Wake up daily to our latest coverage of business done better, directly in your inbox.
Get your weekly dose of analysis on rising corporate activism.
The best of solutions journalism in the sustainability space, published monthly.
Select Newsletter
By signing up you agree to our privacy policy. You can opt out anytime.
Globally, more than one million children are working in the gold mining industry, according to new estimates.
The gold mined is used by electronics manufacturers who use it to make mobile phones, computers and other consumer electronics. The electronics industry annually uses 279000 kg of gold worth more than 10 billion euros. This makes the sector the third largest consumer of gold in the world, aftr the newellery industry and the financial sector.
According to the report, from the SOMO report, ‘Gold from children’s hands’, commissioned by the Stop Child Labour coalition, the problem is getting worse. In the African country of Mali for example, the number of children working in the gold mining industry has increased almost tenfold in recent years from 20,000 to 200,000 children.
The coaltion accepts that electronics manufacturers do not accept child labour but argue they do little to take effective measures to eliminate it from their supply chains.
“It is time for these companies to deal with child labour in their entire supply chain and to look beyond conflict minerals,” said Sofie Ovaa, programme manager of Stop Child Labour.
She urges consumers to get involved this holiday season by signing its online petition.
TriplePundit has published articles from over 1000 contributors. If you'd like to be a guest author, please get in touch!
