UN expert on contemporary forms of slavery to visit Canada

GENEVA (21 August 2023) - The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, will conduct a visit to Canada from 23 August to 6 September 2023. 

During his visit, Obokata will assess Canada's readiness for the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which will come into force next year. He will seek insights from the private sector, civil society and academia on its impact in enforcing the extraterritorial obligations of Canadian companies to prevent forced and child labour in supply chains. He will also examine labour exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and other contemporary forms of slavery in Canada, as well as laws and policies to address them, and the impact of these practices and policies on marginalised groups.

The expert will visit the provinces of Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. He will meet Government officials, legislators, Indigenous organisations, representatives of the UN, federal and provincial human rights institutions, civil society, academic experts, human rights organisations, trade unions, workers’ groups, private businesses, and industry associations, and other actors.

Obokata will hold a press conference on Wednesday 6 September at 10:30 A.M. at the Lord Elgin Hotel, 100 Elgin St., Ottawa, ON K1P 5K8. The press conference will be in English. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Special Rapporteur will present his report to the Human Rights Council in September 2024.

ENDS

Mr. Tomoya Obokata was appointed UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery in March 2020. Mr. Obokata is a Japanese scholar of international law and human rights, specialising in transnational organised crime, human trafficking and modern slavery. He currently serves as Professor of International Human Rights Law at York Law School, and previously taught at Keele University, Queen's University Belfast and Dundee University (all in the United Kingdom Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Canada