by Larry Nocella

Created on: February 28, 2008   Last Updated: March 11, 2009

Everyone should do everything they can to prevent abusive child labor. Any discussion of resource use often drops into a familiar framework: consumers blame the companies for how they get their supply, and companies blame the consumers for their relentless demand. Everyone blames the other and each party claims to have a clear conscience. In the end, nothing gets accomplished. Let's avoid that from the start with the mindset that everyone, both producers and consumers, can do something to help. Consumers and Producers are two essential parts of a system that can oppress children, nations, and the environment. Neither piece can survive on its own, therefore, both sides are to blame.

Coltan is a mineral essential in the production of wireless electronics.(1) Mining coltan in itself isn't a larger than normal problem, but due to several wars (against and within) the Congo and the surrounding countries, a stable government with the backing of a reliable military and police force have not formed. Where there is poverty, people are desperate, and where people are desperate, they will steal and kill for their own survival. This is a situation that is often exploited by other nations and multi-national corporations. Coltan is then mined in the cheapest possible way, which means using children. Even adult workers are not provided a meaningful wage or decent working conditions.

Since a company's goal is to produce a product at the cheapest price, electronics producers are pleased to get their essential raw materials so cheap. Consumers are ignorant of these practices and don't often bother to question a great deal on a cell phone. Even if they did, there are few ways for them to find out where their product comes from and at what real cost.

If the story of coltan sounds familiar, that's because it is the sad refrain of history in Africa, another example of the continent being exploited for its combination of natural wealth, corrupt governments and desperately poor. This is why the time for the EITI idea has arrived. The EITI is an organization supported by primarily European nations (and the USA) compelling industries to track and release data on their payments and revenues, or subject themselves to independent audits.(5) The goal is to force companies into some kind, any kind, of account for how they get their raw materials and from who. The reality will likely fall far short of the ideal, but this is a start.

So The EITI addresses the producers. Now we turn to the consumers.

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