Global Launch of the CLEAR Supply Chains project

The coffee industry, including traders, roasters, brands, associations, and producers’ organizations, plays an important role in the CLEAR Supply Chains project. The project has engaged in global consultations with industry organizations, including the top eleven global coffee buyers, to seek partnerships and strategies that will translate into on-the-ground action in coffee-producing regions. Organizing the launch during the World of Coffee trade show provided a unique opportunity to present the program’s integrated and area-based model to eliminate child labour in the coffee supply chain to the coffee industry and global coffee stakeholders, and to bring the issue of child labour to the centre of the debate on human rights due diligence that is currently at the top of many industry players’ agendas.

The global launch took place during the World of Coffee on June 28, 2024, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event was moderated by Birgitte Krogh-Poulsen, an independent social development consultant.

The purpose of the launch was to present the project’s objectives and expected results, and to exchange and enlarge partnerships with the broader coffee industry on the issue of child labour and decent work in the coffee supply chain. It also served as a platform to strongly identify opportunities to anchor the project in the human rights due diligence framework.

The global launch event was attended by speakers from global coffee partnerships and networks, partner countries and UN agencies, including key representatives from the four partner agencies as well as the International Coffee Organization, the Uganda Coffee Development Authority, the Instituto Hondureño del Café, and the International Women's Coffee Alliance.

Representatives joined a series of interactive panels on child labour and decent work in the coffee supply chain. The event featured informative and meaningful discussions across various panels that highlighted the importance of an integrated, area-based approach to effectively tackle the root causes of child labour in the coffee supply chain. Panelists highlighted the multifaceted issues at play —ranging from legislative gaps and economic pressures to business practices and climate change— and discussed promising initiatives to prevent child labour and to build a sustainable coffee supply chain that meets the needs of farmers, workers, and their families.

They also recognized that this ambitious goal cannot be achieved without robust global partnerships among governments, private sector stakeholders, workers’ and employers’ organizations, civil society, UN agencies, and international sectoral networks. Achieving success requires a convergence of efforts and thinking centered around an integrated area-based approach, ensuring that actions across all stakeholders are aligned and complementary.

• Read the summary report of the event
• Watch the recording of the event
• Watch the video of the project