Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2005
136 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on such undertakings as the United Nations has made recently in relation to bonded labour in general, and child slavery in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7736/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to the active promotion of full observance of universal human rights standards and seeks the elimination of all forms of contemporary slavery including bonded labour. Through our participation in international fora such as the UN General Assembly, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, we raise our concerns in regard to this issue together with like minded countries. During the last session of the UN Commission on Human Rights and at the initiative of the Irish Presidency the EU for the first time delivered a strong statement on contemporary forms of slavery in which the EU reaffirmed its strong commitment to work for the elimination of all forms of this practice.
One of the most egregious forms of modern slavery is the forced recruitment and use of children as soldiers in armed conflict. Unfortunately the practice remains widespread. Ireland has urged states to speed up the process of ratification of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court, ICC, which includes as a war crime conscription or enlisting children under the age of fifteen years or using them to participate actively in hostilities in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
Ireland has consistently supported the International Labour Organisation, ILO, in its efforts to promote core labour standards. In June 1998 Ireland supported the adoption by the International Labour Conference of a declaration on fundamental principles and rights at work. This commits the International Labour Organisation's 175 member states worldwide to respect the principles inherent in the core labour standards and to promote their universal application. Ireland has ratified all of the seven core labour standards.
This declaration emphasises that all member states of the International Labour Organisation have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership of the organisation to respect, to promote, and to realise in good faith and in accordance with the constitution of the International Labour Organisation the principles concerning the fundamental rights which are subject to those conventions. These principles include the elimination of all forced or compulsory labour and the effective abolition of child labour.
In June 1999 the International Labour Conference adopted Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. Ireland ratified the convention on 20 December 1999 and was the first European Union country to do so. The convention has now received near universal ratification.
The Government's strong support for the International Labour Organisation in its efforts to address bonded labour and child slavery includes the provision of funding. The Government supports the ILO special action programme to combat forced labour, SAP-FL. This programme focuses on awareness raising activities and studies on bonded and forced labour. The programme also facilitates and funds projects to address forced labour and human trafficking in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Government funding to this programme has amounted to €1.2 million to date. Further funding will be delivered as the programme progresses.
UNICEF, the UN children's fund, is one of Ireland's most important UN partner agencies. UNICEF has a strong track record of working with governments to bring the issue of child labour into policy agendas and to craft legislation and other measures that will free children from the burden of labour. This year we will contribute €9.2 million to the core resources of the fund.
