Third-Party Monitoring of Measures Against Child Labour and Forced Labour During the 2017 Cotton Harvest in Uzbekistan
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Third-party monitoring of measures against child labour and forced labour during the 2017 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan A report submitted to the World Bank by the International Labour Office Foreword This report has been prepared by the International Labour Office pursuant to an agreement between the ILO and the World Bank to carry out third-party monitoring of the World Bank-financed projects in agriculture, water and education sectors in Uzbekistan. Third party monitoring was undertaken and reported on also in 2015 and 2016. The ILO is grateful for the cooperation of the tripartite constituents of Uzbekistan in the monitoring and assessment process. The ILO has tried to reflect the constructive comments and input received from national governmental and non-governmental organizations, including civil society representatives, throughout the process. In line with the request of its partners in Uzbekistan the report contains a number of concrete suggestions for further opportunities, including cooperation involving the ILO and the World Bank. The ILO alone is responsible for the conclusions in this report. The ILO Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) Project has been made possible by a Multi-Donor Trust Fund established by the World Bank with support from the European Union, the United States and Switzerland in order to finance activities to support the elimination of child labour and forced labour in the cotton sector in Uzbekistan and to strengthen the capacity of state and non-state institutions to address the sustainability of cotton production and agricultural reform in general. February 2018 Table of contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Summary of 2017 observations ...................................................................................................... 7 2. Summary of 2017 recommendations ............................................................................................. 8 3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Pre-harvest phase ...................................................................................................................... 10 3.1.1 Nationwide training and capacity building .......................................................................... 10 3.1.2 Pre-harvest Roundtable ....................................................................................................... 12 3.2 The harvest phase ...................................................................................................................... 14 3.2.1 On-site monitoring by ILO experts ....................................................................................... 14 3.2.2 Telephone poll methodology ............................................................................................... 16 3.2.3 Awareness raising campaign ................................................................................................ 18 3.3 Post-harvest consultation and engagement .............................................................................. 19 3.3.1 Roundtables ......................................................................................................................... 19 3.3.2 Civil society consultation ..................................................................................................... 19 4. Observations ..................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 Wages ......................................................................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Wage increases .................................................................................................................... 20 4.1.2 Wage differentiation ............................................................................................................ 20 4.1.3 Wage deductions ................................................................................................................. 21 4.2 Feedback mechanisms ............................................................................................................... 21 4.2.1 Federation of Trade Unions (FTUU) ..................................................................................... 22 4.2.2 Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations ................................................................... 23 4.2.3 Awareness levels of feedback mechanisms ......................................................................... 24 4.2.4 World Bank project specific feedback mechanisms ............................................................ 24 4.3 Engagement with the civil society ............................................................................................. 25 4.3.1 Dialogue with local labour rights activists ........................................................................... 25 4.3.2 Dialogue with international groups ..................................................................................... 26 4.4 Recruitment of cotton pickers ................................................................................................... 26 4.4.1 Perception of the cotton pickers ......................................................................................... 26 4.4.2 Efforts to mobilize unemployed people............................................................................... 27 4.4.3 Recall of certain risk groups ................................................................................................. 28 5. Summary of key findings for World Bank projects ........................................................................... 30 5.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 30 5.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 30 5.2.1 Interview sampling sizes ...................................................................................................... 30 Page 2 of 79 5.2.2 Exposure to risks of child labour and forced labour ............................................................ 30 5.2.3 Awareness levels .................................................................................................................. 31 5.2.4 Legal safeguards ................................................................................................................... 31 5.3 Horticulture Development Project (P133703) ........................................................................... 31 5.3.1 Methodology for the HDP monitoring ................................................................................. 32 5.3.2 HDP Project specific recommendations ............................................................................... 34 5.4 Improving Pre-primary and General Secondary Education Project (P144856) ......................... 35 5.4.1 Methodology for the GPE monitoring and major findings .................................................. 35 5.4.2 GPE Project specific recommendations ............................................................................... 37 5.5 South Karakalpakstan Water Resources Management Improvement Project (P127764)......... 37 5.5.1 Methodology for the SKWRMIP monitoring and major findings ......................................... 37 5.5.2 SKWRMIP Pilot project on recruitment practices and mechanization ................................ 42 5.5.3 SKWRMIP Project specific recommendations ...................................................................... 43 5.6 Modernizing Higher Education Project (P128516)..................................................................... 43 5.6.1 Methodology for the MHE project monitoring and major findings ..................................... 44 5.6.2 Major recommendations specific to the MHE project ........................................................ 46 5.7 Second Phase of Ferghana Valley Water Resources Management project (P149610) ............. 46 5.7.1. Project specific recommendations...................................................................................... 48 List of Annexes ...................................................................................................................................... 49 Annex 1: ILO Press Release on 12 December 2017 .............................................................................. 50 Annex 2: Extract from Uzbek media on how the ILO press release and key findings were covered ... 52 Annex 3: List of ILO experts .................................................................................................................. 54 Annex 4: Districts covered by ILO experts ............................................................................................ 55 Annex 5: Interview questionnaires used by ILO experts ...................................................................... 56 Annex 6: Telephone poll methodology ................................................................................................. 65 Aim of the telephone poll ................................................................................................................