6 Feb in 11:00
Emerging Europe
A combination of government-led reform, international pressure, higher wages, and the return of migrant workers from abroad has all-but eradicated the use of child and forced labour in the Uzbek cotton harvest. As Emerging Europe
reports, although some local vestiges still remain, the systematic and systemic use of child and forced labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry has come to an end, according to a new report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report, compiled for the World Bank, shows that one in eight people of working age in Uzbekistan participated in the 2020 cotton harvest, which makes it the world’s largest recruitment effort. Sixty-five per cent of pickers were women, and the vast majority were from rural areas.