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RR RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #0073/01 0161055
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161056Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0268
INFO CIS COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0075
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0099
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0091
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0088
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0091
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0099
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0075
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 TASHKENT 000073 
 
SIPDIS SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, AND G/TIP 
DRL/ILCSR FOR TU DANG AND ALFRED ANZALDUA 
G/TIP FOR MEGAN HALL 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER AND SEROKA MIHAIL 
ASTANA FOR ALMATY/USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ECON ELAB EIND ETRD KCRM KTIP KWMN PGOV PREL SOCI
KG, KZ, UZ 
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND 
DEVELOPMENT ACT (GSP) 2008 REPORT 
 
REF: a) 08 STATE 127448 
 
¶1.  Summary: Per reftel request, post is providing the following 
update on child labor in Uzbekistan.  In 2008, the Government of 
Uzbekistan undertook legal reforms to combat the use of child 
labor.  In January 2008, Uzbekistan adopted a new law on children's 
rights which clarified protections for children against forced 
labor.  In April 2008, the government voted to adopt ILO 
Conventions 182 (On the Worst Forms of Child Labor) and 138 (On the 
Minimum Age of Employment).  For the first time, the Uzbek 
government adopted a comprehensive policy on the elimination of 
child labor in September in the form of a wide-ranging National 
Action Plan on implementing ILO Conventions 182 and 138.  ILO and 
UNICEF continued cooperation this year with government bodies on 
developing the National Action Plan and on activities aimed at 
raising awareness regarding child labor legislation.  Despite these 
efforts, the use of child labor continued during the annual fall 
cotton harvest, a practice dating from the Soviet era which is 
still largely accepted by Uzbek society.  International observers 
conducted an informal, but widespread, survey of the use of child 
labor during the cotton harvest, and discovered that conditions and 
the age of children involved varied considerably by region, though 
they found that most children were older than 15 and the vast 
majority were older than 11.  We continue to believe that efforts 
to combat child labor in Uzbekistan should be part of a long-term 
strategy that addresses broader and related issues, such as rural 
poverty, unemployment, labor migration, and the perverse effects of 
cotton quotas. 
 
 
 
¶2.  Summary continued: In 2008, the government continued to make 
strides in combating trafficking in persons (TIP), including the 
trafficking of minors.  In September 2008, the government amended 
the Criminal Code to strengthen penalties against convicted 
traffickers.  The number of TIP convictions continued to rise this 
year.  The Ministries of Foreign and Internal Affairs and local 
contacts indicated that convicted traffickers are increasingly 
serving time in jail and are not being amnestied.  The government 
continued a wide-ranging public awareness campaign warning 
citizens, including minors, about the dangers of trafficking for 
both forced labor and sexual exploitation.  While TIP remains an 
issue in Uzbekistan, the true extent of child trafficking is still 
unclear.  End summary. 
 
 
 
I) Government Law and Regulations Proscribing the Worst 
 
Forms of Child Labor 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
¶3.  This year the government, as promised, adopted additional 
international conventions on child labor. In April 2008, the 
government voted to adopt ILO Conventions 182 (On the Worst Forms 
of Child Labor) and 138 (On the Minimum Age of Employment). The 
adoption of the ILO conventions followed an exchange of letters 
between the Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ILO and UNICEF, 
and occurred shortly after a visit by a senior-level ILO official 
to Tashkent.  The visit was described as "very positive," and the 
official reportedly had "frank" private discussions on child labor 
at Parliament and with other government bodies, including the 
interagency Working Group on Child Labor (see para 17). 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  002 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶4.  In 2008, ILO recognized Uzbekistan's adoption of Convention 
182, but not of Convention 138. ILO explained that Uzbek law sets 
the minimum age of employment at 16, but also allows children to 
work at 14 if they receive written permission from their parents 
(see para 6), in contravention of Convention 138.  However, ILO 
reportedly discussed the issue with Uzbek officials, and was 
optimistic that it would recognize Uzbekistan's adoption of 
Convention 138 after some legislative changes in 2009.  The 
government previously ratified both ILO Convention 29 ("On Forced 
Labor") and Convention 105 ("On the Abolition of Forced Labor"). 
 
 
 
¶5.  The government joined the UN Convention on the Rights of the 
Child (CRC) in 1994 and is continuing to work closely with UNICEF 
to become fully compliant.  In December 2008, the government 
adopted the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, 
child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol 
to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. 
 
 
 
¶6.  The Uzbek Labor Code sets the minimum age of employment at 16 
years (Note: Some sources erroneously report that the Uzbek 
Constitution sets the working age at 16 years, but the Uzbek 
Constitution does not define the legal working age.  End note.) 
Children ages 14 to 18 are required to obtain written permission 
from a parent or guardian in order to work.  Children under 18 also 
may not engage in work which interferes with their studies. 
Children ages 14 to 16 may only work 12 hours per week while school 
is in session and 24 hours per week during school vacation. 
Children ages 16 to 18 may only work 18 hours per week when school 
is in session and 36 hours per week during school vacations.  The 
Labor Code prohibits children younger than 18 from working in 
unfavorable labor conditions.  Uzbekistan's Labor Code and the Law 
on Employment of the Population define hazardous work for persons 
under 18 as well as provide additional guarantees and benefits for 
youth. A 2001 Government Decree bans children under 18 years from 
working in unhealthy conditions and specifically listed manual 
harvesting of cotton as having unhealthy conditions for children. 
Prior to employment, children under 18 years must undergo a medical 
examination to establish their suitability for their chosen work 
and must repeat the examination at the employer's expense once a 
year until they become 18. The Uzbek Constitution prohibits forced 
or compulsory labor, except as legal punishment for robbery, fraud, 
or tax evasion, or as specified by law.  The minimum age for 
military recruitment is 18. 
 
 
 
¶7.  In January 2008, Uzbekistan adopted a new law "On Guaranteeing 
Children's Rights," which clarifies protections for children 
against forced labor and includes language to establish an official 
Ombudsman for Children.  The law was originally drafted in 2006 by 
the National Human Rights Center with support from ILO and UNICEF. 
The government has completed draft language to establish an 
Ombudsman for Children, who will advocate for children's rights 
within the government and receive complaints from citizens about 
violation of children's rights.  The draft law is expected to be 
adopted in 2009. 
 
 
 
¶8.  In 2008, the government adopted new trafficking-in-persons 
(TIP) legislation.  In September 2008, the government amended the 
Criminal Code to strengthen penalties against convicted 
traffickers.  The amendments created a new version of Criminal Code 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  003 OF 013 
 
 
 
Article 135; officially entitled "Trafficking in Persons," it 
formally defines and criminalizes all severe forms of human 
trafficking, including the trafficking of minors.  The base 
punishment for first-time offenders is now three to eight years' 
imprisonment.  The punishment is increased to eight to 12 years' 
imprisonment for instances of trafficking a minor, trafficking two 
or more persons, using force or threat, recidivism, group 
conspiracy, abuse of official position, and cases involving the 
death of trafficking victims.  In June 2008, the government adopted 
the UN Protocol on Trafficking in Persons.  In April 2008, 
President Karimov signed anti-trafficking legislation that 
strengthened victim protections, required the government to provide 
victims with assistance, and criminalized severe forms of human 
trafficking, including forced labor.  The Criminal Code already 
prohibited the dissemination of pornography and obscene objects to 
persons under 21, which is punishable by a fine and up to 3 years' 
correctional labor. 
 
 
 
II) Implementation and Enforcement of Child Labor Laws 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
 
¶9.  The bodies responsible for labor issues include the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Protection, the Prosecutor's Office, Hokimiyat 
(Municipality) commissions on issues dealing with minors (defined 
as under those under 18), and official trade unions.  Current 
legislation does not explicitly provide jurisdiction for inspectors 
from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to focus on child 
labor enforcement.  Enforcement of GOU law is under the 
jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of Interior 
and its general criminal investigators.  Uzbekistan has not 
ratified ILO Convention 81 on labor inspection. 
 
 
 
¶10.  Punishments and enforcements appear to be effective deterrents 
to child labor in the formal sector, but less so in the 
family-based and agricultural sectors.  Authorities did not 
formally investigate or punish violations related to the cotton 
harvest, and there were no reports of inspections resulting in 
prosecutions or administrative sanctions.  Enforcement was lacking 
due in part to long-standing societal acceptance of child labor as 
a cheap method of cotton harvesting (see para 41). 
 
 
 
¶11. International observers noted that many local officials in 
Uzbekistan's provinces appear to be caught in a "Catch-22" 
situation: on one hand, Uzbek legislation formally forbids them 
from recruiting students younger than 18 to pick cotton; on the 
other hand, other sources of labor are often sparse, as many adult 
laborers travel to neighboring countries where wages are higher. 
Local officials often have little choice but to mobilize 
schoolchildren to meet cotton quotas.  While local officials 
potentially face repercussions for failing to meet cotton quotas, 
they are not punished for violating Uzbekistan's child labor 
legislation.  International organizations also reported that local 
officials in some regions exhibit a poor understanding of the 
country's child labor legislation.  For this reason, they believe 
that efforts to raise awareness about child labor legislation were 
critical. 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  004 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶12.  Government offices with responsibility for fighting human 
trafficking included the Ministry of Interior's Office for 
Combating Trafficking, Crime Prevention Department, and Department 
of Entry-Exit and Citizenship; the National Security Service's 
Office for Fighting Organized Crime, Terrorism, and Drugs; the 
Office of the Prosecutor General; the Ministry of Labor; the 
Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the 
State Women's Committee.  A government Inter-Agency Commission on 
Combating Trafficking in Persons meets quarterly and consists of 
representatives from the government entities listed above. 
 
 
 
¶13.  In 2008, the government continued to investigate numerous 
trafficking-related crimes through the Ministry of Internal Affairs 
(MVD) TIP Unit and the Prosecutor's Office.  The number of 
trafficking-related convictions continued to rise this year. 
According to a report released by the Ministry of Justice in 
October, during the first nine months of 2008, Uzbek authorities 
opened 436 criminal cases against suspected traffickers, resulting 
in 339 convictions (293 men and 136 women).  In 2007, authorities 
investigated 303 suspects on human trafficking charges, resulting 
in 185 convictions.  The number of publicly reported convictions of 
traffickers increased after the adoption of the new Criminal Code 
amendments in September 2008.  The Ministries of Foreign and 
Internal Affairs and local contacts indicated that convicted 
traffickers are increasingly serving time in jail and are not being 
amnestied, as previously had been the case.  An independent 
activist also noted that individuals convicted of human trafficking 
were now among those groups of prisoners who were generally not 
considered for amnesty. 
 
 
 
III) Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms 
of Child Labor 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
 
 
¶14.  Since 1994, UNICEF has worked closely with the Uzbek 
government to promote the protection and development of children. 
Though its child protection project, UNICEF continues to promote 
policy changes that will establish a protective environment for 
children though legislative reform and advocacy for child care 
reform.  In 2008, UNICEF completed trainings for local officials in 
nine regions of the country on the CRC, part of which focused on 
the worst forms of child labor.  The trainings reportedly raised 
the awareness of local officials about the country's existing 
anti-child labor legislation, including the 2001 decree expressly 
forbidding those under 18 years' of age from engaging in manual 
cotton harvesting (see para 6).  UNICEF also conducted trainings at 
schools for students and teachers on child labor issues in five 
different regions of the country.  In January 2009, UNICEF met with 
the Minister of Labor, who expressed support for continued 
cooperation on awareness raising activities in 2009.  UNICEF also 
supported the creation of a Children's Parliament in Tashkent.  In 
2008, the Children's Parliament decided that one of its functions 
would be to monitor the use of child labor in Uzbekistan. 
 
 
 
¶15.  UNICEF's HIV/AIDS prevention project continues to support 
existing government efforts to improve awareness of healthy 
lifestyles for at-risk adolescents.  In 2007, UNICEF completed an 
unpublished report on internal and external trafficking of children 
in 2007.  The report uncovered few specific cases of children being 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  005 OF 013 
 
 
 
trafficked internally or externally, but concluded that the number 
of children being trafficked internally likely exceeded the number 
being trafficked externally.  The report also found that children 
at orphanages or those who had been abused were the most 
susceptible to being trafficked. 
 
 
 
¶16.  In 2005, ILO's International Program on the Elimination of 
Child Labor (IPEC) began a regional project to take action against 
the worst forms of child labor.  At the national level, the project 
seeks to provide government, worker and employer organizations, 
NGOs and other partners with the technical skills and 
organizational capacity necessary to formulate and implement 
policies to protect, rehabilitate and reintegrate children engaged 
in the worst forms of child labor. 
 
 
 
¶17.  In 2006, ILO-IPEC launched a social dialogue process on child 
labor through the creation of a multi-agency government working 
group that included: UNICEF; the Cabinet of Ministers Social 
Complex; the Ministries of Labor, Health, Public Education, and 
Higher and Specialized Education; the National Human Rights Center; 
the Children's Fund; and trade unions.  The working group continues 
to meet regularly and was instrumental in the government's decision 
to adopt ILO anti-child labor conventions this year.  The working 
group also continues to seek to strengthen legal regulations on 
child labor and enhanced mechanisms for prosecution of illicit 
activities.  In addition, ILO reported that the working group 
successfully promoted the inclusion of many child labor-related 
action points into the Uzbek government's National Program of 
Improving Children's Well-Being for 2007-2011.  The Program's 
relevant action points include: implementing awareness-raising 
activities on children's rights; holding training courses for 
authorities on preventing children from dropping out of school; 
developing a child labor monitoring system; skills training for 
at-risk children and children who dropped out of the education 
system; capacity building for law enforcement on prevention of the 
worst forms of child labor; regular assessment and studies on the 
use of child labor; child labor roundtables with representation 
from the government and international organizations; and revising 
current agricultural practices. 
 
 
 
¶18.  In 2008, in collaboration with the Occupational Safety and 
Health Center of the Uzbek Ministry of Labor, ILO created a manual 
on occupational safety and health which included information on the 
worst forms of child labor and made specific reference to the 
government's 2001 decree banning children under 18 years from 
picking cotton (see para 6).  In consultation with the government, 
ILO also created posters which depict hazardous forms of labor for 
youth, including manual cotton picking.  ILO used the manual and 
posters to conduct trainings for 15 labor inspectors, 14 
occupational safety and health doctors, 25 employees of the 
Association of Farmers, and 100 trade union activists.  Afterwards, 
these trainees then conducted their own trainings across the 
country for farmers and school administrators, in the process 
distributing 1,000 copies of the manual and 10,000 copies of the 
posters.  The trainees also established labor representatives at 
farms to oversee occupational safety and health issues, including 
monitoring incidences of child labor.  In addition, ILO conducted 
trainings for 630 juvenile delinquency officers in six regions of 
the country.  It also worked with a group of journalists at 
state-controlled media outlets to raise awareness about the worst 
forms of child labor.  ILO continued to work with parents and 
mahalla (neighborhood committee) members to establish a 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  006 OF 013 
 
 
 
community-based child labor monitoring system. 
 
 
 
¶19.  ILO and UNICEF reported cooperation with officials from the 
state-controlled National Human Rights Center in raising awareness 
of recent child labor legal reforms among government officials and 
the general populace, including the publishing of books in Uzbek on 
ILO anti-child labor conventions, the UN Convention on the Rights 
of the Child, and the new Uzbek law on the rights of the child. 
The Chairman of the National Human Rights Center visited ILO's 
headquarters in Vienna in 2008.  ILO also collaborated with the 
Uzbek Interparliamentary Union to publish a book in Uzbek entitled 
"Putting an End to the Worst Forms of Child Labor," which was then 
delivered to all members of Parliament. 
 
 
 
¶20.  ILO reported that its efforts in Uzbekistan were hampered by 
the loss in fiscal year 2008 of 2.5 million dollars in Department 
of Labor funds for the ILO-IPEC regional program.  ILO continued to 
fund its activities by means of a one million euros grant from the 
German government, but noted that these funds were stretched thin. 
In August, ILO was approached by the Ministry of Justice to conduct 
trainings for prosecutors on filing child labor-related complaints. 
However, the ILO country representative departed Uzbekistan in 
September 2008 to accept a promotion, and ILO has not yet named a 
replacement. 
 
 
 
¶21.  ILO reported that there were farmers in Uzbekistan who did not 
use child labor during the cotton harvest.  Before its 
representative departed the country, ILO was organizing a project 
to promote the best practices of such farmers.  ILO also was 
pursuing a project with Uzbekistan's Association of Farmers to 
create "seasonal work brigades" of adult laborers that could pick 
cotton instead of children.  The workforce cooperatives would be 
made up of paid laborers drawn from the unemployed, especially 
those who used to work on collective farms.  The cooperatives would 
work throughout the year, and would be involved in harvesting, 
seeding, weeding, and the improvement of irrigation systems.  The 
state-controlled media carried articles this year on farmers that 
used seasonal workers instead of child labor during the cotton 
harvest.  For example, in October, the state-controlled 
UzReport.com website reported that the private Muruvvat-teks firm - 
with farmland in Syrdarya, Jizzakh, and Tashkent provinces - 
successfully fulfilled its 2008 state cotton quota without the use 
of schoolchildren.  Instead, the firm reportedly used 1,500 adult 
employees, as well as 10,000 seasonal workers who were brought in 
from the Ferghana Valley and Samarkand and Bukhara provinces. 
 
 
 
¶22.  The government appears to be moving towards reducing the 
amount of farmland dedicated to cotton cultivation, which should 
result in reduced incidences of child labor, as most schoolchildren 
who work in agriculture pick cotton.  In October, President Karimov 
signed a decree on  "On Measures to Optimize and Increase the 
Production of Food Crops," which called for an immediate reduction 
in the available land for cotton cultivation by an unspecified 
amount, while increasing the land set aside for growing grain and 
other food crops. 
 
 
 
¶23. President Karimov's youngest daughter Lola Karimova continues 
to be one of the most vocal advocates for the protection of 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  007 OF 013 
 
 
 
children and heads a large NGO devoted to child advocacy called 
"You Are Not Alone."  In 2004 Karimova established the National 
Center for Social Adaptation of Children, which continues to 
operate under the auspices of the Cabinet of Ministers' Social 
Complex.  The Center seeks to: study children's problems 
(particularly of at-risk children); develop risk prevention 
programs; monitor state programs targeted at children; and train 
specialized workers for assisting disabled children.  In October 
2008, Karimova, who now serves as Uzbekistan's Permanent 
Representative at UNESCO, spoke in support of the increased use of 
inclusive education for children with disabilities in Uzbekistan at 
an international conference in Tashkent. 
 
 
 
¶24.  In 2008, the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Democracy, 
Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) created a multi-stakeholder 
initiative on child labor in Uzbekistan.  The initiative - which 
aims at facilitating dialogue among Uzbek-cotton stakeholder and 
includes representatives from major U.S. brands and retailers, 
socially-responsible investors, U.S. government agencies, 
international NGOs, the World Bank, UNICEF and ILO - met on several 
occasions in Washington this year. On December 19, 2008, the Uzbek 
Ambassador to the United States attended a meeting of the 
initiative's working group in Washington. 
 
 
 
¶25.  During the year, the Uzbek government continued to focus on 
TIP prevention.  A specialized antitrafficking unit in the Ministry 
of Interior established in 2004 continued to cooperate with NGOs on 
antitrafficking training for law enforcement and consular 
officials; the unit also supported victims who testified against 
traffickers and organized public awareness campaigns. In the fall 
of 2008, the government ramped up a wide-ranging public awareness 
campaign in the state-controlled media - including newspapers, 
radio, television, and internet news websites - warning citizens, 
including minors, about the dangers of trafficking for both forced 
labor and sexual exploitation.  Government-owned television 
stations also worked with local NGOs to broadcast antitrafficking 
messages and to publicize the regional NGO hot lines that counseled 
actual and potential victims. 
 
 
 
¶26.  Government officials continued to work with the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) and local NGOs on programs to 
prevent trafficking in persons by placing awareness posters in 
public buses, passport offices, consular sections, and on large 
city billboards.  In several different regions of Uzbekistan, 
antitrafficking NGOs, with the participation of law enforcement and 
local government officials, conducted seminars for orphanages, 
secondary schools, and higher education institutions and developed 
informational brochures and educational manuals for teachers and 
students.  During the summer, the NGOs organized antitrafficking 
seminars at summer camps across Uzbekistan for youth.  The NGOs 
also worked with Uzbekistan's mahallas (neighborhood committees) 
and religious leaders to raise awareness about trafficking, 
especially in rural areas. 
 
 
 
¶27.  IOM helped repatriate to Uzbekistan victims, including minors, 
who were trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation.  In several 
of the cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Internal Affairs 
provided assistance in preparing documents necessary for their 
repatriation. IOM also reported that police, consular officials, 
and border guards referred victims to NGOs and shelters for 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  008 OF 013 
 
 
 
services.  The government routinely allowed IOM to assist groups of 
returning victims at the airport, help them through entry 
processing, and participate in the preliminary statements that they 
give to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 
 
 
 
¶28. The government provided occasional assistance to victims at two 
shelters operated by antitrafficking NGOs.  Some of the victims 
housed at the shelters were minors.  On November 5, 2008, President 
Karimov signed a decree instructing the Ministry of Labor to open a 
national rehabilitation center in Tashkent to assist and protect 
human trafficking victims, including minors. The Ministry of 
Interior officials also discussed plans to open additional 
government-run shelters for trafficking victims in several 
provinces. 
 
 
 
IV) Comprehensive Policy Aimed at Eliminating Child Labor 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
 
¶29.  In 2008, Uzbekistan finally adopted a comprehensive policy on 
the elimination of child labor.  In September, the government 
adopted a National Action Plan on implementation of ILO Conventions 
182 and 138, which called for the abolishment of the mobilization 
of children for the annual cotton harvest. The plan, which was 
developed with input from international organizations, has three 
main sections: strengthening the anti-child labor legislative 
framework; enhancing the monitoring mechanisms of child labor; and 
engaging in an awareness raising campaign on the worst forms of 
child labor. The Plan includes mechanisms for implementation of ILO 
child labor conventions, deadlines for performance, and the 
ministries responsible for each activity.  Articles 11 and 12 in 
the Plan expressly prohibit forced labor by schoolchildren and call 
for mechanisms to be improved to ensure school attendance. Other 
articles of the Plan also refer to data gathering, accounting, 
inspection, permanent monitoring to ensure national compliance with 
ILO conventions, and participation by Uzbek officials in 
international discussions on child labor. 
 
 
 
¶30.  Knowledgeable international observers described the National 
Action Plan as "not perfect" but "clear progress."  While 
government officials had been previously unwilling even to admit 
the existence of child labor in Uzbekistan, international observers 
noted that key government representatives now publicly acknowledged 
that child labor existed and were preparing steps to combat the 
problem.  After the adoption of the plan, the Prime Minister warned 
regional governors not to mobilize children "under any 
circumstances," and the Ministry of Labor also delivered a letter 
to the Ministry of Education and the Association of Farmers on the 
illegality of mobilizing children for the cotton harvest. 
 
 
 
¶31.  In July, UNICEF participated in a government roundtable 
focusing on the development and implementation of the National 
Action Plan.  The roundtable was described as "the largest number 
of high level Ministers and dignitaries, from the broadest range of 
government Ministries, ever to publicly discuss ways to eliminate 
forced child labor in cotton harvesting."  There was open 
discussion of the need for an accurate assessment of the extant of 
child labor in Uzbekistan and how international organizations could 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  009 OF 013 
 
 
 
participate in the assessment.  The Ministry of Education and the 
state-controlled Association of Farmers were asked to take all 
necessary steps to ensure that children were not mobilized this 
year, while the Prosecutor General's Office was asked to monitor 
the situation and take necessary disciplinary action against those 
who exploit children.  In general, international observers working 
on child labor issues in Uzbekistan reported that high-level 
officials in Tashkent appeared genuinely committed to combating 
child labor 
 
 
 
¶32.  The government declared 2008 the "Year of Youth," during which 
it increased educational expenditures and job training for young 
people and undertook other measures to protect the rights and 
interests of youth. 
 
 
 
¶33.  Education is compulsory in Uzbekistan.  The law now provides 
for free compulsory education for 12 years through basic and 
secondary school. In accordance with a 2007 four-year national 
action plan on securing child welfare, the government continued 
implementation this year of a transition from 9-year to 12-year 
mandatory free secondary education, including vocational education. 
The government has constructed numerous new three-year vocational 
schools and academic colleges and lyceums in all regions of the 
country.  Successful implementation of the program will ensure that 
children will now complete secondary education at 18 years of age 
with the necessary professional skills to enter the labor market. 
Currently there are approximately 100 lyceums and 900 vocational 
schools offering courses to about a million students.  Another 
300,000 students attend the country's 65 higher education 
establishments. 
 
 
 
¶34.  The latest government statistics report that 98 percent of 
children completed basic school education.  To encourage school 
attendance, the government provided aid to students from low-income 
families in the form of scholarships, full or partial boarding, 
textbooks, and clothing.  In addition, the government subsidized 
health care, and children from low-income households were provided 
with free medical services.  In practice, however, shortages and 
budget difficulties meant that many families had to pay education 
expenses. Teachers earned extremely low salaries and routinely 
expected regular payments from students and their parents.  A youth 
social protection program offers retraining and skills improvement 
classes for school dropouts. 
 
 
 
V) Progress Report: Incidence and Nature of Child Labor 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
 
¶35.  The mobilization of students for the annual cotton harvest, a 
practice dating back to the Soviet era, continued this autumn. 
International observers conducted informal monitoring in at least 
nine provinces of the country, traveling to less developed regions 
of each province to talk directly with children, parents, teachers, 
school directors, farmers, and local officials.  The results of the 
informal monitoring also tracked with the observations of Emboffs 
as they traveled around Uzbekistan's provinces during the cotton 
harvest this year. 
 
TASHKENT 00000073  010 OF 013 
 
 
 
¶36.  Unlike in previous years, authorities this year initially 
appeared to have made a concerted effort to prevent students under 
the age 16 at schools from being mobilized.  Field observations by 
international observers indicated that early in the harvesting 
season there were fewer schoolchildren picking cotton than in 
previous years; however, schoolchildren were ultimately mobilized 
in several regions of the country.  International observers 
believed that local officials came under increase pressure later in 
the cotton harvest to meet cotton quotas due to a poor harvest, 
which was negatively impacted by water shortages over the summer 
and early autumn rains that degraded the quality of the cotton 
remaining in the fields. 
 
 
 
¶37.  International observers found that the age of children picking 
cotton and conditions varied widely by region.  The majority of 
children observed picking cotton were older than 15 and the vast 
majority were older than 11, though a few children as young as nine 
were seen picking cotton in some areas.  Students at colleges and 
universities, including those between the ages of 16 and 18, were 
mobilized for the cotton harvest in greater numbers and in most 
regions of the country.  In some areas, international observers 
found no children picking cotton or children only picking cotton in 
the presence of their parents.  Most children picking cotton in 
southern Kazakhstan were Uzbek children who traveled there with 
their parents. 
 
 
 
¶38.  In addition, international observers found that conditions for 
students picking cotton varied greatly across the country.  In some 
areas, schoolchildren picked cotton only half the day and attended 
school the rest of the day, while in other areas students picked 
cotton all day (from roughly 8 am until 6 pm).  In some regions, 
schoolchildren were provided food and water (for which they were 
occasionally charged), while in other areas children brought their 
own food and water from home.  Some students picked cotton for a 
month and half, while others picked cotton for a few weeks. 
International observers found that wages paid to students ranged 
from roughly 60 to 100 soums (roughly 4 to 7 cents) per kilo of 
cotton picked and tended to increase as the harvest progressed 
(presumably because the amount of cotton left to be picked 
decreased).  International observers found no instances in which 
students were not promised a wage, but a few instances where 
children had not yet been paid.  While schoolchildren generally 
returned home each evening, older students at colleges and 
universities were sometimes housed near more remote cotton fields 
and were away from home for longer periods of time.  International 
observers reported finding that conditions for older students were 
usually satisfactory. 
 
 
 
¶39.  International observers did not find any harmful pesticides or 
herbicides were used to produce cotton in Uzbekistan, which relies 
mostly on organic pesticides and herbicides.  Farmers reported that 
organic farming was more advanced in Uzbekistan than in Kazakhstan, 
mostly because Uzbek farmers are poorer and simply cannot afford 
expensive chemical pesticides and herbicides. 
 
 
 
¶40.  International observers believed that the wide variations in 
labor practices across the country can be explained by the fact 
that local officials and school directors appear to have 
 
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considerable latitude in deciding whom to mobilize, for how long, 
and under what conditions.  Another important factor was the 
availability of adult labor in a particular region.  International 
observers noted that regions where many adults migrated abroad for 
work tended to be the regions which relied most heavily on 
mobilizing students.  Some adult laborers travel to Kyrgyzstan and 
Kazakhstan during the cotton harvest, where they are paid higher 
wages than in Uzbekistan.  Large numbers of adult males migrate 
from Uzbekistan for larger periods of time to work in construction 
and agriculture in Kazakhstan and Russia. 
 
 
 
¶41.   International observers found that the mobilization of 
students for cotton picking was still widely accepted by local 
officials, families, and the students themselves.  Most adults in 
Uzbekistan were mobilized to pick cotton as children, and it is 
still seen by most Uzbeks as a way to earn money for one's family 
and contribute to the economic development of the country. 
International observers also found that some children observed 
picking cotton do so with their parents outside of school hours. 
While the overwhelming number of schoolchildren picking cotton did 
so voluntarily, international observers found a few instances where 
schoolchildren who resisted mobilization were reportedly threatened 
with lower grades at school. 
 
 
 
¶42.  There are no reliable figures and few dependable sources of 
information regarding the true extent of child labor in the country 
and conditions.  The latest available statistics from 2005 on the 
percentage of children involved in labor ranged from 2 to 19 
percent.  International NGOs which lack personnel on the ground in 
Uzbekistan reported child labor statistics collected by local human 
rights and political opposition activists, but their research 
methods were flawed and the statistics were unreliable.  Much 
information reported by local activists on the use of child labor 
is anecdotal, unverifiable, and likely exaggerated. International 
observers who examined the reporting by local activists found that 
it sometimes did not track with what they had seen with their own 
eyes while conducting an informal, but widespread, survey of child 
labor practices this fall.  The most reliable and objective source 
of information on the use of child labor during the cotton harvest 
remains international organizations with offices in Uzbekistan. 
 
 
 
¶43.  After the 2007 harvest, human rights and opposition activists 
provided estimates of the number of school-age children involved in 
cotton picking ranging from tens of thousands to up to two million. 
Activists explained that the estimates were developed by conducting 
interviews with a limited number of individuals in specific 
districts of one or two provinces of Uzbekistan (usually in areas 
where the use of child labor was most prevalent) and then 
generalized their findings for the country as a whole.  But as the 
prevalence of child labor during the cotton harvest varies widely 
from region to region, such estimates lack validity. 
 
 
 
¶44.  In 2008, there has been some limited reporting by local 
activists on the use of child labor in the production of silk in 
the Ferghana Valley and in Bukhara province.  However, these 
reports have been anecdotal and their reliability is uncertain.  In 
contrast to the use of child labor for cotton picking, the use of 
child labor in the production of silk appears to be much less 
widespread and involves a far more limited number of students. 
More research and investigation is required to establish the 
 
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credibility of such reports. 
 
 
 
¶45.  Children routinely work in family businesses in cities during 
school holidays and vacations.  Children also work in street 
vending, services, construction, building materials manufacturing, 
and transportation.  Older children frequently work as temporary 
hired workers without access to the social insurance system. 
Although the prevalence of child labor in the agricultural sector 
is high, traditional child labor concerns in the manufacturing 
sector are not an issue.  The massive contraction of the 
manufacturing sector following independence left large swathes of 
the Uzbek adult population without employment, ensuring that they 
would be first in line for manufacturing jobs. 
 
 
 
¶46.  Human trafficking remained an issue in Uzbekistan, although 
the extent of child trafficking is unclear.  This year there were 
credible reports that women, including some minors, were trafficked 
for sexual exploitation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, 
India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Turkey and Ukraine. There were 
also reports this year of victims transiting Kyrgyzstan, 
Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Azerbaijan for other destinations. 
According to the Justice Ministry's October 2008 report, during the 
first nine months of 2008, a total of 1,449 Uzbek citizens were 
trafficked. 1,283 (88.5 percent) of the victims were men trafficked 
for labor exploitation, 166 (11.5 percent) were women trafficked 
for sexual exploitation, while 28 of the victims were minors (it 
was not reported whether they were girls or boys).  In the first 
nine months of 2008, IOM registered one case of a female minor 
being trafficked internally and 13 cases of minors being trafficked 
externally: five female minors were trafficked to UAE; one female 
minor was trafficked each to India, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey; 
three male minors were trafficked to Kazakhstan; and one male minor 
was trafficked to Russia. 
 
 
 
VI) How to Effectively Combat Child Labor in Uzbekistan 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
 
¶47.  Over the past year and a half, several European and American 
retailers (including Wal-Mart, Tesco, Hennes and Mauritz, JC Penny, 
and Marks and Spencer) have announced a boycott of Uzbek cotton due 
to child labor concerns.  Knowledgeable international observers on 
the ground in Uzbekistan have argued against pursuing a boycott of 
Uzbek cotton, noting that it could have many unforeseen, negative 
consequences.  Since the Uzbek economy is still dependent on cotton 
exports (though cotton accounted for only 12 percent of 
Uzbekistan's foreign earnings in 2007, down from 66 percent in the 
early 1990s), these observers note that any changes to the current 
system of cotton collection could have profound and unanticipated 
economic effects that may end up actually hurting those it is 
intended to help, including rural laborers and their children 
(Note: While many adult laborers migrated to neighboring countries 
to pick cotton, many adult laborers still pick cotton in 
Uzbekistan, particularly earlier in the season when cotton is more 
plentiful in the fields.  Such laborers, and their families, are 
heavily dependent upon the income they earn from the cotton harvest 
each year.  End note.)  International observers also note that a 
boycott could potentially hurt workers in other countries which 
depend on Uzbek cotton, such as in Bangladesh. 
 
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¶48.  The government's failure to prevent all schoolchildren from 
being mobilized for the cotton harvest this year - while 
disappointing - comes as no surprise, as the government's National 
Action Plan was overly ambitious, aiming to eliminate child labor 
in Uzbekistan over too short a period of time.  Knowledgeable 
international observers on the ground in Uzbekistan argue that any 
serious attempt to combat child labor in Uzbekistan should not aim 
to eradicate the problem overnight, but rather should be part of a 
long-term strategy that addresses broader and related issues, such 
as rural poverty, unemployment, labor migration, and the perverse 
effects of cotton quotas.  Until alternative sources of labor are 
in place, attempts to completely eliminate the mobilization of 
schoolchildren are likely to fail. 
BUTCHER 
 
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