One in 17 children is working: industries driving child labour — ILO report

ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo told a briefing presenting the report that "the slow decline in child-labour rates since 2020 has stalled in the past three years." Sectoral breakdown: agriculture 70%, mining-construction-manufacturing 20%, services 10%. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said "climate shocks and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa have raised school drop-out rates."

The report said child-labour incidence in the West African cocoa sector is 21% and that an estimated 40,000 children work in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A lack of regular audits was identified in Bangladesh and India textile supply chains. European Commissioner for Consumer and Supply Chains Maroš Šefčovič said "the EU Responsible Supply Chain Directive will expand audit scope by 2027."

Major chocolate companies including Mondelez, Nestlé and Hershey said in written statements that "audits are conducted through Cocoa Horizons and Farmer Connect programmes"; Glencore and CMOC referred to cobalt supply audits. ICCO cocoa futures stood at $4,200 a tonne; LME cobalt metal at $32,500. Not investment advice.