Child labour and business

UNICEF China

Promoting family-friendly policies in the toy manufacturing sector and beyond

As in many parts of the world, gender-sensitive and inclusive family-friendly policies remain a distant reality for many working parents in China, especially in lower-income jobs. To strengthen the evidence base and develop promising practices, in 2021 UNICEF started to work with the Government of China and the Ethical Toy Program (IETP) to engage the toy manufacturing sector in a pilot programme on family-friendly workplaces. Robust indicators were set to track the progress of factory engagement, with a focus on quality childcare, breastfeeding support and parental leave. Early data indicates beneficial outcomes for workers and children, as well as businesses themselves. The program helped to enhance workers’ working efficiency, improve relationship between management and workers, retain workers and attract more job applicants creating a win-win program for both employers and employees. Based on this experience, in 2022, UNICEF China expanded activities to the textile and apparel sector, and is looking to enhance cross-UN collaboration (e.g. with ILO and UN Women) to jointly advocate for family-friendly policies in the workplace. Family-friendly Policies in the Workplace.pdf (unicef.cn)

UNICEF Bangladesh

Strengthening women’s rights in the garment and textile sector

Bangladesh has the second largest textile sector in the world, which accounts for about 11 per cent of national GDP. UNICEF research highlights a wide range of adverse sector-wide impacts on children’s health and development. To address these concerns, UNICEF Bangladesh has been working with the ready-made garment sector since 2012 to promote industry policies and practices that better respect and support women’s and children’s rights. For example, jointly with the Government of Bangladesh and the ILO, UNICEF developed Mothers@Work – a programme to support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. The programme has been implemented in more than one hundred factories and reached more than 150,000 women to date. It seeks to establish 7 minimum standards in the workplace: a minimum of six months paid maternity leave; employment protection and non-discrimination; health and safety protections for pregnant and nursing mothers; promoting the establishment of nursing rooms where mothers can breastfeed and/or express and store breastmilk; sufficient paid breastfeeding breaks; and access to quality childcare and pre-school learning opportunities. The programme was initially implemented through a partnership with Better Work Bangladesh (a joint ILO/IFC initiative), and further strengthened through collaboration with the Bangladesh Garments’ Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). Jointly with UNICEF’s Better Business for Children programme, the knowledge and experience generated enabled UNICEF to partner with Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) – who administer the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund – to establish a children’s rights network for the textile and footwear industry and influence the standards and practices of some of the world’s largest apparel companies, including through the development of guidance and performance metrics.

UNICEF Rwanda

Investing in business-supported early childhood development (ECD) support

Childcare plays a critical role in unlocking children’s potential, support women’s participation in the labour mar-ket and strengthen national economic development. For Rwanda’s tea sector, where most workers are women, there is a strong economic rationale for investing in early childhood development (ECD). Where childcare is absent, it inhibits tea workers availability for work and overall productivity due to challenges of reconciling work and family life. Having collaborated with the tea industry since 2016 to address gaps in the ECD infrastructure on tea plantations, in 2021 UNICEF Rwanda published a business case for employer-supported childcare – jointly with the Government’s National Child Development Agency. The report highlights a strong business case for investment in ECD support in the workplace – especially around productivity and worker retention. However, the report also identified the lack of practical guidance for business as a key constraint to reach scale. To address this gap, in 2022 UNICEF Rwanda published a how-to guide for employers in Rwanda’s tea and agricultural sector to establish childcare and wider ECD support in the workplace – from planning through to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The guide includes actionable recommendations for businesses – such as assessing the demand for ECD services; exploring models that meet contextual needs; budgeting; and ensuring legal and regulatory compliance in support of the country’s overall national development efforts. By 2022, all 19 Rwandan tea companies representing the whole sector had implemented improved ECD infrastructure and services, con-tributing to economic and social returns.