I had the honor to spend the day with Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi in early November. A small group of industry leaders came together to discuss how child labor manifests itself in global supply chains, and more importantly what we can do to eradicate child labor for good. Kailash is a humble, lighthearted person, exactly what you would expect for a modern day saint.
A documentary about his work, called the Price of Free, was released today by Participant Media and YouTube. He has spent the last 30 years with his wife working to save children from child labor, fostering and educating them, and ultimately brings them safely back to their homes. Through his non-profit, they have rescued over 80,000 children from forced labor situations, spanning across industries.
Today the Price of Free launched publicly and can be watched on YouTube, please take the time to watch this documentary. The thought of sitting down to watch a film on child labor sounds daunting, I know. But you will be amazed at how positive of a film this is. The Price of Free carefully shows the complexity of how children enter into forced labor jobs and the solutions we can do to help end this vicious cycle.
The film ends with an important call to action for all of us: to consider the true cost of our cheap commodities and gifts, especially during this holiday season. In addition, they call upon all of us to ask our favorite brands what they are doing to help eliminate child labor from their supply chains.
As someone who works for a company full time on such issues, I can personally attest to the importance of your emails asking for leadership, at a time when the world is more addicted to cheap goods than ever before.
Watch The Price of Free on YouTube and let me know what you think!
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