Our approach
Collaborative & community-based
Working closely with communities is crucial to the ARISE program’s success. It offers an opportunity not just for children to gain an education, but also for societies to become more self-reliant.
Objectives
The ARISE program has four key objectives. They are to:
- promote access to quality education for children
- raise awareness of the need to eliminate child labor
- economically empower tobacco-growing communities where JTI does business
- improve legal and regulatory frameworks by working with governments.
Approach
In order to address the root causes and change the mindset of communities engaging in child labor, it is essential that we be on the ground, working with the people directly affected and with others who also have the power to change things.
The ARISE activities have been structured based on three main pillars – socio-cultural, economic, and regulatory. Progress is also monitored based on these themes.
1. Socio-cultural
ARISE works with communities that have a strong cultural heritage of children working alongside adults. This involves raising awareness of the detrimental effects of child labor, helping to change damaging cultural habits, promoting education, and helping to improve school infrastructures.
2. Economic
ARISE aims to improve the income-earning potential and long-term livelihoods of farmers, their families, and their communities to greatly reduce poverty, which is a key underlying cause of child labor. This involves helping farmers to improve agricultural productivity, crop quality, and working conditions, providing training and improving the living conditions of communities.
3. Regulatory
ARISE proactively cooperates with governments and other international organizations to help improve legal and regulatory frameworks. Efforts are aimed towards tailored and effective laws that address child labor issues, helping to achieve greater transparency in the market structure and supply chains as well as supporting the adequate enforcement of regulation.
Monitoring and reporting
To make sure that the ARISE programs stay on track and delivers the objectives, clear benchmarks and deliverables have been established. These are regularly monitored and reported internally every quarter. The ARISE annual reports are publicly available and can be downloaded in the Resources section of this website.
