Arissandra Egorova, April 2024
Behind every shimmering necklace or elegant ring lies a story often obscured from view: the dark reality of forced child labor, especially in gold mining.
With little to no consideration to the origins of their raw materials, the last few years have seen the market for fine watchmaking and jewelry soar: with a combined worldwide revenue of $329 billion in 2019, as estimated by McKinsey, it reached an all times high of $374 billion in 2023, with a projected annual increase of 3,53% in the coming years.
As highly influential global industries, they have long remained immune to critics. Yet they hold an often underestimated power to advance new industry standards, more respectful of natural ecosystems and human rights. Unfortunately, the environmental and social implications of their manufacturing operations seem to pale before the prestige and global popularity of these brands.
Symbols of creativity, status or simply fashion, the love for this art endures despite a general rise in concerns about the proper control and oversight of their value chain. As highlighted in the 2023 WWF Sustainability rating and industry report of watch and jewelry sectors, consumers and legislators worldwide are becoming increasingly conscious of the negative repercussions of these activities, demanding greater transparency and accountability from luxury companies when it comes to their long-term social impact.
However, there is still a long way to go, and despite novel industry efforts within refining and manufacturing plants, progress remains slow and limited in ensuring traceable and responsible supply chains. Although fully traceable gold remains a technical and logistical challenge, most reports come to a sobering conclusion: the production and consumption of luxury goods comes at a high price.
Indeed, still today, millions of children work in small-scale mines in Africa, Asia and South America, extracting gold, gemstones and other precious metals, which are later transformed into highly prized jewelry collections.
The situation is particularly dire in the Sahel African region. As revealed by the International Labor Organization (ILO), it is home to up to 25% of child mine workers. As they explain, causes trace back to the 1970s, years marked by intense droughts, resulting in a sharp upsurge in poverty rates. This poverty trap forced children into various forms of physical labor to support their families, including gold mining.
Burkina Faso
Nowadays, orpaillage, as it is known locally, is omnipresent in local communities in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. According to ILO estimates, children under the age of 18 can make up as much as 50% of the total orpailleur workforce, and those under 15 account for almost 70%, making them highly vulnerable to exploitation, sickness, and trafficking.
Indeed, gold mining represents an extremely risky and dangerous occupation for children. With most gold-mining sites located in poor and remote areas, access to clean water, sanitation, and food is slim and often non-existent. As a result, young children are disproportionately exposed to serious diseases, such as infections, diarrhea, malaria, and tuberculosis, as well as malnutrition and other health concerns.
In Burkina Faso, children are involved in practically all stages of gold extraction, including rock breaking, crushing, transport, and rock washing. Children work under the scorching sun or in tunnels underground from 8 to 14 hours a day, with each stage more harrowing than the last. In mineshafts, deaths from explosions or rock falls are commonplace. But there’s no solace above ground; exposure to toxic gasses, physical injuries and heat strokes makes this an unbearable venture, even for the fittest adults. Given their early stages of development, children are even more vulnerable to dust and chemical exposure, leading to various respiratory conditions, headaches, and sight disorders, placing their long-term health and future at risk.
While the risks and processes can be relatively similar from one country to another, differences lie in national, familial, cultural and societal contexts, which vary according to local customs, poverty levels, local legislations and schooling opportunities. In fact, mining can sometimes take the form of a family enterprise, exploiting the mines after school or during holidays. While children are often better protected in such cases, they are also more likely to drop out of school to support their families full-time, due to the high cost of tuition, uniforms and books.
Mali
In June 2017, the government of Mali came one step closer to ending the most severe forms of child labor, by adhering to the ILO’s International Convention on the Minimum Working Age, raising it to 15 years old. By doing so, Mali ratified the last of all child labor conventions, including ILO’s Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as specific protocols on armed conflict, the sale and prostitution of children, and trafficking in persons (Palermo protocol). The country later embarked on a number of programs and mechanisms to coordinate its efforts in the hope of tackling the root causes of poverty, violence and underage labor. As such, the country set up the Artisanal Gold Mining Summit Committee, followed by the ratification of the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury, to lower the amount of mercury used in artisanal mines, and implement special precautions to shield kids from mercury exposure.
Indeed, compared to other forms of small-scale mining, gold mining poses a unique risk as it involves mixing mercury with crushed ore to isolate the gold. Often mishandled by children, it can get absorbed through the skin or inhaled as vapor. The lack of protective clothing, poor working conditions, and lack of proper training and awareness of these risks prompt children and adults to handle ore with bare hands, contributing to the rising number of deaths in small-scale artisanal mines.
Sadly, despite minor advancements in the protection of children’s rights, root causes remain barely addressed, and efforts insufficient to ensure compliance with the law. Legal loopholes continue to be exploited by non-state armed groups to recruit, kidnap and traffic young children into their ranks, and into forced labor.
In 2020, the UNHCR sounded the alarm at the sight of the situation in Mali. Conflicts, COVID-19, and poor economic conditions have all contributed to an upsurge in child trafficking in the country, partially reversing the progress made to date. As of now, more than 6’000 children are working in mines across the country, where they are still exposed to some of the worst forms of child labor, and economic, physical and psychological abuse.
But just as efforts have been made in the past, they can be made again. Setbacks are only temporary, if seen as an opportunity to grow, learn and reevaluate our goals.
As we navigate the opulent world of luxury jewelry and timepieces, it's imperative to remember the unseen hands that extract the precious metals adorning our treasures. Illegal gold mining, often entangled with the scourge of forced child labor, demands our attention and action. The luxury industry, with its influential position, must spearhead efforts to illuminate the murky pathways of its supply chain, fostering transparency and accountability.
Consumers, too, bear a crucial responsibility in this narrative. By delving into the origins of raw materials and demanding ethical sourcing, we can wield our purchasing power to drive meaningful change. As nations rally against the blight of child labor, hope flickers on the horizon for a future where innocence is safeguarded and dreams are not sacrificed in the pursuit of profit.
In aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 8, particularly Target 8.7, which aims to eradicate forced labor and child exploitation by 2025, we embark on a collective journey toward a more just and equitable world. Let us seize this opportunity to not only adorn ourselves with beauty but also with the knowledge and conviction to enact positive transformation.
Bibliography
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McKinsey & Company. (2021). The State of Fashion: Watches and Jewelry. McKinsey. URL: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion%20watches%20and%20jewellery/state-of-fashion-watches-and-jewellery.pdf
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UNHCR. (2020, December 01). Child-trafficking in Mali increasing because of conflict and COVID-19. UNHCR. URL: https://www.unhcr.org/news/news-releases/child-trafficking-mali-increasing-because-conflict-and-covid-19
WWF. (2023). Sustainability Rating and Industry Report 2023. World Wildlife Fund. URL: https://www.wwf.ch/sites/default/files/doc-2023-11/_WWF_Watch%20and%20Jewellery%20Report%202023_Final.pdf