Female worker harvesting ripe red coffee beans. PHOTO CREDIT: Photo 171418810 / Female Coffee Farmer © Last19 | Dreamstime.com
The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a collaborative partnership to create a safer, more sustainable coffee supply chain for women in the international coffee community.
IWCA facilitates programs and partnerships in support of their global chapter network, representing women in 29 countries who depend on coffee for their livelihoods. Engaging with the ILO’s Vision Zero Fund will provide IWCA chapter members with valuable opportunities to attend technical trainings and improve their occupational health and safety knowledge.
Vision Zero Fund promotes collective action that mobilizes a wide range of stakeholders, including global business, to develop and implement joint solutions to address endemic safety and health challenges in global supply chains. It is active in the agriculture, construction, garment, and textile supply chains, and currently implements projects in eight countries on three continents.
“Women face many occupational hazards that are rarely recognized, since women's work in the household or farm are culturally not considered as professional endeavors,” said Sarada Krishnan, IWCA global executive director. “To overcome this and to make the women's work environment safe, women-specific training programs need to be offered. I am thrilled about our partnership with the International Labor Organization, which will allow us to develop gender specific interventions through joint trainings, research, and events.”
“Because of the different jobs, responsibilities, and social roles of women and men, they face different physical and psychological risks in the workplace, meaning different responses are needed if safety and health policies and prevention strategies are to be effective,” said Ockert Dupper, ILO Vision Zero Fund’s global program manager. “Our new partnership with IWCA will support joint research and give us a better understanding of the risks and hazards faced by women in the coffee sector. It will also help us ensure that interventions, training and campaigns are designed to take gender into account. IWCA’s worldwide network will help to ensure that knowledge, tools are widely shared and so make a real difference.