Human Rights: A workshop to learn from the Forced Labour Innovation pilot project

The creation of Human Rights Committees and the contract proposed by ICI are helping us to achieve peace and social cohesion in our various constituencies,'said Mr Gueu Ven Jean Noël, Sub-Prefect of Grabo in the department of Tabou, during the workshop to capitalise on the Forced Labour Innovation project held on 5 and 6 February 2026 in Yamoussoukro.

This pilot project began in 2019 with the aim of developing and testing tools, approaches and mechanisms to better identify, prevent and respond to cases of forced labour in cocoa farming. It was implemented in five communities in Côte d'Ivoire in the regions of Nawa (Sokoura), San-Pédro (Massata and Youkou) and Guémon (Gbapleu and Bakarikro).

The first phase of the project focused on working closely with workers in the cocoa sector to identify the most common labour rights issues and risks of forced labour, based on the forced labour indicators adopted at the ILO's 20th International Conference of Labor Statisticians.

In cocoa, the most common risks include, for example, wage retention (which creates economic dependence and restricts workers' freedom to leave their jobs), workers performing tasks that were not specified at the time of recruitment (which compromises their ability to give free and informed consent), and workers exposed to hazardous working conditions (e.g. lack of personal protective equipment, lack of breaks).

'I didn't know that forced labour could still exist today on our cocoa plantations" said Hélène Kouamé, director of the ECAMON cooperative in Méagui, adding that thanks to ICI's project she now understood the most common risks present in the cocoa sector today.

The project continued with the development of other tools from 2021 to 2025 to strengthen the prevention of forced labour in cocoa-growing communities. These include awareness-raising and training tools, response tools such as written and graphic contract templates for employers and workers, and forced labour policies to confirm the cooperatives' commitment to helping combat this phenomenon.

From 2023 onwards, the project entered its second phase with the establishment of Human Rights Committees within the cooperatives involved in the project. The role of these Committees, in line with the social requirements of various certification schemes, is to ensure respect for human rights in cocoa-growing communities. They carry out awareness-raising activities, identify risks related to human rights, receive and manage complaints, provide references and support the signing of illustrated contracts proposed by ICI.

'Between 2023 and 2025, a total of 471 contracts were signed between agricultural workers and their employers,'announced Alexandra Azaud, ICI's Forced Labour specialist.

'Thanks to these illustrated contracts, workers and producers know what they should and should not do,'said Kouassi Affoué Angèle, member of the Human Rights Committee of the ECAMOM cooperative in Sokoura. "The establishment of Human Rights Committees has reduced the number of complaints between workers and employers that I used to receive in abundance as village chief. These past conflicts have been resolved through the activities of the Human Rights Committees, in particular awareness-raising and the signing of contracts,"added Thé Thaud Gilbert, village chief of Youkou and representative of the chiefdom in the HRC of the SOCOOPEM cooperative in the village.

After five years of implementation, the time has come for ICI to hand over to the cooperatives and communities. 'You have all the tools you need to continue the work already begun. We are counting on you and remain at your disposal for any technical support related to the issue of forced labour,'said ICI Country Director Mr Mel Alain Didier Lath to the leaders of the cooperatives and members of the Human Rights Committees.

The Sub-Prefect of Grabo, Mr Gueu Ven Jean Noël, expressed his gratitude to ICI before reassuring the members of the Committees of the support of the local authorities. 'It is true that ICI is withdrawing, but we have cooperatives that will take over. It is our responsibility as prefectural authorities to support these structures working in the field of cocoa farming, taking into account the issue of human rights,' he added.

With the help of its members and partners, ICI will now focus on building on the learning from the pilot and supporting the implementation of the tools and approaches on a much larger scale.