PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Palm oil industry is the significant sector for Indonesia, delivers revenue, provides employment for many people. But it needs to consider its development impacts for environment, people, including children in this country.
On 23 July 2023, the commemoration of Hari Anak Nasional the 39th, it is important to remind that sustainable governance in palm oil industry, namely in independent smallholders is important part of this sector.
Children Empowerment in Palm Oil Industry
This industry covers massively, such as, workers and children. The children in palm oil plantation always relates to child labor, such as, seizing their education rights, exploitation, and safety risks. These are not for their rights that international convention guaranteed, including the United States Children Rights Convention.
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Children empowerment in palm oil industry should focus on their education and protection rights. They have to get access to good education, chance to develop their talents, skills to increase their future. Besides, it needs close monitoring system to confirm that they would not be involved in dangerous and harmful works.
The Roles of Plantation Cooperation
Plantation cooperation plays significant roles to encourage children empowerment in palm oil industry. As economic enterprises and managed by smallholders, cooperation could play its roles to deliver education and protect workers’ rights. Here are some aspects that plantation cooperation should play important roles to realize:
- Education and training: plantation cooperation could develop school(s) or educational center(s) for the children in plantations. Besides, it could provide skill trainings so that the children would get better option to work in the future.
- Monitoring and protection: plantation cooperation could help to monitor its members in the plantation, confirm that there would be no children involved in every kind of work that is not adjustable on their age or dangerous one. Besides, cooperation could be the representative to struggle for the children’s rights in local and national levels.
- Welfare program: plantation cooperation could develop welfare program for the workers’ families, including their children. The programs could cover access of health service, decent house, and good recreation facilities for the children.
The Relation with RSPO and ISPO Program
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) are two certification programs that the goal is about to escalate sustainability and social responsibility in palm oil industry. The two prioritized economic, social, and environmental aspects. In children empowerment, RSPO and ISPO play significant roles in palm oil industry.
RSPO and ISPO encourage the practices that prioritize workers’ rights including the children’s rights. One condition to get certification is the obedience to workers’ standards that cover prohibition to involve child labor and education rights establishment for workers’ children. By having certification process and closely monitoring, RSPO and ISPO try to confirm that the children in palm oil plantations would be not put asides but getting decent protection.
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The commemoration of Hari Anak Nasional should be the right moment to realize that it is important to protect and empower children as the next generations of this nation. They who live and involve in palm oil industry should get their rights guaranteed, including the rights to get education, safe and healthy environment, and available access of health services. Palm oil industry should commit to respect the children’s rights and prevent exploitation in production and distribution process.
The 39th commemoration of Hari Anak Nasional we should remind that it is significant to protect and empower the children as the next generation. In the context of palm oil industry in Indonesia, sustainable governance is the basic to confirm that this sector should develop without scarifying the children’s rights and their future.
Independent smallholders’ plantation cooperation should also play significant roles to realize sustainable governance by increasing the smallholders’ welfare and encourage responsibly agricultural practices. Hopefully the commemoration of Hari Anak Nasional could become the same call for every stakeholder to contribute and escalate the quality and future of the children in Indonesia, including everyone that involves in palm oil industry.
By: Jamaluddin/Chairman of Koperasi Perkebunan Belayan Sejahtera, Village of Muai, Sub district of Kembang Janggut, Kutai Kartanegara.
