Hon. Mawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani and Hon. Tahira Aurangzeb, Members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, sign the letter

Last night, 17 Members of Parliament from 13 Commonwealth Parliaments, including the UK, wrote an open letter to their leaders who are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa today. Writing the letter from the Houses of Parliament in London they warn that Commonwealth nations are falling short of targets to eradicate forced labour and achieve gender equality.

The targets they refer to are those set by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which were ratified by all UN countries in 2015.

With twenty-eight million people living in forced labour around the world and one-in-three women experiencing violence due to their gender, Commonwealth parliamentarians warn that eradicating these issues by 2030 remains “concerningly distant”.  They implore leaders to summon “political will and take further action now”.

It follows a similar plea made at CHOGM in Samoa earlier this week by the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, which called for leaders to put stronger measures in place to reach gender equality. Their letter also echoes the concerns expressed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ who said in June this year that, “Only 17 per cent of the SDG targets are on track, nearly half are showing minimal or moderate progress, and progress on over one third has stalled or even regressed”. He said this “shows the world is getting a failing grade”.

The Commonwealth law makers have now called on leaders to ensure that time is allocated in their individual parliaments to debate how the Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved in time, along with substantive votes allowing Parliament to determine next steps; and to review existing laws concerning these issues and strengthen them if necessary. They also asked the leaders to ensure parliament has the necessary provisions to engage with vulnerable people and young people in the legislative process. Finally, they want awareness of gender-based violence to be taught in all schools as part of the curriculum “in order to break the generational inheritance of cultural attitudes that perpetuates violence against women and girls”.

At the end of their letter, the law makers say: “We have a duty to the next generation to ensure that no one else suffers from these devastating crimes. We will rightly be remembered if we fail.”

The open letter was written by parliamentarians on the final day of an international conference called 'Legislative Strengthening Seminar to Address Gender-Based Violence and Modern Slavery in Supply Chains', organised by the UK Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. The three-day seminar which began on Tuesday 22 October happened at the same time as CHOGM. Its purpose was to enable Commonwealth parliaments to be more active and effective in addressing violence against women and girls, and modern slavery. It was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The Rt Hon. The Baroness May of Maidenhead launched the Legislative Strengthening Seminar on Tuesday, saying, “The reality we face is that we have introduced legislation across the world and yet the number of people in slavery is increasing. That is why we must redouble our efforts.”

A copy of the open letter is shown below.

The names of the parliamentarians who signed the letter include:

Hon. Lukas Sinimbo Muha, Chairperson of the National Assembly of Namibia, and Head of the Namibian Delegation

Hon. Madi MK Ceesay, Member of the National Assembly of The Gambia and Head of the Gambia Delegation

Hon. Alvina Reynolds, President of the Senate of Saint Lucia

Hon. Gloria King, Member of Parliament, Vanuatu

Hon. Barr. Blessing Chigeru Amadi, Deputy Chairman, Women in Parliament, Federal House of Representatives, Member of Parliament, Nigeria

Hon. Mayungo Simushi, National Asembly of Zambia, Head of the Zambian Delegation

Hon. Dr Sarah Kaine, Member of Parliament, New South Wales Legislative Council

Hon. Dr Joe McGirr, Member of Parliament, New South Wales Legislative Council

Hon. Robert Midwinter, Member of the Legislative Council, Saint Helena

Hon. Mawabzada Mir Jamal Khan Raisani, Member of Parliament, National Assembly of Pakistan

Hon. Tahira Aurangzeb, Member of Parliament, National Assembly of Pakistan

Hon. Francesca Theula Masamba, Member of Parliament, Malawi

Hon. Benedicto Chambo, Member of Parliament, Malawi

Deputy Beatriz Porée, Member of the States of Assembly, Jersey

Hon. Dulcie E. Tei, Member of Parliament, Legislative Assembly of Tonga

Hon. Irene Mambala, Member of Parliament, Malawi

Lord Randall of Uxbridge, Member of House of Lords, UK Parliament