Thematic page on the cooperative, social and solidarity economy

SSE: Child labour

Cooperatives, as democratic member-led businesses, help bring about changes in the way work is organized and how wealth is distributed -- both important steps in helping bring about an end to child labour. In terms of sectors, cooperatives are strong in agriculture where 60 per cent of all child labour works. Hence they can act as critical conduits toward elimination of worst forms of child labour.

17 January 2017

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Cooperatives can:

Ensure that their own business operations and their supply chains are child labour free;
Engage in community mobilization and awareness-raising campaigns among their members and within the communities where they operate;
Provide guidance and community leadership, and contribute to the planning and delivery of health, educational and other basic social services in their communities;
Promote livelihoods opportunities and the use of appropriate technologies as means of increasing income of their members;
Provide collective voice and negotiation power for their members with the public authorities in securing a range of economic and social rights including services such as child care; and
Stimulate decent youth employment opportunities through training and education programmes.