Shine Global at the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour

by Shine Global | Feb 18, 2026 | Shine News

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Shine Global at the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour

ILO’s Anders Johnsson in conversation with Shine Global’s Co-CEO, Creative Director and Anuja producer Alexandra Blaney at the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Marrakech, Morocco in February 2026.

Co-CEO’s Alexandra Blaney and Francile Mullen were proud to represent Shine Global at the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, held in Marrakech, Morocco, where governments, workers, employers, and civil society leaders gathered to accelerate progress toward ending child labour worldwide. With an estimated 138 million children still trapped in child labour globally, including 54 million in hazardous work, the conference served as a powerful reminder of both the urgency of the crisis and the need to move from commitments to meaningful action.

As part of the conference program, Shine Global hosted a special screening of Anuja, our Oscar-nominated short film centering on child labour and girls’ education through the story of a nine-year-old girl working in a garment factory in Delhi. The screening was followed by an engaging Q&A with the film’s producer and Shine Global Co-CEO and Creative Director Alexandra Blaney, who spoke about the importance of storytelling in the fight for children’s rights.

Introducing the film, moderator Anders Johnsson who leads the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) regional communications strategy across Africa, reflected on the limits of statistics alone: “138 million children is an enormous number. And it’s also one which is very difficult to wrap our heads around. So sometimes it’s actually easier to talk about one child, one story. And that’s something that the award-winning short film Anuja does extraordinarily well.”

While global frameworks and statistics are essential, Shine Global’s message throughout the conference was that we also need stories that bring these numbers to life and to help people connect emotionally and understand what child labour looks like in the daily realities of children and families. Throughout the conversation, Alexandra returned to the power of personal narrative to move beyond abstraction. “138 million is an unimaginable number of children. I don’t even really know what that means. But I can see Anuja’s story and I know what that means and why we need to stop child labor.”

That distinction between statistics that can wash over people and stories that connect on a human level shaped Shine Global’s broader message in Marrakech: policy frameworks are needed, but without storytelling to galvanize public will, they struggle to gain traction.

Alexandra also moderated the conference’s CSO Forum session, which focused on the indispensable role of civil society organizations in reaching children and families. The discussion highlighted that CSOs are often the only actors with direct access and insight, yet their work is frequently constrained by limited funding, fragmented coordination, and policy frameworks that do not fully reflect the realities they confront on the ground. As Gazal Malik, Lead – Policy and Advocacy at Global March Against Child Labour, noted during the session, “Civil society has become the emergency service—we identify, rescue, counsel and negotiate, all on project funding. That is not sustainable.”

Participants explored practical ways to strengthen collaboration between community-based initiatives and national policy commitments, and how to carry forward the new global framework emerging from the conference. Alexandra reinforced how storytelling can complement these policy conversations. She described how Shine Global has seen films influence legislation and local decision-making in the past, from supporting the passage of the Child Soldier Prevention Act to informing new child labour proposals in the United States. With Anuja, the impact has already extended globally: distributed by Netflix in more than 190 countries and viewed over 10 million times in its first ten months, the film has reached audiences far beyond traditional policy circles.

Crucially, the film balances realism with hope. “When audiences watch a film, that’s only the very first step,” Alexandra said. “That’s raising awareness. But then as soon as they walk out of the theater, they need to take the next step. And I don’t think that you’ll take that next step if you have no hope.” By portraying children not as passive victims but as resilient, joyful, and full of agency, the film invites action rather than despair.

Ending child labour will require enforcement, financing, and political leadership. But it will also require stories that help the world see the child behind the statistics—and feel compelled to ensure that no child has to choose between survival and an education. Shine Global leaves Marrakech inspired and energized, with a renewed commitment to using film and storytelling alongside advocacy and partnerships to advance the global movement to eliminate child labour.

Storytelling is not peripheral to this movement—it is an essential tool within it. As Alexandra reflected at the close of the session, what gives her hope is “the very fact that we’re having these conversations,” and the resilience and joy she sees in the children she meets through this work.

Watch the full Anuja Q&A here: https://live.ilo.org/event/storytelling-childrens-rights-conversation-following-anuja-2026-02-12

Watch the full CSO Forum here: https://live.ilo.org/event/civil-society-organization-forum-policy-practice-bridging-gaps-building-impact-2026-02-12

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ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL

Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce and support inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.

Since our founding in 2005 by Susan MacLaury and Albie Hecht, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente, an Academy Award® nomination for Best Live Action Short for Anuja, and an Academy Award® nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds which is currently in film festivals.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

The Shine Global Resilience Awards were created to honor films that highlight the strength, dignity, and power of children in the face of adversity. Past winners of Shine Global Resilience Awards include the feature documentaries Speak. (2025, Directed by Guy Mossman and Jennifer Tiexiera), Daughters (2024, Directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae), Name Me Lawand (2023, Directed by Edward Lovelace), and Lift (2022, Directed by David Petersen), Los Frikis (2024, written and directed by Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz) in partnership with Nantucket Film Festival, the short Rise (2025, Directed by Jessica J. Rowlands), the short documentary Ayenda (2023, directed by Marie Margolius) in partnership with Heartland Film’s Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Okthanksbye (2023, Nicole Van Kilsdok) with ReelAbilities Film Festival, Savauges (2024, directed by Claude Barras), and Dounia – The Great White North (2024, directed by Marya Zarif and André Kadi) in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

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Shine Global Joins 100 Organizations in Letter Decrying Cuts to ILAB Grants to Address Child Labor and Forced Labor

by Shine Global | Apr 28, 2025 | Shine News

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Shine Global Joins 100 Organizations in Letter Decrying Cuts to ILAB Grants to Address Child Labor and Forced Labor

Sajda Pathan as Anuja in the Oscar-nominated short film “Anuja” by Writer/Director Adam J. Graves and Produced in Association with Shine Global

April 28, 2025 – Shine Global has joined more than 100 civil society organizations to call on the US Department of Labor to continue fighting forced labor and child labor. Recent cuts of $500 million in funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), whose federally-funded programs play a critical role in fighting forced labor and child labor globally, undermines U.S. leadership, eviscerates protections for vulnerable workers, and hobbles the fight against exploitation.

Given Shine Global’s longstanding commitment to fighting child labor with our films The Harvest (La Cosecha) and our Oscar-nominated Anuja, we are proud to join these organizations in this letter.

Read the letter below:

The undersigned organizations are alarmed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to cancel approximately $500 million in grants awarded by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). These funds play a vital role in addressing forced labor, child labor, and human trafficking across the globe.

ILAB’s grant programs are crucial in the fight against these abuses, supporting efforts to eliminate child labor, prevent exploitation, uphold freedom of association, support trade unions, build capacity and strengthen enforcement mechanisms that combat forced labor worldwide. Their elimination weakens U.S. efforts to eradicate forced labor. This decision undercuts the U.S. government’s decades-long commitment to combating human trafficking. More importantly, it strips essential support for those at risk of exploitation, including children, further entrenching cycles of forced labor in supply chains.

We strongly believe that dismantling these programs will not make the U.S safer, secure, and more prosperous. Instead, these cuts undermine American workers and businesses by allowing unfair competition from goods produced with forced labor. They will also have severe implications for our country’s economic security.

We call on the Secretary of Labor to immediately restore ILAB grants and maintain robust staffing at ILAB to ensure that its projects are administered properly and that the office is able to meet its Congressionally mandated responsibilities. This funding is important to create a level playing field for American businesses and workers while fighting human trafficking and forced labor.

Signed,
Above Ground
Action on Smoking and Health
AFL-CIO
Alliance to End Human Trafficking
Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST)
American Apparel and Footwear Association
American Federation of Teachers
American Industrial Hygiene Association
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP)
Azul
Be Slavery Free
Beyond Borders
Campaign to End U.S. Child Labor
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc (CDM)
Childfund International
Childhood Education International
Child Labor Coalition
China Labor Watch
Child Welfare League of America
Coffee Watch
Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI)
Common Good Iowa
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Corporate Accountability Lab
Covenant House International
Disability Rights International
Dr. Bronner’s
Earth Ethics, Inc.
Economic Policy Institute
Educate the Children Inc.
Fair Labor Association
Fairtrade America
Family Support Center
Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute
FishWise
First Focus on Children
Florida Policy Institute
Food Empowerment Project
Freedom Network USA
Free the Slaves
Free Uyghur Now
Futures Without Violence
Georgetown University Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Global Campaign for Education – US
Global March Against Child Labour
Green America
Greenpeace USA
Global Labor Justice
GoodWeave International
HEAL Trafficking
Heartland Initiative
HKM Employment Attorneys LLP
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
Human Trafficking Legal Center
Humanity United
Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR)
International Justice Mission
International Rescue Committee
International Rights Advocates
Investor Alliance for Human Rights
Jewish Movement for Uyghur Freedom
Justice At Last
Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor
La Isla Network
Maquila Solidarity Network
Media Voices for Children
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Consumers League
National Council Occupational Safety and Health (COSH)
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
Occupational Health & Safety Section/APHA
Oceana
Oxfam America
Partners for Dignity and Rights
PCUN, Oregon’s Farmworker Union
Polaris
Preble Street
Public Citizen
Responsibility Sourcing Network
Rights CoLab
Santa Clara University – International Human Rights Clinic
Shine Global Inc.
Social Accountability International
Solidarity Center
Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative, Loyola Law School
The Centre for Child Rights and Business
The Global March Against Child Labour
Together for Girls
Transparentem
University of Maryland SAFE Center for Human Trafficking Survivors
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Uyghur Human Rights Project
Verité
VOICE Network
Winrock International
Womankind
Worker Rights Consortium
Workplace Justice Lab at Rutgers University
World Vision

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About Shine Global

Shine Global is a non-profit media company that improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories to raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. We produce inspiring films and compelling content about underserved children. Through tailored distribution and outreach, we connect with our audiences in communities, classrooms, museums, and on Capitol Hill as part of a powerful engagement campaign to encourage social change.

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance, and an Academy Award®-nomination for Anuja. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, and Comedy Against the Odds.

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Anuja Wins Best Live Action Short at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival

by Shine Global | Aug 19, 2024 | Shine News

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Anuja Wins Best Live Action Short at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival

L to R: Producer Krushan Naik, Producer Suchitra Mattai, Writer/Director Adam J. Graves at HollyShorts

August 19, 2024 — Anuja, produced in association with Shine Global, was announced as the Best Live Action Short Winner at the prestigious HollyShorts Film Festival last night in Los Angeles. HollyShorts is one of about 150 Oscar-qualifying festivals whose top winners automatically become eligible for Oscars in the three shorts categories.

Anuja is the brainchild of the husband and wife team of Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai (Cycle Vérité). With Graves directing and Mattai producing, Anuja tells the story of an exceptionally bright 9-year-old, Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who works with her 17-year-old sister Palak (Ananya Shanbhag) at a garment factory in Delhi, India. When a teacher shows up at the factory, promising Anuja the rare chance to attend an elite boarding school, Anuja faces a difficult decision.

The film was developed in association with the India-based non-profit, Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT), founded by Dr. Praveen Nair. After her daughter Mira Nair’s film Salaam Bombay! exposed the harsh conditions of children living on the streets, Dr. Nair was motivated to make a difference in the lives of street and working children in Delhi. Lead actress Pathan resides in an SBT home that provides shelter and education for girls formerly living on the street and brings her personal experience and passion for acting to the role.

Shine Global, a non-profit with the mission to improve children’s’ lives through powerful storytelling and the company behind Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning War/Dance (2007) and the Oscar-winning short documentary Inocente (2012), is planning a robust impact campaign around the film focusing on child labor and girls education. Shine Global is a member organization of the End US Child Labor Campaign and has worked closely over the years with many organizations worldwide towards ending child labor.

1 in 10 children worldwide is in child labor
In the beginning of 2020, a total of 160 million children were in child labour – an increase for the first time in 20 years
79 million children were in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development
Worldwide, 129 million girls are out of school
When we invest in girls’ secondary education:
- The lifetime earnings of girls dramatically increase
- National growth rates rise
- Child marriage rates decline
- Child mortality rates fall
- Maternal mortality rates fall
- Child stunting drops

Along with first time actors Pathan and Shanbhag, the film also features popular award-winning Indian television actor, Nagesh Bhonsle, best known internationally for his supporting role as police deputy commissioner, “Vam” in Hotel Mumbai starring Dev Patel. Rounding out the core team are Aaron Kopp (Saving Face, Liyana, Hunting Ground) and Krushan Naik (Resurgence) who serve as producers on the film. Other producers include Michael Graves, Ksheetij Saini, Alexandra Blaney (Creative Director, Shine Global), Susan MacLaury, and Albie Hecht.

Follow Anuja on Instagram: @graves_films
Website: https://www.anujathefilm.com/
#anujathefilm

About Shine Global

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, and the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, which is currently in festivals.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

This annual event recognizes and celebrates the films and filmmakers that highlight the resilience and strength of children in the face of adversity. The awards are open to films of any genre that showcase children overcoming challenges, such as poverty, violence, illness, and discrimination, and demonstrate their resilience, courage, and determination.

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Watch The Harvest (La Cosecha) Online for Free for World Day Against Child Labor 2024

by Shine Global | Jun 11, 2024 | Shine News

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Watch The Harvest (La Cosecha) Online for Free for World Day Against Child Labor 2024

Harvest World Day Against Child Labor 2024 Email Header

Watch

We are making our powerful documentary The Harvest (La Cosecha) free to watch for the week of World Day Against Child Labor 2024. Executive Produced by Eva Longoria, this eye-opening film sheds light on the realities faced by farmworker children in the United States and is a powerful call for action to close child labor loopholes. Let’s come together to raise awareness and advocate for change! Click here to watch the film through June 15, 2024.

Since 2015, US child labor violations have increased 300% and, in the last 3 years alone, instead of protecting children, 28 states have sought to roll back child labor laws. In response to this, Shine Global has joined more than 50 organizations in the Campaign to End US Child Labor to call for urgent reform to protect children from dangerous exploitation in the workplace, including in the fields where they harvest the food we all eat.

You can add your voice to the campaign and reach out directly to your legislators to make your voice heard. The campaign has created social media assets to share and a state-level letter-writing campaign for residents of states where rollbacks are in active process and a federal letter campaign which anyone can take part in, anywhere in the US.

Today, June 11th, the End Us Child Labor Campaign and the Child Labor Coalition hosted a Legislative briefing for members of congress and their staff examining the ongoing crisis of expanding hazardous child labor in the U.S. and exploring specific legislative solutions that have emerged from the 118^th Congress. In addition to campaign members, speakers included Rep. Dan Kildee, (MI -8, co-chair of the Congressional Child Labor Prevention Task Force), Rep. Hillary Scholten (MI-3, co-chair of the Congressional Child Labor Prevention Task Force), and Jose Velasquez Castellano, former tobacco youth worker, among other supporters and advocates.

Read more about the making of this film and the conditions for child farmworkers under our current separate and unequal legislation from Shine Global Co-founder and Executive Director Susan MacLaury.
Women’s Refugee Commission has a blog post on child labor and immigrant children which can be found here
EPI has information and a map on child labor legislation at the state level so you can look at what is happening in your own state
The Child Labor Coalition has a published a summary of 2024 domestic child labor bills that they endorse.

Spread the Word

Help us share this opportunity by posting on social media. Here’s sample text you can use:

Watch @shineglobal ’s film The Harvest (La Cosecha) for free online in honor of #WorldDayAgainstChildLabor on 6/12. We are calling for US child labor loopholes between agricultural and non-agricultural work to be closed. Register now: https://bit.ly/harvestchildlabor24 #TheHarvestDoc #EndUsChildLabor

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About Shine Global

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, and the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, which is currently in festivals.

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Shine Global Boards Live-Action Short Film ‘Anuja’

by Shine Global | Jun 3, 2024 | Shine News

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Shine Global Boards Live-Action Short Film Anuja

Anuja to Have its World Premiere at Oscar-Qualifying deadCenter Film Festival

Los Angeles, CA | Delhi, India –Shine Global is pleased to announce we have boarded our first live-action fiction project, Anuja. The short film will have its World Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying 24th annual deadCenter Film Festival, from June 6 to 9, 2024.

Anuja is the brainchild of the husband and wife team of Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai (Cycle Vérité). With Graves directing and Mattai producing, Anuja tells the story of an exceptionally bright 9-year-old orphan, Anuja (Sajda Pathan), who works with her 17-year-old sister Palak (Ananya Shanbhag) at a back-alley garment factory in Delhi, India. When a teacher shows up at the factory, promising Anuja the rare chance to attend an elite boarding school, Anuja finds herself facing external hurdles and inner conflict.

Lead actress Pathan resides in an SBT home that provides shelter and education for girls formerly living on the street and brings her personal experience and passion for acting to the role. “Sajda is a perfect example of how, given an opportunity, most children can shine and reach unimaginable heights,” said Devika Sharma of Salaam Baalak Trust.

The non-profit Shine Global improves the lives of children by telling powerful stories that raise awareness, promote action, and inspire change. Founded in 2005 by husband and wife Albie Hecht and Susan MacLaury, their films include the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning War/Dance (2007) and the Oscar-winning short documentary Inocente (2012).

“We are proud to join Anuja as Shine Global’s first foray into fiction film,” said MacLaury, Shine Global’s co-founder and Executive Director. “The themes of child labor and girl’s education are compellingly told through Graves’s and Mattai’s beautiful storytelling and the exceptional acting of Pathan, drawing from her personal experiences.”

Director Graves is a philosopher-turned-filmmaker, with an academic background in South Asia Studies and extensive experience working with non-profit organizations throughout India. “One in ten children are subject to child labor,” noted Graves. “We knew there was an important story here that needed to be told. But we also wanted to capture the magic and mischievousness of childhood itself […] At its heart, this is a film about the love between two sisters.”

Producer Mattai is a multidisciplinary artist of South Asian descent whose work celebrates the power of women and explores her ancestors’ history as indentured laborers who were brought by the British colonialists to work the fields in Guyana. “It is disquieting to think that forced labor is not a thing of the past, but rather a living present for over 160 million children around the world, who, like Anuja, have to sacrifice their education and hope for a better future just to survive,” said Mattai.

Executive Director of deadCenter Film Festival, Cacky Poarch said, “We are honored to be hosting Anuja’s world premiere at this year’s deadCenter Film Festival. A portrait of the strength, imagination, and love between two sisters, Anuja speaks to the global scope of our festival and our core mission of inspiring, promoting, and celebrating creativity and community through film. We can’t wait to share Anuja’s journey with our OKC [Oklahoma City] audiences.”

Rounding out the core team are Aaron Kopp (Saving Face, Liyana, Hunting Ground) and Krushan Naik (Resurgence) who serve as producers on the film. Other producers include Michael Graves, Ksheetij Saini and Alexandra Blaney (Creative Director, Shine Global).

“This story took shape in collaboration with the community,” Kopp said, “and it recognizes the vitality and ingenuity of two young women who, like so many kids around the world, face near-impossible odds.”

“It has been a pleasure collaborating with such talented and sensitive storytellers,” Naik said. “Adam and Suchitra have crafted an entertaining and impactful tale.”

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deadCenter Film Festival
Sat, Jun 8th, 8:30 PM @ Harkins Bricktown Auditorium 14
Sun, Jun 9th, 11:15 AM @ Harkins Bricktown Auditorium 13

Follow Anuja on Instagram: @graves_films
Website: https://www.anujathefilm.com/
#anujathefilm

About Shine Global

Since our founding in 2005, Shine Global films have won more than 100 major awards, including an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short Subject for Inocente and an Academy Award®-nomination and two Emmys® for War/Dance. Recent films include the documentary-animation hybrid Liyana, the hit documentary The Eagle Huntress, Through Our Eyes: Homefront which is available on HBOMax, and the Ariel Award winner Home Is Somewhere Else, which is currently in festivals.

ABOUT SHINE GLOBAL’S RESILIENCE AWARDS

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