ILO - The Times Of Central Asia

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Teachers in Turkmenistan Demand Money from Pupils to Hire Cotton Pickers

Following Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov's recent directive to speed up the cotton-picking campaign, the Chronicles of Turkmenistan has reported that schools in Lebap province have started collecting money from students to hire workers for the task. The established daily norm for each class is 200-300 kilograms of cotton, depending on the number of students. Based on the requirements, schools must hire 5-6 pickers, each of whom must pick at least 50 kg of cotton daily. In addition to schools, health facilities have also been obliged to provide workers under the cotton-picking campaign. However, despite the ban on collecting money from their subordinates, teachers and medical workers have to look for laborers among the local population, offering payment of 35-40 TMT per day ($10-12). According to a roadmap signed in June by Turkmenistan and the ILO, forced labor in cotton harvesting, including the mobilization of children and government employees, should be eliminated. Nevertheless, mobilizing workers and schoolchildren to fulfil plans for the cotton harvesting campaign continues. In addition, students and civil servants, including teachers, are systematically forced to work in the cotton fields under threat of dismissal from their jobs or expulsion from educational institutions.

modernization ILO Government Cotton Agriculture Rule of law

Uzbekistan Ends Forced Labor, But Cotton Industry Faces New Challenges

Global Voices reports that Uzbekistan has succeeded in phasing out forced labor in its cotton industry, but now faces new challenges. The country has made progress in ending forced labor and modernizing its cotton sector, driven by economic and political reasons. Forced labor hurts businesses and the nation’s international image, which the government has aimed to improve since 2016. Cotton production accounts for 12% of GDP. Since 2017, the government has introduced major reforms to modernize Uzbekistan’s cotton industry, led by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev after he took office in 2016. By 2018, labor control was strengthened, and the cotton cluster system, which controls the entire production process, began to take shape. Today, almost all cotton is grown through 142 clusters. Cotton quotas have been abolished by 2020, and the minimum wage will now be negotiated. The same year, the International Labor Organization reported that child labor was no longer a problem, and the international boycott was lifted in 2022. Eradicating forced labor has been hailed as “one of the most significant victories anywhere in the world in the battle against forced labor in the twenty-first century,” said Bennett Freeman, co-founder of the Cotton Campaign in 2022. This achievement was possible thanks to the diligence of organizations such as human rights defenders of Uzbekistan and the Uzbekistan Forum for Human Rights, which monitored the cotton fields and recorded violations, as well as the government's promptness in reviewing these reports. Global Voices writes that despite the progress achieved in Uzbekistan's cotton industry, there are still serious problems. The report states, “Despite abandoning forced labor, the government still continues to exert strong control over cotton production and prevents farmers from fully operating on their own terms.” Farmers receive resources and loans, but the system remains inefficient, with state-set cotton prices often differing from global rates. The government and industry need to address these ongoing issues while pursuing international standards and export opportunities to build trust and transparency.

Legislation Labour market International Relations ILO

Uzbekistan Ratifies International Labor Organization Convention

On September 21 a meeting of the Uzbek Senate passed the new law “On the ratification of the International Labor Organization Convention No. 155 on Occupational Safety and Hygiene and the Working Environment”. The Convention was adopted in Geneva in 1981, and among other Eurasian countries has also been ratified by Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Senators noted that it is appropriate to ratify this convention, taking into account the development of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the International Labor Organization and the fact that the national labor legislation meets international labor standards. As noted, the convention's ratification will improve national labor laws, enhance safety and hygiene standards per international guidelines, and help prevent workplace accidents. The International Labor Organization has been criticizing the use of forced labor in cotton plantations in Turkmenistan for a long time.