Fairtrade Fortnight has begun, with the annual campaign running from 6 to 19 August, designed to raise awareness, celebrate, and promote Fairtrade products.
This campaign sees retailers and producers given the opportunity to raise awareness for Fairtrade, showing their customers what their brand stands for and promoting the positive impact they have made. By highlighting their Fairtrade certification, they are displaying leadership in sustainability.
Fairtrade has supplied a digital toolkit that provides information and content to be shared across social media and digital platforms.
The campaign’s emphasis is to “choose the world you want”, where women are respected, where the environment is cared for, and where everyone is treated kindly. Part of treating everyone kindly is combating slavery.
According to Fairtrade, there are currently 40 million slaves across the globe, equating to one in every 200 people. This could encompass children who are working instead of going to school or enslaved women in garment factories across India.
“And, the problem is close to home,” says Fairtrade. “Over two-thirds of the world’s slaves live in the Asia Pacific. This problem is not limited to any particular region or sector: virtually every supply chain globally is affected by this cruel injustice.”
This is where Fairtrade makes a difference. By addressing poverty, the root cause of slavery, and checking every part of the supply chain, Fairtrade aims to identify and stop cases of unfair treatment.
“Mostly, Fairtrade farmers are supported well enough in their work that this doesn’t happen but if it does, then the Fairtrade system helps the whole community to find a way to do things better. It’s not about judgement, just fairness,” says Fairtrade.
Fairtrade says that the world the organisation wants to live in, is one where slavery is no longer an issue to anyone, or anywhere.
This is why the organisation has become part of the move to adopt Modern Slavery Legislation in Australia and in the United Kingdom. Within New Zealand, Fairtrade has also signed an open letter calling for the NZ government to legislate against slave labour.
Government action is only half of the story, says Fairtrade. Businesses need to be accountable for their own supply chains and through partnering with Fairtrade this process can make be made easier and also show other businesses that there is a better way.
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