Seal Challenge Round 4 Winner, 2024: Monkeytail Teas' Goal to Prevent Child Labour and Give Youth Access to Decent Work

We’re proud to announce that Monkeytail Teas, a Ceylon Artisanal Tea Association (CATA) member, is the winner of Round 4 of the 2024 Seal Challenge. The theme of this round was the Children’s Rights and Business Principles and Monkeytail Teas’ concept aligned with Principle 2 to contribute towards the elimination of child labour, and Principle 2 to provide decent work for young workers.

The Centre, which judged the concept notes, was impressed by Monkeytail Teas’ concept to collaborate with other CATA members to identify and support children at risk or struggling to participate in school. Monkeytail Teas will team up with up to three other CATA members to work with the local school and Grama Niladhari, where their estate is located.

They will each support the needs of up to five children from the village during this pilot initiative. Further, each participating estate will develop a policy to provide decent work opportunities to young workers (ages 16-18) and support at least one child per estate, who may not wish to return to school, in identifying their interests and connecting them with potential job opportunities and skill development training.

The Seal Challenge, an inspiring initiative led by The Centre for Child Rights and Business, empowers businesses across the tea industry—plantation companies, tea smallholders, factories, brokers, exporters, brands, and retailers—to craft innovative solutions that address critical challenges faced by children and families in their business ecosystems, particularly on estates and in factories. Winners of the Seal Challenge receive either a funding boost or specialised technical support to help bring their visionary concepts to life.

To date, The Centre has selected 15 winners from nine Seal Challenges, each of whom has implemented meaningful initiatives that will uplift tea communities for generations. These impactful projects range from renovating schools and providing clean water in villages to creating safe play areas for youth and much more. Follow our YouTube channel to see how these Seal Challenge ideas have transformed into real-life, lasting impacts.

For this Seal Challenge Round 4, The Centre will support Monkeytail Teas by:

• Establishing mechanisms to identify at-risk children in schools

• Developing a young worker policy for each artisanal tea estate

• Identifying integration opportunities (such as non-hazardous jobs and rotation systems) within the estates

• Training estate teams on the young worker programme

• Offering financial support