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Proven track record of ending child labour

WE Charity’s commitment to ending child labour is evident and beyond reproach based on more than 20 years of dedication to working with the poorest children and families around the world. To state or imply otherwise is simply unprofessional journalism seeking to sensationalize a story for purely self-gain and malicious purposes. WE Charity and its senior staff are recognized among the world’s leading experts on the issue of child labour and are celebrated for their proven model to eliminate poverty, which is the root causes of child labour. WE Charity team members understand the complexity of the issues, having testified before U.S. Congressional Sub-Committees and published extensively on the issue. In 1995, WE Charity (then Free The Children) funded an organization to build rescue homes for freed child slaves. It was quickly evident that this strategy had little impact on eradicating child labour. Children who were returned to impoverished families often returned to work because of a lack of educational infrastructure, access to healthcare, or alternative income programs. By 1997, WE Charity (then Free The Children) changed its focus to eliminating the root cause of child labour, which is universally recognized as extreme poverty. There is no greater solution to ending child labour than addressing poverty and WE Charity is fiercely proud of our 20-year track record of freeing tens of thousands of children from the need to work, through our five-pillar holistic development model that lifts their entire families out of poverty with education, economic opportunity, clean water, health and food security. It is a fact that WE Charity and ME to WE has provided sustainable development to eliminate extreme poverty for over million beneficiaries, thus addressing the root cause of child labour.

How WE Charity helps communities better their supply chain

WE Charity believes that corporations have a fundamental responsibility to create a more just, humane and equitable world. The issue of child labour in supply chains is complex. A sincere assessment of the issue recognizes that almost every large company involved in global sourcing may have or had child labour in some element at some point of time in their supply chain. Given this reality, every credible voice on this topic recognizes that the true measure of a company’s commitment on the issue of child labour is a two-fold assessment: 1.

Is the company continuously seeking improvements in its supply chain, especially via third-party verification and audits; 2.

Is the company tackling the root cause of child labour by helping end extreme poverty. WE Charity’s partnerships with these companies, which often includes working with their teams to deepen their commitment to social responsibility, clearly works to eliminate the poverty that fuels child labour by generating support for WE Charity and its global development programs. Beyond the important issue of child labour, WE Charity also encourages companies to engage their employees, consumer base, and supply chain in pro-social actions, volunteerism and campaigns that

better the world. Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal #17, it is critical that non-profits engage with corporations in partnership to leverage all leavers of social impact. WE Charity and ME to WE have strict vetting policies regarding corporate partnerships. As one example of third-party verification, B Corp evaluated ME to WE and found the social enterprise was among the top five per cent for its practices, including the integrity of its supply chains.

Please ensure the following is properly and clearly reflected in your reporting of any issues, claims or allegations regarding child labour:

1.

As proven through extensive documentation and third-party verification of WE Charity and ME to WE, it would be clearly false to imply that they lack proper protocol and consideration on matters such as the issue of child labour. 2.

Any indication or inuendo that we support and/or endorse child labour directly or indirectly is false. 3.

Your article may likely make broad references of a handful of massive global companies and their overall supply chain; however, it is equally important to note that we have

not

endorsed, marketed, amplified, or promoted any specific products that our extensive due diligence process identified as having child labour in the manufacturing process. (It is important to note, as would be reasonably assumed, that our vetting took place at the time of partnership.) Any indication otherwise would be defamatory. 4.

Any indication that we are promoting or endorsing products made by child labour to children in Canada is false. 5.

As part of our development work, we have directly lifted over 1 million people out of poverty, helping to address extreme poverty, which is universally acknowledged as the root cause of child labour. If you intend to make a claim about a specific brand, it is important to contact us with the specific claim and we will provide you with further information. As part of WE Charity’s corporate vetting process, the following are factors that were considered when assessing whether a company is continuously seeking improvements in its supply chain, and whether the company is seeking to end extreme poverty to help eradicate child labour:

Hershey How we partner:

Working alongside the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, WE Charity partnered with Hersey around the “The Heart-Warming Project” to help promote social emotional learning.

Commitment to their supply chain:

Commitment to supply chain improvement: Hershey’s cacao is now 75% sustainably sourced and they are publicly committed and on-track to achieving 100% sustainable sourcing by 2020.

Commitment to social good/ ending the root causes of child labour.

Commitment to ending global poverty: Hershey has committed to spend $500 million through its “Cocoa for Good” program to create more sustainable cocoa.

(https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hershey-to-invest-500-million-in-making-more-sustainable-kisses-1.1045257)

Unilever How we partner:

Engaging youth and families around sustainability


Unilever is widely considered to be one of the most socially progressive and responsible companies in the world, including being celebrated by the United Nations Global Compact. Unilever has further committed to 100% traceability by the end of 2019 for all crude palm oil and derivatives they buy. For sugar and cocoa, Unliever is committed to 100% sustainability by 2020. https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/reducing-environmental-impact/sustainable-sourcing/transforming-the-palm-oil-industry/

Commitment to social good/ ending the root causes of child labour:

By 2020, Unilever will help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being. By 2030, Unilever’s goal is to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of its products. https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/

Loblaws

How we partner:

WE Charity partners with PC Children’s Charity to tackle childhood hunger and deliver nutrition education to children across Canada. (In order to assist with your fact-checking, our partnership is specifically with PC Children’s Charities, and not, with any aspect of the auxiliary businesses, such Valu-mart, Zehrs Markets, SaveEasy, Joe Fresh, Wholesale Club / Club Entrepôt, T & T Supermarket, or others).


Suppliers are required to submit to audits. Loblaw is committed “to the highest ethical sourcing standards as a key component of the Way We Do Business” (www.loblaw-reports.ca)

https://www.loblaw.ca/en/responsibility/Ethical-Sourcing.html

Commitment to do social good:

Loblaws has committed $150 million in fundraising and corporate support over the next decade to address childhood hunger ( https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/loblaws-presidents-choice-childrens-charity-commits-150-million-to-childhood-hunger-and-nutrition-11-million-canadian-children-at-risk-of-being-unfed-or-underfed-daily-646427623.html )

PacSun