Faces of Freedom
Encyclopedia
The "Faces of Freedom" photo exhibition is a collection of photographs captured by photo-journalist, filmmaker and human rights
educator U. Roberto (Robin) Romano, during his travels to India
, Nepal
and Pakistan
. Romano explores the exploitation of child labor
in the production of hand-made rugs in coordination with multiple international organizations, such as the World Bank
, UNICEF, International Labor Organization and others to reduce the number of child laborers in that industry. The exhibit has been shown in many United States cities since its first exhibit in 2009. Faces of Freedom has been included in CNN
Freedom Projects of modern slavery.
The United Nations
and the International Labor Organization consider child labor exploitative, with the UN stipulating, in article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
that:
, Nepal
and Pakistan
to record the plight of child laborers in the hand-made rug industry. He also gathered photographs and stories of children who have been rescued by the GoodWeave
organization, previously known as Rugmark.
The Faces of Freedom exhibit is a collection of photos by U. Roberto Romano that provides insight into the lives, poor living conditions and faces of child rug-weavers of South Asia. Messages of hope are portrayed in the photographs and stories of children that were assisted by the GoodWeave
program to attain school education. A selection of hand-made rugs made without child labor is also exhibited.
After initial showings in San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., the collection has been exhibited in major cities across the United States since 2009.
television network
show Good Morning America
. On April 18, 2011, Faces of Freedom was covered in CNN Freedom Project’s of modern slavery. The piece appears on CNN
website with a slideshow of images of GoodWeave’s
Faces of Freedom photo exhibition.
The Harvest
Dark Side of Chocolate
Fields of Peril
Children in the Fields
Stolen Childhoods
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
educator U. Roberto (Robin) Romano, during his travels to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Romano explores the exploitation of child labor
Child labor
Child labour refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries...
in the production of hand-made rugs in coordination with multiple international organizations, such as the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, UNICEF, International Labor Organization and others to reduce the number of child laborers in that industry. The exhibit has been shown in many United States cities since its first exhibit in 2009. Faces of Freedom has been included in CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Freedom Projects of modern slavery.
Child labor
To combat exploitation of child labor, The World Bank with UNICEF, International Labor Organization (ILO) and Understanding Children's Work Initiative to bring awareness of the scope of the problem. The World Bank estimates that there are 218 million children who are victim to unfair child labor practices. The children's ages range from five to seventeen years of age. The hand-made rug industry is one of industries involved in exploitation of child labor. The World Bank works with country-based and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in an effort to "combat child labor."The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the International Labor Organization consider child labor exploitative, with the UN stipulating, in article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
that:
...States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. Although globally there is an estimated 250 million children working.
Exhibit
U. Roberto Romano, a photographer, filmmaker and humans right activist, traveled to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to record the plight of child laborers in the hand-made rug industry. He also gathered photographs and stories of children who have been rescued by the GoodWeave
Rugmark
Rugmark is a network of non-profit organizations dedicated to ending illegal child labour in the rug making industry. Founded in 1994 by children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, it provides a certification program that allows companies that pass inspection to attach a logo certifying that...
organization, previously known as Rugmark.
The Faces of Freedom exhibit is a collection of photos by U. Roberto Romano that provides insight into the lives, poor living conditions and faces of child rug-weavers of South Asia. Messages of hope are portrayed in the photographs and stories of children that were assisted by the GoodWeave
Rugmark
Rugmark is a network of non-profit organizations dedicated to ending illegal child labour in the rug making industry. Founded in 1994 by children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, it provides a certification program that allows companies that pass inspection to attach a logo certifying that...
program to attain school education. A selection of hand-made rugs made without child labor is also exhibited.
After initial showings in San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., the collection has been exhibited in major cities across the United States since 2009.
News media
In late 2010, the Faces of Freedom exhibit was featured the ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
show Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. On April 18, 2011, Faces of Freedom was covered in CNN Freedom Project’s of modern slavery. The piece appears on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
website with a slideshow of images of GoodWeave’s
Rugmark
Rugmark is a network of non-profit organizations dedicated to ending illegal child labour in the rug making industry. Founded in 1994 by children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, it provides a certification program that allows companies that pass inspection to attach a logo certifying that...
Faces of Freedom photo exhibition.
Related projects
U. Roberto (Robin) Romano is an investigative filmmaker, where he has been director, director of photography, still photographer and/or producer in the following efforts:The Harvest
- The Harvest (documentary) is a feature documentary on the life of migrant children and their families in America. It revisits Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
’s Harvest of ShameHarvest of ShameHarvest of Shame was a 1960 television documentary presented by broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow on CBS that showed the plight of American migrant agricultural workers. It was Murrow's final documentary for the network; he left CBS at the end of January 1961, at President John F...
, filmed 40 years ago, and reveals that little has changed over the past 4 decades in the lives of migrant farm workers in America. The Harvest, however, is told from a child’s perspective as we meet 4 of the more than 400,000 children between the ages of 5 and 16 who labor in fields and factories to feed us, lacking the protections offered by the Fair Labor Standards Act that all other American children enjoy. In 2009, Eva LongoriaEva LongoriaEva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
signed on as an Executive Producer of the project. The Harvest premiered at the IDFA festival in Amsterdam in November 2010 and will premier in the US in early 2011.
Dark Side of Chocolate
- A feature documentary, Dark Side of Chocolate explores West AfricanWest AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
children in cocoa production. The 2010 documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate alleged that NestléNestléNestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
purchased cocoa beans from Ivory Coast plantations that use child slave labor. The children are usually 12 to 15 years old, and some are trafficked from nearby countries. In September of 2001, Bradley Alford, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé USANestléNestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
signed the Harkin-Engel Protocol (commonly called the Cocoa ProtocolCocoa ProtocolThe Harkin-Engel Protocol, commonly referred to as the Cocoa Protocol, is an international agreement aimed at ending child labour in the production of cocoa. It was signed in September 2001...
), an international agreement aimed at ending child labor in the production of cocoa. A 2009 joint police operation conducted by InterpolInterpolInterpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
and Ivorian law enforcement officers resulted in the rescue of 54 children and the arrest of eight people involved in the illegal recruitment of children.
Fields of Peril
- Fields in Peril is a 99-page report by Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
about child labor in the United States, the least protected are children who work in agriculture. Labor laws for the agriculture industry, such as minimum age, length of a work day and management of hazardous conditions, are more lenient than those for any other industry.
Children in the Fields
- Children in the Fields in an educational documentary produced in 2008 by the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs about migrant children working in fields in the United States. Through children, their parents and experts the short documentary explores some of the reasons for child labor exploitation in U.S. agriculture and ways to combat the problem. It was filmed in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas.
Stolen Childhoods
- A feature documentary on global child labor exploitation affecting nearly 250 million children. The film, narrated by actress Meryl StreepMeryl StreepMary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
, covers factors affecting the children: working conditions, slavery, and bonded labor. Children's stories from eight countries, including the United States, tell of children exposed to pesticides, chained to their work areas, and even kidnapped and forced into slavery or prostitution. In addition to providing background for why this occurs and implications to the global community, it also offers hope through stories of children's lives have been saved and what actions can be taken to combat child labor.