View previous stories
	The current and future impacts of climate change undermine human rights by Mary Robinson   Statement from Mary Robinson on the Adoption of a new Resolution on Climate Change and Human Rights in the United Nations Human Rights Council - June 27 2014.   Climate change is, I believe, not just an issue of atmospheric science; is also about human rights. The current and future impacts of climate change undermine human rights, including the right to food, to health and water, so I welcome the adoption, by consensus, of a the new resolution A/HRC/26/L.33 by the Human Rights Council which recognises the need to fully respect human rights when taking climate action.   Climate change is a global problem which urgently needs bold solutions that are fair, and protect and respect the rights of people. A renewed emphasis on the impacts of climate change by the Human Rights Council is therefore timely, as we face into the negotiation of a new climate agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015 and the development of the Post- 2015 Development Agenda.   We need to change the debate on climate change – to move beyond its construct as a scientific or environmental problem and to realise that it is in essence an issue of development and of rights. Taking a climate justice approach to climate change means you respect human rights. I particularly welcome the Human Rights Council’s reaffirmation that human rights principles and obligations can inform and strengthen policy making on climate change at all levels. - Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice. Visit the related web page
	Create legally binding standards to prevent forced labor by ILO, Human Rights Watch   May 20, 2014   Forced labour in the private economy generates US$ 150 billion in illegal profits per year, about three times more than previously estimated, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).   The ILO report, Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour, said two thirds of the estimated total of US$ 150 billion, or US$ 99 billion, came from commercial sexual exploitation, while another US$ 51 billion resulted from forced economic exploitation, including domestic work, agriculture and other economic activities.   “This new report takes our understanding of trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery to a new level,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. “Forced labour is bad for business and development and especially for its victims. Our new report adds new urgency to our efforts to eradicate this fundamentally evil, but hugely profitable practice as soon as possible.”   The new figure is based on ILO data published in 2012 that estimated the number of people in forced labour, trafficking and modern slavery at 21 million.   Significantly, the new estimate indicates that more than half of the people in forced labour are women and girls, primarily in commercial sexual exploitation and domestic work, while men and boys were primarily in forced economic exploitation in agriculture, construction, and mining.   The breakdown of profits generated by forced economic exploitation is as follows: US$ 34 billion in construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities; US$ 9 billion in agriculture, including forestry and fishing; US$ 8 billion saved by private households by not paying or underpaying domestic workers held in forced labour.   The report highlights income shocks and poverty as the main economic factors that push individuals into forced labour. Other factors contributing to risk and vulnerability include lack of education, illiteracy, gender and migration.   “While progress is being made in reducing state-imposed forced labour, we must now focus on the socio-economic factors that make people vulnerable to forced labour in the private sector,” said Beate Andrees, head of the ILO’s Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour.   Andrees called for a series of measures aimed at reducing vulnerability to forced labour including:   Bolstering social protection floors to prevent poor households from abusive lending or indenture in the event of sudden income shocks; Investing in education and skills training to fortify job opportunities for vulnerable workers; Promoting a rights-based approach to migration to prevent irregular employment and abuse of migrant workers; and supporting the organization of workers, including in sectors and industries vulnerable to forced labour.   “If we want to make a significant change in the lives of the 21 million men, women and children in forced labour, we need to take concrete and immediate action,” the ILO Director-General said. “That means working with governments to strengthen law, policy and enforcement, with employers to strengthen their due diligence against forced labour, including in their supply chains, and with trade unions to represent and empower those at risk.”   http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_243201/lang--en/index.htm   April 2014   Create legally binding standards to prevent forced labor. (Human Rights Watch)   Governments should mark Labor Day on May 1, 2014 with a commitment to create legally binding standards to prevent forced labor, and to protect and compensate victims, Human Rights Watch said today. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 20.9 million women, men, and children worldwide are trapped in forced labor.   The International Labour Organization’s Convention 29 on Forced Labor, one of the most important treaties in international labor law, was adopted in 1930 and has been ratified by 177 countries. But many of its provisions are out of date. Governments, trade unions, and employers’ groups will meet in Geneva in June to negotiate supplementary standards that better address contemporary abuses. Human Rights Watch said the new standards should be legally binding.   “Millions of people around the world remain trapped in horrific, exploitative conditions of forced labor that shock the conscience,” said Nisha Varia, senior women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Members of the ILO should push hard to equip governments with strong, effective standards and modern strategies for implementing them.”   The treaty’s definition of forced labor and the requirement to make it a penal offense have become integrated into national and international standards. However, most other provisions address forced labor in overseas colonies and are no longer relevant or in effect. Patterns of forced labor have shifted.   The ILO estimates that 90 percent of forced labor now takes place in the private economy, including in homes, local businesses, organized crime, and multinational supply chains.   Updated global standards on forced labor would complement anti-trafficking efforts, given the strong overlap between forced labor and trafficking. However, anti-trafficking efforts in many countries have been geared toward trafficking for sexual exploitation, with relatively little attention to identifying and protecting the victims of labor trafficking.   Of the more than 18 million people in forced labor in the private economy, the ILO estimates that 4.5 million are victims of sexual exploitation and 14.2 million are victims of labor exploitation.   ILO members will vote on whether these new supplementary standards should be a legally binding protocol that countries could ratify or a non-binding recommendation. In their preliminary indications of their positions, governments are split.   “Making a commitment to basic prevention and protection measures to eliminate forced labor shouldn’t be optional,” Varia said. “It’s shocking that despite many governments’ public commitments to fight forced labor, they are reluctant to support the strong protections that could help stop these terrible abuses.”   In the past decade, Human Rights Watch has published 49 reports on forced labor. They cover abuses such as forced begging by children; exploitation in domestic work, construction, agriculture, and mining; forced labor in prisons and drug detention centers; and indefinite conscription.   Many victims work long hours in hazardous conditions for little or no pay, face psychological, physical, or sexual abuse, and do not have the freedom to leave because of confinement, debt bondage, threats of retaliation, or other conditions.   These abuses are often hidden from the public eye and carry financial costs for victims and society. The ILO estimates that workers in forced labor situations lose US$21 billion in wages each year and those exacting forced labor make $44 billion in illegal profits. Countries also lose billions of dollars in tax income and social security contributions.   http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/04/29/global-update-treaty-forced-labor Visit the related web page
	View more stories