in the Soccer Ball Industry in Pakistan, which was announced in February 1997 at the Sports Super Show in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirty-one companies, representing more than 80 percent of export production, and 55 international brands, representing virtually the entire global branded market, initially agreed to participate in the program. The international brands pledged to purchase soccer balls in Pakistan exclusively from companies in good standing with the program.

A critical component of the Atlanta Agreement was its reliance on partnerships. CEFT embarked on an ambitious effort to develop alliances with outside organizations, and the ILO joined the project to develop a workplace monitoring system.

The ILO created a protocol of surprise inspections, using well-trained and well-compensated inspectors to visit villages where stitching was done. Save the Children agreed to participate, focusing on protecting the interests of children in the process. UNICEF conducted outreach to children and families, and local NGOs were engaged to provide transitional schooling for displaced children and micro-credit loans for communities and families.

The Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) has been a stalwart partner in several CEFT initiatives. FIFA was an original supporter of the Atlanta Agreement and has provided substantial financial support to projects to eliminate child labor in Pakistan and India for several years. FIFA support for CEFT includes providing the unique venue of the World Cup championships to publicize our collective efforts to promote ethical business practices. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, has said: "Sport, and the industry that helps sustain and improve it, has much to be proud of, and the Atlanta Agreement is one such example."

The success of the Atlanta Agreement was recognized in June 1997 when the WFSGI received the Pioneer Award in Global Ethics at the 11th Annual Corporate Conscience Awards ceremony in New York. Selected by an independent panel of judges and presented by the Council on Economic Priorities, the awards draw public attention to corporations and organizations that demonstrate social responsibility at the highest level. This program received ever greater visibility in 1999 when it was cited by then U.S. president Bill Clinton, in an address to the ILO, as a successful model of industry, government, and NGO collaboration.

THE RESULTS

The Pakistan program has a wonderful record of tangible accomplishment. Some 90 manufacturers from Sialkot, Pakistan, are now enrolled in the program, and more than 95 percent of export production is regularly monitored and certified child-free. More than 6,000 working children have been phased out of production and put back on the education track. The program's Universal Primary Education component focuses on all children ages five to seven to prevent the entry of new children into the labor market.

Leaders of the India Sports Manufacturer and Exporters Association and the Sports Goods Foundation of India have adapted the Pakistan model to fit their unique circumstances. Still based on the two-pronged concept of workplace monitoring and social protection, the Indian initiative illustrates how visionary local leaders ultimately determine what can and should be done. International bodies like WFSGI can facilitate collaboration, but we have no illusions that our industry's national leaders are the backbone of any successful program.

BEYOND CHILD LABOR

CEFT's concern for ethics and fair trade has not been limited to its programs to combat child labor. After consultation with its constituent federations and other members and ongoing dialogue with representatives of international agencies, CEFT developed in 1997 a code of conduct to assist companies in the sporting goods industry in ensuring that their operations satisfy the highest ethical standards in the global marketplace. The code is based on the international labor standards outlined in relevant ILO conventions. Many member companies have since introduced their own codes and are monitoring compliance.

CETF—now renamed the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committee—in early 2005 organized a meeting on CSR awareness in Shanghai, China. This meeting was intended to help our Chinese colleagues understand the complexities of CSR issues and to provide them with the tools to deal with the expected criticisms from civil society and NGO communities in the phase-in period to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The meeting was attended by approximately 55 participants representing global sports brands and sports retailers, major Chinese manufacturers of sports goods, the Chinese Manufacturers Association, the ILO, and the Fair Labor Association.

Through such initiatives, the sporting goods industry has proven that corporate social responsibility can be addressed globally and responsibly.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.

From the May 2005 edition of eJournal USA