Child Labor and Philanthropic Partnerships: Unpacking a Multistakeholder Initiative in Côte d’Ivoire

Globally, the education sector is the second largest recipient of private philanthropic giving after health. However, the education initiatives of European philanthropic organizations, unlike those of US-based entities, have not been scrutinized in the academic literature. In addition, philanthropic institutions’ increasing use of multistakeholderism as a method of structuring giving, situating the private sector at the center of the locus of control, is underresearched. This article utilizes a network ethnographic approach to unpack the Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities initiative in Côte d’Ivoire as an example of strategic multistakeholderism. We explore the enhanced influence of private philanthropic donors and their cocoa industry affiliates despite their endemic use of child labor and slavery in the cocoa sector and ongoing litigation against cocoa corporations. The article concludes by questioning the initiatives of international education development organizations and Western academics at a time when European laws require greater accountability regarding modern slavery.