Accelerating and Scaling our Work to Promote Child Rights in India’s Supply Chains

Photo: Focus group exercise (under-the-tree approach)

India is playing an increasingly important role in global supply chains and this is reflected in the growing demand for The Centre’s services to advance child rights in India. Our efforts primarily focus on agricultural commodities, such as sugarcane, cotton, psyllium and mint. We are currently working with six global brands, each committed to deepening their understanding of human and child rights risks in their India supply chains and taking long-term action to address them.

Human Rights and Child Rights Risk Assessments

One of our primary initiatives has involved conducting human rights risk assessments. Recently, we completed a comprehensive assessment for a global pet food brand sourcing psyllium in Rajasthan. This process not only identified key risks but also set the stage for a subsequent workshop with the brand's suppliers. The goal is to validate findings from the assessment and collaboratively develop actionable strategies to address the identified human rights and child rights risks within the supply chain.

In addition to this, field visits have also been conducted with sugarcane farmers supplying to another global brand to assess various risks, including forced labour, child labour and health and safety issues, particularly for women workers. The next steps involve presenting our findings to the relevant brand and formulating an action plan to address these issues.

Child Labour Risk Assessments and Capacity Building Programmes

The Centre has conducted farm visits to the cotton sites of a global home furnishings brand in Madhya Pradesh to assess the challenges and risks to human rights, particularly during cotton harvesting. The findings will inform training sessions designed specifically for farmers. An online workshop will address child rights protection in the cotton value chain, sharing insights and best practices to encourage collaboration and resource mobilisation for improving child protection in agricultural supply chains.

We have also initiated child labour risk assessments and provided capacity-building workshops across three suppliers for a global food brand. Through these efforts, we aim to not only identify instances of child labour but also to offer remediation support to affected communities when cases are uncovered during assessments.

Child Rights Action Hub India

With a focus on the mint supply chain, we are working towards launching a new Child Rights Action Hub India in late 2025. This initiative will bring together stakeholders in the private sector to address child labour risks and ensure access to decent work opportunities for young workers in mint farms across India. A network of trained Child Rights Focal Points selected from within mint-growing communities will monitor and report on local conditions, providing support in child labour remediation efforts alongside The Centre. The Action Hub also aims to support local schools by training educators to respond effectively to child labour challenges. This includes guidance on reintegrating children into education and providing resources to keep them out of the workforce and in school.

Human Rights Due Diligence Consultations

In addition to our direct remediation efforts, we are reviewing child labour prevention and remediation policies for a clothing brand in four locations across North India. Our due diligence consultations include spot-check risk assessments at selected suppliers that go beyond traditional audit methods, focusing on high-risk areas often overlooked in standard social compliance checks. Through comprehensive evaluations, we conduct root cause analyses and recommend actions to effectively address identified issues at supplier sites.