Microsoft Expands Fight Against Child Labor In Congo

Pact and Microsoft Corp. announced an expanded partnership to address child labor in mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Microsoft has made a new, three-year financial commitment to support Pact’s work to address child labor in mining, and will build on the successful Watoto Inje ya Mungoti (Children Out of Mining) project. Across DRC, it is estimated that over 10 million people rely on income from artisanal and small-scale mining, working in materials including tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold and cobalt. While children under 18 cannot legally work in the mines, the law is not widely observed for several economic and societal reasons. As a result, many children start working in mines at a very young age.