The event was held by the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan in cooperation with the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis and the International Labour Organization.

The participants discussed the labour reform under way in Uzbekistan as well as the progress achieved in this area.

– The problems afflicting, in particular, the world of work are being addressed over the last three years at the President’s initiative, – said Makmudjon Isaev, head of the department for protection of workers’ socioeconomic interests at the CFTU. – The General Agreement signed between the government, trade unions and employer associations provides a basis for 105 sectoral and 14 territorial agreements and more than 171 thousand collective contracts. These documents serve to address the issues of socioeconomic interests and rights of workers.

Over the last three years, Uzbekistan ratified the fundamental ILO instruments, namely, the Freedom of Association Convention (No. 87), the Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention (No. 144), the Labour Inspection Convention (No. 81), the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention (No. 129), and the Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention (No. 29). On July 30 this year, the President signed a decree to improve the human trafficking and forced labour prevention system and to establish the National Human Trafficking and Forced Labour Prevention Commission.

The Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution to set up the national and territorial tripartite commissions for social and labour relations to support the national tripartite dialogue.

– I have been working in Uzbekistan for three years, – said Jonas Astrup, Chief Technical Advisor to the ILO Project of Third Party Monitoring of Child Labour and Forced Labour in the Cotton Sector. – I have witnessed the major reforms of labour relations in this country.

As noted Jonas Astrup, the third party monitoring did not observe cases of systemic use of child labour and forced labour last year. The feedback mechanism put in place within the system of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan was also praised as effective.

As was discussed at the event, the National Social Protection Strategy based on the principle of social protection for all underlying the ILO Centenary Initiative will be developed and approved in Uzbekistan by 2021.

(adapted from UzA reports)