Several of the most well-known chocolate brands, such as Hershey, Mars, and Nestlé, can't guarantee that any of their chocolate was produced without child labor. The issue is that they are unable to trace back a large percentage of where their cocoa comes from. Since West Africa's cocoa farms, which commonly have child laborers in dangerous conditions, are responsible for producing two-thirds of the world's cocoa, there is a strong probability that these brand's chocolate is the result of child labor.

The conditions faced at these cocoa farms are often reported as "the worst forms of child labor" and child slavery. Over 2 million children work at these farms, a small number of kids were trafficked, put on a bus to the area, and not allowed to leave. These children face dangerous conditions involving spraying pesticides, carrying heavy loads, and swinging machetes, all while being paid very little, if at all. Many kids work in hopes of making money for their families and themselves but the pay that is promised is very little, and sometimes not actually given to them. The children receive a lack of education and aren't given proper resources. In an article by the Washington Post, it shows an image of the "white-colored water that was scooped into a bucket from a nearby pond", that the kids drink while taking a break from working.

In 2001, the Harkin Engel Protocol was an agreement made to eradicate the worst forms of child labor, focusing on the cocoa supply chain in West Africa. The large chocolate companies pledged to have this completed in 4 years, including a certification system that would include a label stating that the chocolate was made "slave-free". This, however, was a large task to undertake and almost 20 years later, the companies have not fully accomplished their goal. The big chocolate companies have faced a serious lack of repercussions for not fulfilling their part of the agreement. This allows the companies to not put as much of an urgent priority on the issue, causing the problem of child labor to not be solved as quickly as it could be.

This petition is meant to bring attention to this issue and to call on chocolate companies to be held accountable for permitting dangerous child labor to take place when they are the ones that have the most direct power to eradicate it. 

Additional information can be found at:

http://www.slavefreechocolate.org​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/​

https://www.ilo.org/washington/areas/elimination-of-the-worst-forms-of-child-labor/WCMS_159486/lang--en/index.htm