News on forced labour

March 2022

  1. © Peretz Partensky 2022

    ILO welcomes lifting of Cotton Campaign boycott of Uzbekistan

    14 March 2022

    Agricultural and economic reforms have led to the eradication of systemic child labour and forced labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest.

  2. © ILO 2022

    Uzbek cotton is free from systemic child labour and forced labour

    01 March 2022

    Almost two million people are recruited every year for the annual cotton harvest in Uzbekistan. The country has succeeded in eradicating systemic forced labour and systemic child labour during the 2021 cotton production cycle, according to new ILO findings.

August 2021

  1. An end to child labour and forced labour in Uzbekistan's cotton harvest

    31 August 2021

    Uzbekistan is the sixth largest producer of cotton in the world. Two million people pick the cotton every harvest. The ILO is working with the government, workers, employers and civic society to bring about an end to child labour and forced labour during the harvest.

February 2020

  1. © ILO 2022

    Forced and child labour in Uzbek cotton fields continues to fall

    05 February 2020

    Systematic and systemic child and forced labour were not used by the Uzbekistan government during the 2019 cotton production cycle, according to a new ILO report.

September 2019

  1. Uzbekistan ratifies the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention

    17 September 2019

    Uzbekistan becomes the 40th ILO member State having ratified the Protocol

December 2018

  1. ILO Director-General on First Ever Visit to Uzbekistan

    14 December 2018

    Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), is on his first ever visit to Uzbekistan.

November 2018

  1. Major progress on forced labour and child labour in Uzbekistan cotton fields

    22 November 2018

    International Labour Organization monitors say that forced labour during the cotton harvest in Uzbekistan has been significantly reduced. As in previous years child labour is no longer a concern.

September 2018

  1. © David Stanley 2022

    ILO continues rigorous monitoring of Uzbekistan cotton harvest

    20 September 2018

    A statement in response to a report by Lasslett and Gstrein on the monitoring of Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest.

February 2018

  1. © Carsten ten Brink 2022

    ILO reports important progress on child labour and forced labour in Uzbek cotton fields

    13 February 2018

    Monitoring team finds strong political will from central government to end fundamental labour rights’ violations during the 2017 cotton harvest: Child labour is no longer an issue, while forced labour is being systematically addressed.

December 2017

  1. © Peretz Partensky 2022

    Uzbekistan ends systematic use of child labour and takes measures to end forced labour

    12 December 2017

    An ILO team monitoring the cotton harvest in Uzbekistan has found that child labour is no longer systematically used and that measures are being taken to end the use of forced labour. These conclusions were discussed at a roundtable in Tashkent.