W.I.S.E Child Cargo Project
Over the last few months 12 year 8 pupils have been working alongside Thomas Ferens Academy and the University of Hull on a project called the W.I.S.E child cargo project. The project has been very successful and the pupils have enthusiastically gathered information to help Mike Riley with his research and proposing a resolution which we took to the Lord Mayor and councillors at Hull City Chambers on 18th June 2015.
The resolution the pupils have been working on is based around the use of conflict minerals in the use of technology. The main minerals involved are the 3Tgs (Tungsten, Tantalum, Titanium and Gold). The pupils have been researching the conditions in which these metals are mined using children. Children (some as young as 5) are being enslaved to run and guard the mines. This is occurring predominantly on the Democratic Republic of Congo where the largest sources are to be found. They are often used as armed child soldiers after being brainwashed to believe they are indestructible. The conditions these children are kept in are diabolical and often set to work 18 hours a day away from family. They receive no payment for their work. The resolution our pupils put forward is as follows;
We ask that Hull City Council enquire where technology companies source the minerals for the devises they make and only purchase from sources which can prove they are conflict free. We would like you to ask this question when making future electronic purchases for the City of Hull. In doing this we can start to end the use of conflict minerals, child slavery and ensure a fair price is paid for the minerals and labour force. After presenting this to the Lord Mayor and councillors they debated the issue for an hour. They then voted unanimously 49-0 in favour of passing the resolution which has now become law for the City of Hull.
We have now become not only the first city in the UK but Europe to become conflict free. The next step of our project is to take our law to Youth Parliament in London. If you see the pupils involved could you please congratulate them on all their ground breaking hard work and becoming a part of history.
Challenger House: Chloe Buckley Josh Eland Harry Coulbeck
Discovery House: Chloe Barnes Alisha Pearson
Enterprise House: Thomas Borman Abbie Bradley Alexander Everson
Harry Pougher
Voyager House: Joshua Cole Olivia Breuza Keila Allen
