Statement of Ms. Urmila Bhoola,Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences at General Assembly 72nd Session

New York, 26 October 2017

Chair, Distinguished delegates, NGOS and observers,

It is an honour for me to present my first report to the General Assembly following the renewal of my mandate at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council. During my interactive dialogue at that session, I called for acceleration of efforts to end the horrendous suffering of the millions of men, women and children who are subjected to contemporary forms of slavery globally.

Following this call, and in the course of fulfilling my mandate over the last year, I have found scope both for optimism and frustration. On the one hand, I have been heartened by the increased attention given to the issue by civil society, by increasing efforts from Member States to improve legal and governance frameworks and by growing business attention to due diligence in global supply chains. The attention from the Security Council to the interrelated issues of modern slavery, human trafficking and conflict, as a result of which I had the honour to brief the Council in an Open Ministerial Security Council debate, is also a key development.

However, the litmus test of effective anti-slavery efforts is the real impact on the lives and dignity of people. It begs the following questions: Do laws provide sufficient protection against these extreme forms of labour and sexual exploitation that involve treating human beings as property? Do victims have access to effective and adequate remedies? Are there sufficient prevention measures which protect those at risk, particularly refugees and migrants, women and children, from being subjected to contemporary forms of slavery? Are we taking all possible steps to address the systemic socio-economic trends that enable exploitation on a massive scale? On these measures I fear that we are falling drastically short.

 The ILO’s recent global estimates reflect that a staggering 40 million people were victims of modern slavery in 2016, of which ten million were children. These figures highlight the urgency of intensified global action, including harnessing every possible mechanism available to Member States to comply with their duties to respect, protect and promote the human rights of victims of contemporary forms of slavery, and especially of the most vulnerable communities.

Chair

I turn now to my thematic report to the General Assembly on harnessing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in order to accelerate actions to end contemporary forms of slavery.

In my report I make the point that the continued prevalence of slavery is in many ways as a symptom of the weaknesses of global efforts to achieve inclusive and rights-oriented sustainable development under the frameworks of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Despite progress made, systemic socio-economic trends have undermined human rights-centered sustainable development and driven extreme exploitation on a massive scale. A new approach that allows us to look beyond the lens of individual vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery and Government responses to the phenomena and also to examine these socio-economic trends, helps us to understand why despite the universal criminalisation of slavery, increasing legislative frameworks promoting business transparency and commendable civil society advocacy, the scourge continues unabated. In this context there are a number of deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing trends that my report discusses, including globalization, poverty and widening global inequality, lack of decent work and productive employment opportunities, weak labour market regulation and persistent gender inequality.

Chair

The universal endorsement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda creates the potential to accelerate the efforts being made to fully eradicate all contemporary forms of slavery. The strong commitment to combating inequalities and discrimination and “leaving no-one behind” means that resources can be directed towards the prevention of contemporary forms of slavery alongside other measures such as improved governance, criminal justice and business accountability. The inclusion of target 8.7 on the eradication of modern slavery under Goal 8, which requires Member States to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”, in itself reflects the enormous progress made. Target 8.7 calls upon Member States to “take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms”. Goal 8 is complemented by the inclusion of goals and targets related to the causes of slavery, such as those related to poverty, education, gender equality, peace and justice and strong institutions, and in this context the 2030 Agenda offers the potential to guide actions and resources towards addressing the socio-economic causes of contemporary forms of slavery such as forced labour, bonded labour, forced marriage, worst forms of child labour, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The inclusion of targets related to access to justice in Goal 16 on “peace, justice and strong institutions” also offers the possibility that implementation of the sustainable development goals can contribute to effective redress for human rights violations relating to contemporary forms of slavery, and also provide remedies for those still affected by traditional forms of slavery. As outlined in my thematic report to the 36th session of the Human Rights Council, access to justice and remedy for victims of contemporary forms of slavery is an essential component of efforts to eradicate the phenomena. Effective access to justice and remedy helps the process of rehabilitation and reintegration for victims, prevents re-victimisation and serves as a strong disincentive against future rights violations by criminals and corporates who profit from the ruthless exploitation of vulnerable individuals.

We must however, not lose sight of the fact that while the inclusion of the catch-all term “modern slavery” in target 8.7 allows for a broad interpretation of what is expected by Member States and other actors, the inclusion of the target under a goal on decent work and economic growth creates a risk that traditional forms of slavery are secondary to labour market violations in implementation efforts. Additionally, the vulnerability of persons of slave descent was not recognised in the sustainable development framework in the same way as other groups.  Many descendants of traditional slaves remain vulnerable to contemporary forms of slavery.

Chair

The 2030 Agenda is ambitious and far-reaching but the historic opportunity they create will be lost if the resources to implement them fully are not mobilised by the international community. Estimates have suggested that an amount of between $3 and $5 trillion needs to be mobilized to effectively finance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. In this regard my report discusses the role of business and donors in supporting efforts to successfully implement target 8.7 and other goals. Sufficient resources will ensure that all Goals and their targets are implemented successfully as interdependent, mutually reinforcing and interlinked development outcomes, without cherry picking politically expedient goals.

My report concludes by arguing that ending all the different contemporary forms of slavery is an integral part of the broader struggle to end poverty, underdevelopment and gender inequality and achieve human rights-based development justice for all. I make a number of recommendations to governments, business, civil society and donors about accelerating the implementation of goal 8 and target 8.7, amongst others.

A key recommendation made in my report is enhancing international collaboration and knowledge sharing to secure the implementation of target 8.7. In this regard I would like to mention Alliance 8.7 which is a multi-stakeholder collaborative platform to build knowledge and harmonise strategically directed efforts to ensure that decent work and full and productive employment for all is a key outcome of all sustainable development strategies. Alliance 8.7 provides an opportune platform for all stakeholders to participate in and my mandate remains committed to engagement with it.

In this context my report specifically recommends that Member States should :

(a) Engage actively with, and provide technical and financial support to, Alliance 8.7 in order to support the effective implementation of target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals;
(b) Develop robust resource mobilization strategies to ensure that the necessary resources are available to invest in the implementation of Goal 8 and all the Sustainable Development Goals. Such strategies should consider options for tackling tax evasion, reviewing military spending and increasing debt relief;
(c) Ensure policy coherence and coordination between the multi-stakeholder initiatives developed to support the full and effective implementation of the Goals;
(d) Invest in developing indicators as part of effective, participatory and transparent monitoring and evaluation systems to monitor implementation of Goal 8, including target 8.7, and all the other Goals and targets.

I also recommend that Member States should continue to improve national legislative and policy frameworks to ensure that they comply with the Slavery Convention of 1926, the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery and Institutions and Practices Similar to slavery of 1956, as well as ILO Conventions 29 and 105 on Forced Labour, Protocol 29 and Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.  Member States must in addition ensure robust law enforcement that results in criminal justice, which also targets illicit money flows and corruption, as well as ensuring access to justice and adequate and effective remedy for victims.

Measures to increase corporate accountability for contemporary forms of slavery in global supply chains are critical given the ILO’s estimate that 150 billion is extracted in profit as a result of forced labour in the private sector. The business sector must ensure, as a core part of their contributions to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, full respect for human rights standards in all their business activities as established under pillar II of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In relation to contemporary forms of slavery and achieving target 8.7, businesses should establish continuous human rights due diligence in all business activities within their supply chains. They have the potential to make substantive, financial and resource contributions to Alliance 8.7 to ensure an active contribution to the successful implementation of target 8.7. There is much room for improvement in evidence and research, and in this era of technological progress we need innovative and collaborative ways of placing human rights and dignity of every person at the core of sustainable development.

Chair

We have reached tipping point and as an international community committed to human rights we can and must do more to stop the continued violation of the fundamental human rights and dignity of adults and children. This is imperative to advance our development goals and safeguard the future of our world. The livelihoods and dignity of millions are at stake.

 I reiterate my call upon Member States, the international community and other stakeholders to make work together to make demonstrable progress towards achieving goal 8 and target 8.7.

Chair,

Thank you for this opportunity to address the Third Committee. I look forward to this constructive dialogue with you today and thank you for your attention.