Our Impact
Addressing the risk of child labour within agricultural supply chains remains a global challenge across many sectors, including within Egypt's fragrance sector.
Recognising the need to create greater visibility for businesses operating in this sector, The Centre, and Save the Children Switzerland in partnership with a local consultant, is working with an international client to assess the risk factors and address capacity gaps of Egyptian suppliers to manage risks of child labour as part of its commitment and an industry-wide collective effort to address these challenges. The collaboration has so far included an on-site rapid child labour assessment, as well as supplier capacity building and Training of Trainers sessions.
Jasmine is highly sought after in the fragrance industry, with Egypt contributing to about half of the world's jasmine flower exports. However, the nation faces economic challenges. The World Bank reports that 30% of Egyptians live below the poverty line, and an additional 30% are vulnerable to falling into poverty in the future.[1] With a population of over 105 million, the rapid inflation of almost 40% in 2023 has led to a severe economic crisis and has pushed families into poverty.[2]
For our client, the child rights rapid assessment was particularly important to further extend their human rights due diligence approach in Egypt. The European Union passed a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) earlier this year that will require large companies operating in Europe to prevent, and mitigate adverse human rights impacts, including child labour, in their supply chains. Rapid risk assessments are an efficient approach to understanding risk factors associated with child labour on the ground and inform actions required to address them.
The second phase of the project focussed on building the knowledge of the suppliers and their management as well as conducting a train-the-trainer with key stakeholders who can cascade messaging around child labour to the upstream levels of the supply chain. It also included a two-day field workshop, training shadowing and a rapid review carried out with a local consultant.
These activities were an important step in continuing to address child labour and challenging longstanding norms around children working on farms. The openness and appetite to learn among the groups we worked with in this jasmine supply chain in Egypt is encouraging.
As a next step, we plan to continue our work with the sector and key stakeholders to advance approaches to remediation. Although child labour is a complex and multifaceted issue, these activities as well as broader collaborative industry efforts, mark important progress in addressing child rights in Egypt’s jasmine supply chain.
[2] https://www.voanews.com/a/egypt-inflation-hits-record-high-of-nearly-40-/7262060.html
Find out more about our risk and impact assessments
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