Smartphones, computers, cosmetics: These are just a few products that often involve child labour. Development Minister Schulze sees the EU as responsible.
Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze is pushing for an EU supply chain law to prevent child labor worldwide.
“Our consumption must no longer contribute to the exploitation of children in poorer countries,” said the SPD politician on Saturday on the occasion of the International Day Against Child Labor on Sunday. The German supply chain law is an important step against child labor, the next must be a “strong EU supply chain law”. “As the second largest economic area in the world, we in Europe bear responsibility for what our consumption causes in other parts of the world,” emphasized the minister.
Schulze made it clear that more than 160 million children have to work, which is about every tenth child worldwide. Around 79 million work under exploitative conditions, for example on plantations, in mines, in industry or are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The SPD politician pointed out that the number of children affected by exploitation had risen again for the first time in recent years. The driving factor is the increasing extreme poverty in many countries. This is exacerbated by global crises such as the corona pandemic, climate change, armed conflicts, food insecurity and famine.
