Norway's investments and child exploitation: a call to action

I appeal to you as the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a distinguished South African human-rights defender and a lifelong champion of international justice.

Having dedicated your life to defending human dignity and holding powerful institutions accountable, I ask you to confront a profound contradiction: Norway's international commitment to human rights and the financial interests of its enormous sovereign wealth fund.

I have also written to Norway's Prime Minister about these concerns, but my letter has been ignored. That silence makes your voice even more important.

Will you use the moral authority of your Nobel Peace Prize to challenge Norway over investments in hundreds of corporations whose operations and supply chains are linked to the exploitation of children?

Norway's responsibility as an investor

Norway presents itself as a champion of peace, human rights and international solidarity. Yet, through the Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, the Norwegian state invests in nearly 7,000 companies worldwide.

These investments give Norway financial interests in businesses operating across global supply chains, including agriculture, mining and manufacturing, where child labour remains a serious problem because of cruel and exploitative business models.

The question is not whether every company in Norway's portfolio exploits children. It is whether Norway systematically identifies, discloses and addresses credible evidence of child labour among the companies in which it invests.

Around the world, tens of millions of children are deprived of education, exposed to dangerous working conditions and denied the opportunity to enjoy their childhood. Their labour helps sustain economic systems that supply goods to wealthy consumers and generate profits for corporations and investors.

When hundreds of corporations benefit from supply chains in which children are exploited, the responsibility of investors cannot end with the purchase of shares.

Through Norges Bank, Norway can exercise shareholder rights, engage corporate boards, demand transparency and press companies to remedy human-rights violations. Where engagement fails, the relevant ethical investment framework must provide meaningful consequences.

Norway's public wealth, of nearly US$2.3 trillion, should not be managed as though the human consequences of corporate activities were somebody else's responsibility.

I am asking for accountability, not an unsupported allegation that every company in the fund's portfolio employs children. The essential requirement is that credible evidence of exploitation triggers effective investigation and action.

Desmond Tutu's warning about neutrality

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of South Africa's most respected defenders of human dignity, expressed a principle that should guide every institution confronting injustice:

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

This warning applies to governments, investors and corporations.

An institution cannot demonstrate its commitment to human rights merely by publishing ethical policies or issuing statements condemning exploitation. Those commitments must translate into decisions that protect people whose rights are being violated.

Norway has an ethical framework for its sovereign wealth fund but, most importantly, it also has state obligations to protect, defend and fulfil human rights and children's rights.

The question is whether the current framework delivers sufficient protection to children whose labour may contribute to the profits of companies held in the portfolio.

How effectively does Norges Bank use its shareholder votes to demand accountability? What happens when companies repeatedly fail to address child labour? How can the public determine whether Norway's investment policies are producing measurable improvements in children's lives?

These are legitimate questions for a country whose international reputation rests partly on its commitment to human rights and children's rights.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of dignity for all

In his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize lecture, Martin Luther King Jr. expressed a vision of a world in which everyone could enjoy the basic conditions of a dignified life. He dared to believe in a world with:

"three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits."

That vision is inseparable from the fight against child labour.

A child forced to work instead of attending school is denied the opportunity to develop their mind and fulfil their potential. A child exposed to dangerous labour is denied the protection and dignity that childhood should guarantee. A child whose poverty compels them to work is denied meaningful freedom to determine their future.

Education must not be a privilege reserved for children born into wealthy families or countries. It is a fundamental right belonging to every girl and boy.

The global economy should not depend on children's deprivation to produce cheaper goods, increase corporate profits or deliver returns to shareholders.

Corporations must take responsibility for their operations and supply chains. Investors, in turn, must take responsibility for how they use their financial influence. They cannot credibly claim to defend human rights while treating the exploitation of children as an issue outside their investment decisions.

Navi, will you ask Norway to answer?

As a South African human-rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, you have an opportunity to bring this contradiction into the international debate.

I respectfully ask you to write directly to Norway's Prime Minister and the Governor of Norges Bank, requesting a public meeting and written answers on how the Government Pension Fund Global will identify, disclose and address child labour in its investment portfolio.

I ask you to seek action in five areas.

First, transparency. Norway should systematically assess its investments in companies whose operations or supply chains are credibly linked to child labour and publish meaningful information about identified risks and responses.

Second, shareholder accountability. Norges Bank should explain how it uses voting rights and engagement with corporate boards to prevent and eliminate child labour.

Third, effective remediation. When child labour is identified, the response must protect children and restore access to education. Simply removing children from work without addressing family poverty can make their circumstances worse. Remediation must put children's welfare and long-term interests first.

Fourth, consequences for persistent violations. Companies that fail to address substantiated and serious abuses should face appropriate consequences under clear standards. Where engagement fails, exclusion from investment should remain a credible option consistent with the applicable ethical framework.

Fifth, independent scrutiny. Journalists, civil-society organisations, workers and affected communities should be able to assess whether Norway's commitments are producing measurable improvements.

I also ask you to make the responses from the Prime Minister and the Governor of Norges Bank public and to report on the next steps you will take.

These requests are consistent with the principle that human rights must apply to economic power as well as political power.

A Nobel Peace Prize must also challenge economic power

Navi, the fight against child labour cannot succeed if governments condemn exploitation in speeches while public investment funds hold shares in companies linked to it without demanding adequate accountability.

The issue is not whether Norway should invest to provide pensions for its people. It is whether those investments can be managed in ways that respect human rights and children's rights everywhere.

Norway's citizens deserve a pension system they can be proud of. Children in Guatemala, Brazil, India, Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa and every other country affected by child labour deserve a future that is not sacrificed to corporate profitability. These interests should not be presented as mutually exclusive.

As a Guatemalan journalist and human-rights activist, I have spent the past twelve years investigating child labour and the exploitation of children in corporate supply chains. My work is focused on helping to eliminate child labour and defending the right to education of every girl and boy.

I believe the world has the resources and institutional power to make meaningful progress. What is too often missing is the willingness to confront powerful economic interests when children's rights are at stake.

Desmond Tutu warned us against neutrality in the face of injustice. Martin Luther King Jr. dared to believe in a world where everyone could enjoy food, education and dignity. Their words must guide the decisions of governments, investors and corporations.

Will you challenge Norway to ensure that its sovereign wealth is not accumulated at the expense of children's rights?

Will you ask its leaders to demonstrate that their commitment to human rights extends to the corporations in which they invest?

And will you help ensure that the right of every child to education is treated as a fundamental obligation rather than a consideration subordinated to financial returns?

The tens of millions of children whose lives are affected by these decisions may never have the opportunity to address Norway's leaders themselves. Those of us who can speak publicly have a responsibility to raise the questions they cannot.

Dear Navi, I ask you to use your voice and the moral authority of your Nobel Peace Prize to help ensure that the rights of children are not forgotten when Norway counts its investment returns.

The world must not accept a system in which the prosperity of some is sustained by the lost childhoods of others.

Let the wealth that finances tomorrow never be paid for with a child's stolen today.

Yours sincerely,

Fernando Morales-de la Cruz is a Guatemalan journalist and human-rights activist Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Lewis Hine Org. Founder, Cartoons For Change

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of IOL