International Labour Organisation

Lord Lea of Crondall Excerpts

Tuesday 5th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Verma]

My Lords, through DfID we will continue to focus on child labour issues by working through a wide range of partners, including the ILO. The Government's annual contribution of £16 million through the Department for Work and Pensions directly helps the International Labour Organisation combat child labour. In addition, we provide £12 million to the fairtrade labelling organisation, which effectively combats child labour and has robust systems to investigate allegations.

[Lord Lea of Crondall]

My Lords, will the Minister take this opportunity to state unequivocally something that is good about the ILO—namely, that it is tripartite? Workers’ representatives as well as employers’ representatives come together from every country of the world. One might say that the workers’ representatives in some countries are rather dodgy, but is not the principle that each country in the United Nations, going back to the First World War and the League of Nations, has to provide a grouping of workers’ representatives with a degree of autonomy, a remarkable force for good in many places in the world?

[Baroness Verma]

Yes, my Lords, I agree that we want to see fair, decent working conditions for all people. I assure the noble Lord that that is a core part of the Department for International Development's work. For example, in India, Nigeria and Bangladesh we helped to generate more than 1 million jobs. We helped 2.3 million women to access jobs. We provide support for social protection, including public works. That is why we are continuing with the £16 million support through the Department for Work and Pensions.