Gareth Thomas (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development) Link to this | Hansard source

Child labour is declining rapidly in Latin America—the International Labour Organisation suggests by as much as two thirds since 2000. Although those statistics require further examination, there is no doubt about the positive long-term trend. We fund work in Latin America on child labour—for example, through our support for the ILO and UNICEF and our contributions to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Siân James (Swansea East, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. He and his Department have been working hard to focus support on the plight of street children in Brazil and Peru— [ Interruption. ]

Michael Martin (Speaker) Link to this | Hansard source

Order. Allow the hon. Lady to be heard.

Siân James (Swansea East, Labour) Link to this | Hansard source

Will my hon. Friend pay attention, however, to countries such as Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras which have some of the highest numbers of working children in Latin America? Can we not allow them to have a childhood, too?

Gareth Thomas (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for International Development) Link to this | Hansard source

My hon. Friend is right to highlight the success in Brazil and Peru. In Brazil, we should pay tribute to the Government of President Lula. In reforming the previous system of cash transfer payments, supported by the World Bank, which we fund, he has helped to ensure that grants are given to families to make sure that their children go to school. My hon. Friend is right, however, to say that a substantial challenge remains in many other parts of Latin America, such as Guatemala and Honduras. That is why, through the ILO, we are supporting programmes there that work to reduce the number of children who are still engaged in commercial agriculture, gravel production and the fireworks industry. We will continue to fund the ILO to do that work, and we hope to see further reductions in Guatemala and Honduras in the same way as we have seen them in Brazil.

Philip Hollobone (Kettering, Conservative) Link to this | Hansard source

Will the Minister accept an invitation to visit the charity Casa Alianza, based in Kettering, which is one of the leading national organisations that helps street children in central America?