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Norway is allocating a part of its wealth fund to help end child labor around the world.
The country has partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and has allotted around $1 trillion to aid in the improvement of child labor policies and practices across the globe.
A number of top fashion companies, such as H&M and Gucci owner Kering, already signed up to support the advocacy. Plans for the partnership include discussions on how to improve child labor and provide education and health services to affected individuals.
As of 2016, there are around 152 million child laborers around the world. Many are often found in developing countries, or in nations with emerging markets.
Child laborers usually toil under appalling conditions like long work hours and are exposed to harmful chemicals. Those who work in the fashion industry often perform perilous tasks like cutting, sewing, and dyeing clothes.
Several groups have already attempted to end this situation, but the many different processes that go into the supply chain make it hard to trace companies that employ this practice. Some fashion companies are not even aware that their suppliers condone child labor.
Child labor is not only prevalent in the fashion industry. Palm oil company Wilmar, a firm behind known companies such as Kellogg’s, Colgate, and Nestlé, was recently found to use palm oils extracted by child laborers in Indonesia.
Amnesty International claims to have traced the origin of some famous products to Wilmar, which allegedly subjects children as young as 8 years old to dangerous tasks like carrying heavy sacks weighing up to 25 kilograms each.