Internationale Arbeitsgruppe

für Friedensarbeit

gemeinnützig
 

 

Invitation letter

 

 

The Coalition Against Forced Child Labour in Uzbekistan would like to invite representatives of your organization to participate in a roundtable we are convening in Bremen, Germany, on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The topic of the roundtable is “Forced child labour in the Uzbek cotton industry: The position of the international community.”

 

Our coalition is made up of three European NGOs: Uzbekistan Initiative–London (UK), the International Working Group for Peace-building (Germany), and the Association “Human Rights in Central Asia” (France).

 

The purpose of this roundtable is to raise awareness within the international community about this shameful problem. It is an unfortunate fact that many international organizations, not to mention Western companies and consumers, have little understanding of the massive scale of exploitation of forced child labour in Uzbekistan.

 

The roundtable will address the following issues:

-                       How to evaluate the scale of the problem of forced child labour in Uzbekistan;

-                       The involvement of the Uzbek government in this practice, and the financial reasons for the continuing use of child labour in the Uzbek cotton fields;

-                       The legal aspects of this problem in their domestic and international dimensions;

-                       The potential for international cooperation on eradicating the practice of forced child labour in Uzbekistan, and consideration of the effectiveness of engagement and sanctions in respect to the Uzbek government, which is responsible for this practice;

-                       Other issues related to the practice of forced child labour in Uzbekistan.

The roundtable is being organized to coincide with the 29th International Cotton Conference, which will be held in Bremen from April 2-5, 2008. This underlines the intention of the Coalition Against Forced Child Labour in Uzbekistan to establish a constructive dialogue with the international cotton industry. Our intention is to work with industry leaders to make them fully aware of the social conditions under which Uzbek cotton is produced, with full confidence that the industry will take appropriate and socially responsible measures once they understand these facts.

The round table will take place on April 3, 2008 from 10.00 till 13.30 at the Ramada Überseehotel Bremen, Wachtstrasse 27-29, 28195 Bremen, Germany. The hotel’s telephone number is +49 421 3365 9975, and its website can be found here:

 

http://www.ramada.de/hotels/hotels_index.php?hotel_code=15708 .

 

We request that you reply stating your intention to attend the roundtable, or to send a colleague, by March 1st to Shahida Tulaganova, Uzbekistan Initiative London, by telephone at +44 78 09 54 59 09, or by email to uil@uzbekistaninitiative.com.  

 

Sincerely,

 

On behalf of the Coalition:

 

Shahida Tulaganova

 

Director, Uzbekistan Initiative London

76,Wellington Court, Wellington Road, London NW8 9TD, UK

Tel.: +44 78 09 54 59 09; uil@uzbekistaninitiative.com

www.uzbekistaninitiative.com

 

Bernhard Clasen

 

Co-chair, Internationale Arbeitsgruppe für Friedensarbeit, gemeinnützig

Ludwigstr. 14,41061 Mönchengladbach

T: 49 2161 205013,  Bernhard@Clasen.net

www.agkk.org