ICTI Ethical Toy Program to Open 100 Global Childcare Facilities by 2025

The following article is based on a press release issued by IETP on November 1, 2022.

November 1, 2022 | The ICTI Ethical Toy Program (IETP) is scaling its Family-Friendly Spaces program worldwide to support 30,000 children in 100 childcare facilities by the end of 2025. These facilities in factories or local communities offer childcare to parents who migrate to major cities for work, providing relief and reducing “left-behind children.”

The Family-Friendly Spaces pilot program began in Mainland China in 2016 with two factories and has grown to support 42 factories, providing support for more than 4,000 children and 4,500 working parents. The program’s broader reach will add more locations in China and new Family-Friendly Spaces in Vietnam and Mexico.

The expansion of Family-Friendly Spaces will be supported by a newly launched initiative, The Family-Friendly Factory Program, which recognizes factories that develop arrangements and policies with its workers’ best interests in mind. Policies may include flexible working hours, enhanced parental leave, and training for parents. IETP’s goal is to have 50 factories formally recognized as family-friendly by 2025.

“We have developed this program with support and insight from parents and utilizing UNICEF’s Family-Friendly Policies as guidance,” said Carmel Giblin, president & CEO of IETP. “As a proud member of the UN Global Compact, we are committed to supporting the Children’s Rights and Business Principles — a set of principles developed by the UN Global Compact — UNICEF, and Save the Children. This program is part of our wider commitment to ensuring children are protected and given opportunities to thrive.”

The ICTI Ethical Toy Program (formerly ICTI CARE Process) is the ethical supply chain program for the global toy and entertainment industry. The Toy Association directly funded IETP at its founding and continues to support IETP’s work while offering its range of services to small- and mid-sized Toy Association member companies.