The Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC) has adopted a draft Protocol developed under its collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) – the Protocol on Labour Standards for Crew and the Elimination of Forced Labour on Fishing Vessels in the FCWC region – serving as a model for other regions seeking to enhance labour protections and combat forced labour in their industries.   

The adoption of the Protocol happened at the 15^th Ministerial Session of the FCWC Conference of Ministers held at the Conference Room of the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex on 13 December 2024 in Monrovia, Liberia. The Ministerial Session was attended by the Nigerian Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, and the Director General of the Liberia National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority, and representatives of the fisheries Ministers of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.

The adoption of the Protocol has crowned the regional effort through tripartite national consultation workshops conducted in all six FCWC Member States to solicit feedback and refine the draft of the Protocol. The draft was reviewed and validated at this Session by the Advisory and Coordinating Committee, the FCWC body comprising the top-most directors of the ministry in charge of fisheries in each Member State.

The adoption of the Protocol is a region-wide commitment to raise labour standards and tackle forced labour through the provisions of the Work in Fishing Convention (C188) which are included in the Protocol, while the other FCWC Member States work to ratify C188 as Ghana (Sept 2024), and Cote d’Ivoire (November 2024) have done.

In a speech during the Ministerial Session, Alison Potter, ILO Technical Officer stated: “The ILO looks forward to seeing the Protocol signed so we can show the world the groundbreaking progress made through the Memorandum of Understanding between our two organisations.” She reminded all that fishing is the most dangerous job in the world with the highest prevalence of forced labour indicators and echoed the call for all FCWC Member States to ratify C188.

The Protocol is designed as an addition to the Convention for the establishment of the FCWC. It will enter into force 30 days after being signed by four Member States, with subsequent signatories following the same 30-day activation period.

Kofi Taylor-Hayford
Communication Officer, FCWC