GENEVA (3 November 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, will conduct a visit to Côte d’Ivoire from 6-17 November 2023. During the visit, the expert will examine instances of labour exploitation which may amount to forced or bonded labour in various sectors of the economy such as agriculture including the cocoa sector, mining and domestic work. Obokata will also assess to what extent child labour prevails in the country and what steps have been taken by the Government and businesses to eliminate these practices. The Special Rapporteur will visit Abidjan, Grand-Bassam, San Pédro, Méagui, Soubre and Sokoura to meet with government officials, workers, civil society organisations, trade unions, representatives of the UN, the African Development Bank, members of the diplomatic community and other stakeholders. Obokata will share his preliminary observations at a virtual press conference on 17 November at 10:00 am. Participation is strictly limited to journalists. Please write to hrc-sr-slavery@un.org to register and receive the Zoom link. The Special Rapporteur will present a comprehensive report to the Human Rights Council in September 2024. 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. For more information and media requests please contact: hrc-sr-slavery@un.org For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts. Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone’s rights today. #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org