Episode 6 - Pathways to Change – Smelters, Skills, and Sesame

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Paper Chains Podcast — where we unpack major reports on exploitation and human trafficking and talk through what we’ve read to make these often dense documents more accessible and understandable for everyone. This episode is brought to you by Ethical Trade Co. Learn more about their work at www.ethicaltradeco.com.

In this episode,we examine three different approaches to tackling child labour in supply chains: developing local smelting capacity in DRC’s tantalum sector, creating digital and vocational alternatives to mining for children and youth, and piloting a child-labour flagging system in Ethiopia’s sesame farming industry. Together, they highlight how industry, governments, and civil society can forge pathways to safer, more sustainable livelihoods. Presented by Five24 and sponsored by Ethical Trade Co., we thank UK-based FifityEight for permission to use these papers.