Experts from 10 Asian countries will be meeting in Ulaanbaatar , Mongolia next week to look at ways to speed up the elimination of forced labour.

The two-day meeting (May 25-26) is being organised by the ILO and the Mongolian Government. It is funded by the Japanese Government.

The countries expected to attend include Cambodia , China , Japan , Republic of Korea , Lao PDR, Malaysia , Mongolia , Singapore , Thailand and Viet Nam . The delegations will include representatives from the governments, employers, unions and national human rights commissions. Other participants will include representatives from national human rights commissions, specialists from the International Labour Organization (ILO), academics, labour inspection experts and organizations interested in research and corporate social responsibility.

The meeting’s purpose is to discuss the growing impact of forced labour practices exacted by private agents, and to allow countries to swap information and experiences on tackling forced labour.  The meeting will also encourage countries to ratify the ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105): the east asian region harbours many of those few countries that have not yet ratified either or both of these fundamental ILO Conventions.

During the meeting the countries will be asked to nominate one aspect of their work against forced labour that they would like international support for, or one proposal that they would be interested in assisting.

The opening session of the meeting (at the Chinggis Hotel, Ulaanbaatar ), including speeches from Japanese and Mongolian government representatives, will be open to the media. For more information please contact:-

Sophy Fisher
ILO Regional Information Officer
fisher@ilo.org
T: +66 (0) 2 288 2482

Tim De Meyer
ILO Specialist on International Labour Standards and Labour Law
demeyer@ilo.org
T: +66 (0) 2 288 2209

^ go to top