HRC 51: UK Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva’s statement on the issue of contemporary forms of slavery

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Delivered on: 15 September, 2022

Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered:

Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President,

Let me begin by thanking you Special Rapporteur, for your impressively thorough and well-evidenced report, and indeed for all your answers just now to some of the comments and questions that have been asked by colleagues in the room.

Your presence here today coincides with the sobering announcement from the ILO, that 10 million more people are in situations of modern slavery in the world. That means, 50 million people are living in modern slavery, 28 million people of whom are in situations of forced labour and 22 million in forced marriage. That is simply unacceptable in 2022.

That is why my country is partnering with Australia during this session of the Council to renew your mandate so that your crucial work can continue.

We welcome your recommendation that States should facilitate the full participation of survivors in developing forms of assistance as well as policies and programmes. We are committed to empowering and engaging survivors of modern slavery in our international policy and programming and we have commissioned independent research to inform our approach. We look forward to sharing the findings of this research with you and with other international partners.

Mr. Special Rapporteur, in light of those figures from the ILO, how can we ensure SDG target 8.7 is indeed achieved?

Thank you.