A Village, A Buyer and a Child-Friendly Space: A Human Rights Due Diligence Story from the Rattan Fields

Blog by Ellen Schliebitz, VP Communications, The Centre for Child Rights and Business. The organisation will co-host the “Achieving Positive Change for Children’s Lives in Supply Chains: From Compliance to Impact” Action Lab at the 2024 Forum on October 23rd.

In the small village of Muara Pulau in a remote part of South Kalimantan in Indonesia, children laugh and play in a Child Friendly Space while their parents work. The children are in the company of friendly, trained teachers, who plan the day’s activities and ensure each child is well taken care of and safe.

Though this village feels worlds away from urban centres like Jakarta, it’s connected to consumers around the globe. The parents here harvest and process rattan, a material sold to a supplier who, in turn, distributes it to a global buyer.

The Child Friendly Space (CFS) came about through a collaboration between The Centre for Child Rights and Business, the supplier, and the buyer—building on a prior child rights risk assessment. During this assessment, we engaged parents, children, and the community to understand the daily struggles of working families. Children were encouraged to have a voice through child-friendly focus group discussions and activities. One key issue emerged: parents had no place to send their young children while they worked, often bringing them to unsafe work sites in the forest or by the riverside.

From this, a robust guideline on protecting children’s rights was born, followed by capacity-building activities and community awareness campaigns. We trained local trainers and worked with village leaders, suppliers, and the global buyer to empower the community with the tools to safeguard children’s rights. For the buyer, these steps contributed to a due diligence strategy where risks like child labour could be identified and mitigated early on.

In 2023, the buyer took it a step further, working with The Centre and the village government to create a dedicated Child Friendly Space. With support from the supplier, buyer, and community, five local teachers were trained in child safeguarding and CFS management. The space officially opened in May 2023 and quickly became a source of pride for the village. Rattan farmers now have a safe, enriching environment where their children can learn, play, and socialise—removing the dangers associated with kids accompanying their parents to work sites.

“My child attends the CFS regularly, resulting in a positive change. He enjoys the environment at the CFS and no longer cries, begging to accompany me to the rattan site while I am working,” says Mahlida, the mother of Anhar who is 4 years old.

These initiatives align with human rights due diligence regulations, like the CSDDD, and creates the real, long-lasting impact that these HRDD frameworks aim to achieve. The CFS is now a vital community asset and will continue supporting families for years to come.

As we prepare for the next Global Child Forum event at Stockholm Palace on October 23rd, The Centre is thrilled to partner with Global Child Forum in co-developing a Call to Action for businesses. The CFS in Muara Pulau is a prime example of how companies can engage children and their supply chain partners to drive positive change. This Call to Action is designed to help companies meaningfully engage children as stakeholders across their supply chains – a handy tool to guide your HRDD journey—specifically when it comes to children’s rights. Attendees will be able to sign up to this call to action on the day of Forum 2024.

In addition, we’re co-hosting an Action Lab session with Save The Children and UNICEF: “Achieving Positive Change for Children’s Lives in Supply Chains: From Compliance to Impact.” This workshop will dive deep into the complexities of supply chain impact, shifting the focus from mere compliance to meaningful, positive change. We’ll explore root causes and offer practical solutions for multinationals to implement responsible supply chain practices.

We hope to see many companies join this session and leave with clear, actionable strategies to create lasting change. Who knows? At next year’s Forum, you might be the one telling the story of how your company made a difference in the lives of children across your supply chain.