§ 66. Mr. PatnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress is being made in achieving international co-ordination to tackle the problem of child slavery.
§ Mr. EggarOver 85 countries are parties to the Slavery Convention of 1926 (as amended by the Protocol of 1953), and 102 countries to the supplementary convention on the abolition of slavery, the slave trade and institutions and practices similar to slavery.
Since 1974, a United Nations working group on slavery has met annually to review the problems of slavery, including child slavery, and has recommended remedial action.
We hope that the draft United Nations convention on the rights of the child will shortly be adopted and will further strengthen international efforts to combat child slavery in all its forms.