Credit: St George's International School, Luxembourg

On Thursday 12 June 2025, World Day Against Child Labour, St George's International School in Luxembourg-Hamm announced it had become a Fairtrade School in collaboration with Fairtrade Luxembourg.

According to the school, this means that the 30,000 cups of coffee served at St George’s each year will now be Fairtrade certified, along with bananas, sugar and chocolate purchased by the school. Sports balls purchased for the school’s new gymnasium will also meet Fairtrade guidelines and students will also comply by using only Fairtrade ingredients when making items to sell at bake sales. 

St George’s Sustainability Coordinator Anne-Marie McHugh said: “The journey began when Year five students took part in workshops organised by Fairtrade Luxembourg. Inspired by what they learned, the students launched a petition calling for the school to adopt Fairtrade principles.” She added: “Their enthusiasm quickly spread and they were joined by the school’s Secondary Eco-Agents, who formed a Fairtrade School Committee. Together, students from both Primary and Secondary levels worked to implement meaningful changes across the school.” 

To mark the signing of the Fairtrade School agreement, 350 St George’s students participated in a celebratory dance event during an official ceremony. The performance was part of the #DancingAgainstChildWork campaign, a joint initiative between Fairtrade and Kinderarbeit Stoppen, which raises awareness about child labour. Students danced to the “Dibby Dibby Sound” song as a symbol of solidarity with children around the world. “Fairtrade means making sure that children are not forced to work,” one student said. “Today, we are dancing against child labour. We are protesting with children around the world. All children should have fun, play outside and get educated fairly.” 

The sentiments were echoed by Fairtrade Luxembourg President, Jean-Louis Zeien, who spoke about the choices consumers can make to ensure a fairer world for all. “A bar of chocolate can be infinitely more than just a bar of chocolate. It can be your contribution against child labour,” Mr Zeien said. “Each of us can do our bit to reduce child labour. Children should work in school, not in the cocoa field.”