TASHKENT – The systematic and systemic use of forced and child labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry has fallen dramatically, according to a new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The report, compiled by the ILO for the World Bank, is based on more than 7,000 unaccompanied and unannounced interviews with a representative sample of the country’s 1.75 million cotton pickers.
Entitled Third-party monitoring of measures against child labour and forced labour during the 2019 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan, it suggests the country is finally making progress on fundamental labour rights in the cotton fields.
