Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Democratic Republic of Congo on upholding Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The UK actively encourages countries to uphold Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK was among the main sponsors of the annual resolution at the Human Rights Council on the Rights of the Child in March 2017 and we are already working on the Rights of the Child Resolution ahead of the Human Rights Council session in March 2018. The UK actively encourages International Labour Organisation (ILO) member states, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to fulfil their ILO obligations and work towards ratifying and meeting the provisions of the core ILO conventions. This includes ILO conventions relating to child labour.