{"id":7585,"date":"2018-08-24T20:41:29","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T18:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/catapa.be\/?p=7585"},"modified":"2021-10-07T16:17:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T14:17:29","slug":"make-ict-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catapa.be\/en\/make-ict-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Make ICT Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Make ICT Fair” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center|color:%23000000″ google_fonts=”font_family:Quicksand%3A300%2Cregular%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Make ICT Fair project began in November of 2017, when a consortium of 11 European organizations joined forces with the ultimate goal of improving the lives and livelihoods of people affected by ICT supply chains. Make ICT Fair was an European funded project (subsidized by<\/span> the DEAR-programme<\/span><\/a>) that ended in January 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why do we need to Make ICT Fair?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because most ICT isn\u2019t fair. ICT refers to electronic products that we use on a daily basis, such as laptops and smartphones. The production process of these devices is marked by human right violations and ecological disasters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]First of all, electronics contain a high amount of metals. Smartphones for example contain more than 40 different metals. These metals need to be extracted from the earth. This mainly occurs through large-scale mining projects, creating enormous ecological impacts such as; the dehydration of lakes, rivers and the earth, the contamination of soil and water with heavy metals and toxic substances, deforestation and biodiversity loss. Again, this creates several social impacts such as (forced) migration, loss of income due to degradation of agricultural land, diseases due to contamination of drinking water, criminalization of protest and human rights defenders, conflicts and corruption. Next to this, the ICT production phase also has a dark side. In many ICT factories, which are located mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe, labour conditions are far from ideal. ICT factory workers are required to work excessive hours for low wages in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. And, if that isn\u2019t enough, the amount of e-waste discarded by the global population is only increasing annually, with severe social and ecological consequences. This is the result of the linear production model: our electronics are not designed to be easily repairable or recyclable.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many reasons why working towards a fairer ICT production and consumption model is not\u00a0 simple. Firstly, the ICT supply chain is not transparent and is very fragmented. Firstly, the ICT supply chain is not transparent and is very fragmented. It is easy for companies to avoid taking responsibility for other stages of the supply chain. The entire production and consumption model needs to be scrutinized and redesigned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In this way it\u2019s quite easy for companies to not take their responsibility for what happens in a previous stage of the supply chain. The whole production and consumption model is in need of scrutinization and redesigning.<\/span><\/p>\n

The whole supply chain is in desperate need of a change. We need to Make ICT Fair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here you can read more about the issues within the ICT supply chain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]How did we Make ICT Fairer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Make ICT Fair consortium utilised four different strategies to make ICT Fair:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/b> \u00a0 <\/span> Raising awareness in Europe on the issues within the ICT Supply chain<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    First of all, with the Make ICT Fair project we wanted to meet the urgent need to increase awareness of European citizens as to how our electronics are produced, drawing attention to the labour conditions and environmental impacts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    This is a very important first step, because often people aren\u2019t aware of the story of their phones before they purchase them in the store. Within the Make ICT Fair project, the consortium increased awareness of European citizens on the impact of our ICT by; creatingsocial media campaigns and sharing articles, creating educational material,\u00a0 training activists and\u00a0 organizing public actions, conferences, workshops, Speaker Tours, guest lectures, documentary screenings and several other educational events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Raising awareness in numbers:<\/span><\/p>\n