This show is centered on an in-depth report that concerns child labor, a large African country and the element of cobalt. We're explaining how all those things are tied together.
First, the issue of child labor. The United Nations defines this as work done by children that puts them in danger or at a disadvantage. It might include slavery. It might include employing children who are too young to do a certain kind of work. It requires them to work instead of going to school or in addition to it. And child labor is against international law.
Despite that, a recent CNN investigation found that child labor is used in mining cobalt. This was uncovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC.
The Central African nation is the second largest country on the continent. It's home to about half of the cobalt in the world and in recent decades, the DRC has struggled with instability and conflict that may factor into why some of the cobalt that comes from there is mined from children.
Cobalt is a metallic element, atomic number 27 in the periodic table. It's used to make everything from paint and jet engines to steel, from glass and tile to batteries, especially the rechargeable kind. It's not just electric cars that utilize significant amounts of cobalt, though carmakers including Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen are all saying they're taking steps to insure their electric vehicles don't use cobalt that's mined by children.