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ILO charts out plan to rid world of forced labour

Staff Reporter

PONDICHERRY: "The International Labour Organisation has charted out a global action programme to rid the world of forced labour over the next ten years," said Roger Plant, head of Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a three-day international workshop on Labour in South Asia, organised by the French Institute in Pondicherry, Mr Plant said several steps would be taken simultaneously to combat the problem. "We need to create international public opinion against forced labour and also create it among employers organisations, labour organisations and civil society."

"Forced labour is not a problem that is affecting the developing nations alone but it is a global problem affecting even the developed countries. However, of the total 12.3 million persons in forced labour, in Asian countries alone the number is 9.8 million.

He said if governments took serious steps it would be possible to bring it under control. "Brazil has passed a national action plan and its President has taken a pledge to do away with it by 2007 and they are implementing it too.

The workshop was a platform for anthropologists, economists, sociologists, historians to discuss on labour relationships and forms of bondage.

They also explored the diversity and the complexity of the politics of labour, through detailed ethnographies and theoretical approach.

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