Internationale Arbeitsgruppe

für Friedensarbeit

gemeinnützig
 

 

Roundtable

Forced child labour in the Uzbek cotton industry and the position of the international community

 

Bremen, Germany, April 3, 2008

 

Program

 

9:30-10.00                Registration and Continental Breakfast

 

10:00-11.20              Introduction and Session I

                                 Forced child labour in Uzbekistan: Its domestic context

 

·         Forced child labour in the context of the overall situation with human rights in Uzbekistan

  • How to evaluate the scale of the problem
  • The involvement of the Uzbek government: its rationale and reasons
  • National legislation on child labour in Uzbekistan

 

Discussants:

·         Nadejda Atayeva, Association Droit de l’Homme en Asie Centrale, France

  • Alisher Ilkhamov, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK
  • Utkur Juraev, former employee of the Uzbek cotton industry, US resident

 

11.20-11:40              Coffee Break

 

11.40-13.10              Session II

                                 Forced Child Labour in Uzbekistan: Its international context

 

  • International law on child labour and child’s rights, and the Uzbek government’s international commitments in these areas
  • The potential for international cooperation on fighting the practice of forced child labour in Uzbekistan: engagement, sanctions, or other strategies

 

Discussants:

  • Shahida Tulaganova, Uzbekistan Initiative London, UK

·        Bernhard Clasen, Internationale Arbeitsgruppe für Friedensarbeit, gemeinnützig, Germany

 

 

13.10-13.30              Conclusion and discussion of next steps

 

 

 

 

Background of the roundtable

 

Uzbekistan is the one of the leading cotton-producing countries of the world. It is the sixth-largest cotton producer, and the third largest exporter of cotton fibre.

 

In the Soviet past, the government of the USSR systematically used forced child labour for cotton picking in Uzbekistan and other cotton-producing republics. In Uzbekistan, this practice is still going on. Unfortunately, the international community is paying very little attention to this shameful phenomenon, which contradicts not only national legislation of Uzbekistan but also international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child (1989) and the ILO core labour standards, specifically Conventions 29, 105, 138 and 182.

Unfortunately, many international organisations are unaware of the scale of the use of child labour in Uzbekistan. This roundtable is a rare attempt to attract the attention of the international community to this phenomenon.

 

The organiser of this roundtable is the Coalition Against Forced Child Labour in Uzbekistan, which is made up of three Europe-based NGOs, namely:

 

Uzbekistan Initiative London

76 Wellington Court, 55-67 Wellington Road, London NW8 9TD, UK

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

www.uzbekistaninitiative.com

 

Internationale Arbeitsgruppe für Friedensarbeit, gemeinnützig

Ludwigstr. 14, 41061 Mönchengladbach

Tel: +49 2161 205 018, Fax: +49 216 204 056;  Bernhard@Clasen.net

www.agkk.org

 

Association Droit de l’Homme en Asie Centrale

Centre MBE 140, 16, rue de Docteur Leroy,

72000 LE MANS  FRANCE

Tel.: +33 6 13 41 40 70; asiecentrale@neuf.fr