We participated in 14 international events in 2018, channelling our experience, knowledge and expertise into global policy thinking and strategy-setting. 

We enjoyed a strong presence at the World Cocoa Conference in Berlin, an event gathering the most important stakeholders in cocoa and chocolate production. 

An ICI booth helped promote our organisation, raising awareness of our programmes and the broader issue of child labour. We also organised a side event on child labour monitoring and remediation, bringing together four of our member companies to discuss their experiences in tackling child labour in their supply chains. In addition, we gave presentations on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and on strategies to keep cocoa farming an attractive option for future generations of farmers. We also presented at other global cocoa conferences throughout 2018, including Chocoa in Amsterdam and CHOCOVISION in Davos. We advocated for more collaboration, action and transparency in the fight against child labour, and promoted a strategic model combining root-cause prevention and human rights due diligence. We spoke at the UN Business and Human Rights Forum and the World Cocoa Foundation’s Partnership Meeting, as well as to the Child Labour Cocoa Coordinating Group (CLCCG), the Swiss Sustainable Cocoa Platform (which ICI joined in 2018) and the Consultative Board of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), among others. ICI was also a guest speaker at a UC Berkley lecture series, and, at the London Craft Chocolate Fair, we discussed how small-scale chocolate makers and multinational companies can learn from each other.