US cuts to child labor programmes a ‘blow to core values’ say NGOs

First, it was USAID that the new Trump administration abolished, and then, late last week, news broke that the US Labor Department is cancelling funding to child labour programmes.

According to the Washington Post, the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) will immediately end $500m of grants supporting labour standard enforcement across 40 countries, including critical initiatives in Mexico, Central America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

cocoaradar.com understands that the terminated grants are congressionally authorized programmes that allocate millions to nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations to combat child labour and forced labour in agriculture, including cocoa farming in West Africa.

Fairtrade America's executive director, Amanda Archila, told this publication: “The fight against child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking has long been a bipartisan cause. Far from putting ‘America last,’ ILAB’s grants fundamentally advance American interests and values. 

Human rights

“They raise labour standards around the world, benefitting American workers; maintain the integrity of our trade agreements, and promote human rights in the supply chains of products that Americans love, including coffee, chocolate, and more. 

“Turning America’s back on those striving for decent, equitable work and freedom from forced labour is a blow to our core values. The loss of these grants will have direct and immediate impact on the farmers, workers, and civil society organizations who have been dedicated to turning the tide on these systemic challenges. 

“The consequences on vulnerable communities, and most certainly on American businesses and consumers, will far outweigh the cost of ILAB’s essential programmes."

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From The Desk of CocoaRadarAnthony Myers

As well as helping to prevent labour abuses in cocoa, the grants were also allocated to agriculture in Mexico, the garment industry in Southeast Asia, human rights abuses in fisheries along the coasts of South America, and mica-mining by children in Madagascar used to produce Chinese electronics and automobile parts sold in the United States.

According to the Washington Post, the US DOGE Service, the government cost-cutting initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk, touted the cuts in a post on X praising Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling for canceling “$577M in ‘America Last’ grants.”

More than 1.50m children engaged in child labour in cocoa

The most recent research suggests that approximately 1.56 million children are still engaged in child labour on cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Matthias Lange, executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative, which works extensively with cocoa farmers on remediation and prevention solutions, said:  “ICI is concerned about the status of projects (including those implemented by some ICI members) funded by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs. They have helped protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people from exploitation. These projects are of a critical importance in addressing child labour, improving workers’ rights, supporting governments to fulfill their responsibilities, and helping businesses develop responsible global supply chains.”

Santiago Gowland, CEO, Rainforest Alliance told cocoaradar.com: "It is deeply concerning that, despite being one of the world’s largest importers of goods at risk of being produced with abusive labour practices, the US administration has decided to terminate these programmes.

"This decision will have profound consequences for hundreds of vulnerable communities around the world, particularly those in agricultural sectors with a troubling history of forced labour and child labour.

"At the Rainforest Alliance, we believe that these types of human rights challenges in agriculture require a collaborative approach involving governments, civil society, companies, and consumers.

"As things stand, now more than ever, food and agriculture companies in Corporate America will need to double down on their sustainability efforts to internalize the full value of people and nature, avoiding nature degradation and social injustice. This, in turn, will make these supply chains more resilient."

Shawna Bader-Blau, executive director of the Solidarity Center, an international labor rights organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO, said in a statement posted on X that cutting these programmes would “abandon workers and roll back decades of progress combating forced and child labor.”

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