I would like to begin by recording my thanks to you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing the House to hold a very successful full-day Adjournment debate on Tuesday 20 March to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade Act. As was agreed by all participants in the Adjournment debate, slavery is still with us in its modern forms. On 23 March, the Government were proud to sign the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings to tackle this appalling modern-day form of slavery. The Home Secretary has published an action plan on what the UK will be doing. We will be working towards ratification and we are co-operating closely with our international partners to take forward this work. I recently visited Geneva, where I held discussions with a number of UN and other international organisations on how we may do more.
Does my right hon. Friend agree that alongside the important debates on the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade, the best way in which the House could mark that would be to eliminate modern-day slavery? Will he give the House details of his talks with the United Nations and, especially, countries to which modern-day slaves are exported, on ensuring that we eliminate this filthy trade?
I agree greatly with what my hon. Friend says. It was the unanimous opinion of hon. Members on both sides of the House that more should be done about modern-day slavery. Indeed, as I mentioned, I have held discussions with UN bodies about the matter. Hopefully, we will be able to do more. The ratification of the Council of Europe convention will be an important step forward. I welcome the fact that Kofi Annan will address the House on 8 May. From the discussions that I have had with him, I know that he has always felt that the UN could be more effective in deploying the policy. I hope that he will be able to say something about the matter when he addresses the House—[Interruption.]
Order. May I ask the House to come to order? It is being unfair to hon. Members.
Does the right hon. Gentleman accept that one often-neglected modern form of slavery is the use of child soldiers? Given that the Government of Burma, a brutal military dictatorship, use such soldiers on a scale that is proportionately greater than in any other country of the world, will the Deputy Prime Minister consider launching an international initiative to bring that appalling practice to an end?
I very much agree with every word that the hon. Gentleman says about that. When I have addressed meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations on behalf of the Prime Minister, we have discussed Burma’s membership and the terrible circumstances of child soldiers. We are doing everything that we can to do end that deplorable practice.
I was delighted to meet my right hon. Friend in Sierra Leone recently. He will be aware that British companies intend to develop there world-class library and literacy facilities to the environmental standards that he introduced in this country. Will he do all that he can to ensure that we support such initiatives?
Again, I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work that she has done in regard to Sierra Leone, especially on effectively getting community facilities and buildings established there. I was pleased to meet her and several officials recently to encourage her to take part in the development of Equiano centres. The project gives various cities and towns in Sierra Leone that enjoy the same name as some of the towns in this country the opportunity to develop Equiano community centres. Using the name Equiano—perhaps more so than Wilberforce—gives us the chance to recall the contribution made by black people to getting rid of the horror of the slave traffic.