A renowned social enterprise, GoodWeave International seeks to address child and forced labor within global supply chains through a market-based approach. To do this, they developed the GoodWeave® certification—which verifies that no child labor or forced/bonded labor was utilized anywhere within a product’s construction. To receive a certification label, companies must comply with a strict, internally developed set of standards (the GoodWeave Standard), as well as pay an annual licensing fee. This fee, alongside grassroots and philanthropic donations, funds the organization’s advocacy initiatives as well as rehabilitation programs for former child laborers.

Theory of Change

Leveraging consumer demand through the certification of goods within a supply chain pushes businesses into greater compliance with human rights standards and builds social responsibility.

Activities

To receive a GoodWeave certification, brands must comply with frequent and unannounced inspections throughout a product’s supply chain. These inspections are designed to target village-based cottage industries, small urban workshops, and homes (where more than 90 percent of total cases of child labor and modern slavery are found). As one of their conditions for partnership, participating companies must have distinct and clear policies in place which enable the rescuing of children by inspectors. Because child laborers often forfeit the chance to attend school, resulting in extremely high illiteracy rates, GoodWeave has developed a system of Motivation and Learning Camps (MLCs), which bring rescued children to age-appropriate learning levels through structured curriculum. The resources of their MLCs are available to children until grade 10 or age 18. To further encourage a market-based solution, GoodWeave provides an online platform on their website where consumers can easily search for products and companies which comply with international labor standards. Finally, the organization advocates to businesses directly through a series of best practice briefs, educational videos on worker’s rights, and capacity building partnerships.

Results

Since its founding, GoodWeave has restored freedom to over 10,495 children. In partnership with over 400 companies, 117,817 laborers were protected under its certification label in 2023. While the organization began with certifying solely rugs and woven textiles in India, it has since expanded into apparel, jewelry and bricks throughout the globe.