UK Based Environmental Justice Foundation At Work

Monday 28th of June 2010 05:09:08 PM

Do you know where the cotton in your polo shirts and t-shirts originated. If you are like most consumers, you have no idea. That’s why organisations like the UK based Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) are busy monitoring cotton growing and clothing manufacturing practices around the world. The EJF recently issued a new report called Slave Nation and Uzbekistan child labour was highlighted.

This report was upsetting because it states that approximately 2 million children are forced to work long hours in the field. Uzbekistan has signed a 2008 agreement with the International Labour Organisation but the country has not enforced the agreement in practice. As a result, much of the 1m tones of cotton picked in the fields is picked by children.

The EJF has a goal of ending the use of child labour around the world. Uzebistan is one of the main exporters of cotton and depends on children to produce the crop. It’s not just the field work that is objectionable, because the children live in substandard dormitories that are dirty and overcrowded. Most of the children must buy their own food too.

The EJF knows that the best way to apply pressure on countries using child labour is through the institution of economic measures. Retailers are encouraged to not buy cotton for clothing like t-shirts and sweats from countries violating Fair Trade Practices which include a ban on child labour. There has been some success with this approach too. Giant retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco and Marks & Spencer will not sell products made with Uzbekistan cotton until the country stops using children to produce cotton.

Juliette Williams, Director of the EJF, was quoted as saying, “Pressure from companies is a key means to keep the issue in the spotlight and ensure that other influential decision makers take action…The international community must play its role in persuading the government to relinquish its grasp over cotton and the people who grow it.”

©Image by Philipp Pilz, www.sxc.hu/