The United Nations(UN)’s International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is annually observed across the globe on 2nd December to eradicate the contemporary forms of slavery which includes, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, child labour, forced marriage, and forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.
Background:
The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, marks the date on which United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/317(IV) on 2nd December 1949 and approved the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
50 for Freedom campaign:
i.The 50 for Freedom campaign is promoting ratification and implementation of the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Forced Labour Protocol. So far 50 Member States have ratified the Forced Labour Protocol.
ii.The Forced Labour Protocol is a legally-binding treaty that requires governments to take new measures to tackle forced labour in all its forms.
Cartoon competition:
i.The ILO and Human Resources Without Borders (“Ressources Humaines Sans Frontières”, RHSF) with the support of Cartooning for peace organised an international cartoon competition under the theme “What if your pencil was a tool against forced labour?”
ii.Gargalo Vasco cartoonists from Portugal won the 1st place Jury, Eshonkulov Makhmudjon from Uzbekistan won the Cartooning for Peace’s prize and Kaan Saatci from Turkey won the Public’s pick.
Modern Slavery:
i.According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery.
ii.Modern slavery is covered under the practices like forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking.
iii.It is defined as the situation of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, deception, and/or abuse of power.
Child Labour:
i.Around 150 million children, accounting for almost one in ten children around the world, are subject to child labour.
ii.The majority of child labour is for economic exploitation and this is against the convention on the Rights of the Child which recognise the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation.
Human Trafficking:
i.Human Trafficking means recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion.
ii.The consent of the trafficked person is irrelevant and If the trafficked person is a child, it is a crime even without the use of force.
About International Labour Organization (ILO):
ILO is the only tripartite U.N. agency created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
Director-General– Guy Ryder
Headquarters– Genève, Switzerland
