More than 3 million children live in cocoa-growing communities in Côte d’Ivoire. Children’s Rights in the Cocoa-Growing Communities of Côte d’Ivoire aims to bring attention to the diverse challenges faced by these children and their families, and highlights the extent to which these challenges are overlapping, deeply interrelated and mutually reinforcing.

In 2016, UNICEF Côte d’Ivoire launched an exploratory study to understand how the cocoa sector directly and indirectly impacts children’s rights. The aim was to help UNICEF have informed, comprehensive and outcome-focused discussions with business, government and civil society on how to advance the rights of children touched by the sector, as well as to inform UNICEF’s programmatic priorities in Côte d’Ivoire and policy recommendations for the Government.

Despite Ivoirian cocoa’s significance to the local and global economy, the sector has struggled to live up to its potential as a driver of inclusive growth and poverty alleviation. By embracing research on the full range of children’s rights, this study promotes a holistic view of children’s rights and the root causes of child labour. Further, it encourages a ‘shared responsibility’ approach to strengthening systems and structures benefiting the future of cocoa production, farming families and children in cocoa-growing communities.

This synthesis report focuses on four areas of children’s rights that are at risk of the most severe negative impact through the cocoa sector’s activities and business relationships:

1. an adequate standard of living;
2. child protection from all types of violence and exploitation;
3. education, including preschool and early childhood development services, as well as primary and secondary school; and
4. child survival, particularly health, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

Recommendations

• Complement existing child protection programmes with economic-strengthening measures (cash transfers and/or community-based village saving and loan schemes).
• Assess whether and how UNICEF’s ‘child-friendly communities’ framework could be integrated in community-based interventions that are addressing child labour.
• Encourage the cocoa sector to contribute to global campaigns such as Early Moments Matter and Ending Violence Against Children, which have a critical relevance in the cocoa context