Promoting and Protecting the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Seafarers

Calls upon States parties, shipowners’ representatives and seafarers’ representatives to enhance the enforcement of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended, to ensure safe and decent living and working conditions for all seafarers;

Calls upon States and other relevant shipping industry stakeholders to promote and protect effectively the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by seafarers, including their right to life, right to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work, including safe and healthy working conditions, and right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;

Urges shipping industry stakeholders to respect the right of seafarers to the opportunity to gain their living by work that they freely choose or accept, including decisions on whether to sail or continue sailing in high-risk areas, and that the realization of this right should not negatively affect a seafarer’s employment competitiveness or future deployment;

Urges States to continue efforts to eliminate all forms of forced or compulsory labour in the shipping industry;

Urges all States Members of the United Nations to designate seafarers and other marine personnel as key workers, in line with General Assembly resolution 75/17 of 1 December 2020, on international cooperation to address challenges faced by seafarers as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to support global supply chains;

Encourages States, consistent with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to ensure that business enterprises in the global maritime industry uphold the principle of corporate responsibility to respect human rights;

Encourages business enterprises in the global maritime industry to meet their responsibility to respect human rights, including by instituting a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and enable remediation for any adverse human rights impacts of business operations;

Urges all stakeholders to step up efforts to advance gender equality and empowerment in the shipping industry by, among other things, capacity-building, collecting disaggregated data and promoting equitable hiring practices;

Calls upon all stakeholders to institute policies, measures and programmes to prevent effectively violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and assault, bullying and all forms of discrimination on-board vessels, in order to foster an environment where all seafarers, including women seafarers, are safe and their rights respected;

Encourages all shipping industry stakeholders to meaningfully celebrate the Day of the Seafarer every year on 25 June;

Urges stronger collaboration between States, shipowners’ representatives, seafarers’ representatives, the International Labour Organization, the International Maritime Organization, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to uphold and protect the rights and dignity of all seafarers all over the world;

Invites the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, as appropriate, within the framework of their respective mandates, to pay attention to the issue of promoting and protecting the enjoyment of human rights by seafarers.