HC Deb 16 September 2003 vol 410 cc650-1W
Mr. McGrady

To ask the Minister of State, Department for International Development what further action will be taken at(a) the EU Council of Ministers and (b) G7 meetings to ensure an end to the use of bonded labour in developing countries; and if he will make a statement. [128600]

Hilary Benn

We are not aware of any specific proposals to discuss this issue in the EU Council of Ministers or in G7 or G8 meetings in the near future.

The Government are committed to helping to eliminate all abusive labour practices. These include bonded labour, forced labour and child labour. These abusive practices persist where poverty denies people their rights and a decent livelihood. All the programmes of the Department for International Development (DFID) are intended to contribute to improving the livelihoods of poor people and helping them realise their rights. We also support projects targeted at particular abusive practices. Examples have included a programme in India to eliminate child labour, including bonded child labour; collaboration with the Asian Development Bank in Pakistan on rural development strategies that include tackling bonded labour and support for Action Aid's Poverty Reduction Project which has been working with bonded labourers in the Kailali district of Nepal to help them achieve secure livelihoods.

The United Kingdom has played a leading role in, ensuring that the international framework to promote workers' rights and to tackle abuses of those rights, including bonded labour, is in place, particularly through its work with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN specialised agency responsible for labour rights. The UK fully supports the ILO work to help end forced and bonded labour, which we see as both a cause and result of poverty.

Through DFID's Partnership Framework arrangement with the ILO, the UK provides support for technical assistance designed to eliminate forced labour. DFID is also supporting ILO programmes in West Africa and South East Asia to tackle forced labour and trafficking.

The Government strongly support the ILO's core labour standards and are actively seeking to raise awareness of voluntary codes of conduct based on these for the working of business in developing countries. In particular we helped to set up and fund the Ethical Trading Initiative, which is an alliance of UK retail companies, non-governmental organisations and trade unions that works to improve labour conditions in the supply chain of its corporate members. The employment standards adopted by ETI members come from the Core Conventions of the ILO. The combined annual turnover of the corporate members amounts to over £100 billion and is expected to rise significantly.

We are also supporting Anti-Slavery International to raise awareness of the issue and stimulate action by trade unions, business and other civil society organisations and governments.