§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development with the Governments of which countries she has discussed the issue of child labour during the last 12 months. [98441]
§ Clare ShortMy Department is actively involved in tackling the issue of child labour with a number of countries. We have recently agreed projects with the Government's of India and Bangladesh. We are also supporting the work of the International Labour Organisation's International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and have recently agreed funding for a project based in Thailand which will combat trafficking of children in the Mekong sub-region covering part of Cambodia, China, Laos, and Vietnam. We are also supporting projects in Brazil, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal and Indonesia where we are working in collaboration with government and non-governmental organisations.
We are also addressing the problem of child labour through our basic education projects and our support to socially responsible business such as the Ethical Trading Initiative.