Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TASHKENT1024
2008-09-03 05:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tashkent
Cable title:  

UNICEF PLANS INFORMAL CHILD LABOR ASSESSMENT

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB SOCI UZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001024 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL AND G/TIP FOR MEGAN HALL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UNICEF PLANS INFORMAL CHILD LABOR ASSESSMENT
DURING COTTON HARVEST

REF: TASHKENT 949

Classified By: Political Officer Tim Buckley for reasons 1.4 (B,D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 001024

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL AND G/TIP FOR MEGAN HALL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ELAB SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UNICEF PLANS INFORMAL CHILD LABOR ASSESSMENT
DURING COTTON HARVEST

REF: TASHKENT 949

Classified By: Political Officer Tim Buckley for reasons 1.4 (B,D)


1. (C) Summary: On August 27 Charge and poloff met with
UNICEF Representative in Uzbekistan Mahboob Shareef to
discuss plans to assess the extent of child labor during the
cotton harvest season as well as the agenda for the upcoming
September 16-18 Executive Board Meeting in New York. Shareef
reported that, despite initial hopes, there will not be an
official assessment in conjunction with the Government of
Uzbekistan. However, he said UNICEF will conduct an informal
assessment to gather sorely-needed data about the prevalence
of child labor. He also believes that authorities have
specific instructions this year, as a result of rising
international pressure, not to take children out of school to
perform labor. Nonetheless, he cautioned that the quota
system may still compel local officials to resort to child
labor. Shareef recommended urging the Government of
Uzbekistan to make a strong political statement against the
use of child labor and to continue gradual efforts to address
the problem; we agree with his assessment that the problem
"cannot be resolved overnight." Shareef also discussed
shortcomings in Uzbekistan's education system and highlighted
proposed UNICEF's plans to address them. End summary.

Informal Assessment Only
--------------


2. (C) Charge d'Affaires and poloff met on August 27 with
Shareef to discuss the status of UNICEF's plans to conduct an
assessment of the extent of child labor during the fall
cotton harvest season. Shareef lamented that, despite
initial hope, the Government of Uzbekistan ultimately would
not agree to working together on an official assessment.
Alternatively, UNICEF plans to conduct an informal assessment
to gauge the problem, about which little concrete data is
available despite the high profile of the issue. He
underscored that Uzbekistan will not shake its image problem
without doing its part to prove child labor is not a problem,

as it claims.

Quotas May Drive Children to the Fields
--------------


3. (C) Shareef believes that, as a result of mounting
international attention to the child labor issue, education
officials have been instructed not to suspend courses or take
children younger than age 15 out of school in order to
support the fall harvest. While this is a step forward,
Shareef noted that the strict quota system in which each
province is assigned a share of the expected national cotton
yield can still compel local officials to mobilize children.
Provincial governors (or khokims) are held personally
responsible for ensuring that the quota is met, and they in
turn pass this pressure along to each township and district.
Fearful local officials may ultimately resort to conscripting
children to ensure that the quota is met, regardless of good
intentions by education officials not to disrupt the academic
year. Shareef stated that cotton generates USD one billion
for the Government of Uzbekistan annually and provides
crucial employment and income for millions -- even if the
wages are extremely low -- and the pressure will not
disappear.

Structural Reforms Needed in Ag Sector
--------------


4. (C) In addition to the quota system, Shareef also
discussed the need for greater mechanization in the cotton
sector, as neighboring Turkmenistan is doing with some

success. He said that even with mechanical cultivation there
is still a need for human labor to assist with approximately
40 percent of the crop, but the reduction in manual labor
would make a big difference. Shareef also explained that
Uzbekistan needs to diversify by adding different varieties
of cotton plants, which would help improve yields and reduce
the need to scour the fields as thoroughly. Another serious
problem is that experienced farm laborers travel to
Kazakhstan in large numbers during the harvest season where,
unlike in Uzbekistan, they earn better wages and get paid on
time. This seasonal outmigration reduces the pool of
available laborers and increases the likelihood children will
be pressed into service.

Government Officials Divided
--------------


5. (C) Shareef observed that he has encountered two distinct
groups within the Government of Uzbekistan: officials like
Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Ganiev on one hand who
acutely understand the business implications of potential
boycotts or sanctions and want to find solutions to child
labor problems; and on the other hand "hard-liners" who
bristle at what they see as international meddling and are
unfazed by international criticism. The key question,
according to Shareef, is who will emerge on top in the
struggle for influence. Shareef recently attended a meeting
of multiple government agencies at which Ganiev forcefully
told a deputy minister of education not to engage children in
cotton harvesting this year. He conceded this could have
been staged for his benefit but, regardless, it was the first
time he has heard an official speaking so cogently on the
subject. Another test will be the status of the draft
national action plan on child labor, which reportedly stalled
in the Cabinet of Ministers due to disagreements over its
content.


6. (C) Shareef said Uzbekistan would greatly aid its cause if
President Karimov issued a strong political statement against
the use of child labor, which would send a message that he is
concerned. This had an impact in neighboring Turkmenistan,
Shareef noted, after former President Niyazov took this first
step in 2005, which was followed up by a published message in

2006. His successor, President Berdimukhamedov, repeated
this in 2007 and 2008, which helped set a new tone throughout
the government. However, Shareef said that Foreign Minister
Norov recently restated the long-held official Uzbek position
that child labor "is not an issue here."

Executive Board Meeting
--------------


7. (C) UNICEF's Regional Executive Board Meeting will be held
from September 16-18 in New York, and Shareef predicted that
the issue of child labor in Uzbekistan "will definitely come
up." He said that Uzbekistan's Ambassador to the U.S.,
Abdulaziz Kamilov, will be invited to make a statement.
Shareef expressed hope that the board will recognize
engagement as the most productive strategy since "Uzbekistan
cannot resolve this problem in isolation." He specifically
encouraged the U.S. representative to support a strategy of
engagement as the most promising way forward.

Shortcomings in Education System
--------------


8. (C) In addition to child labor issues, Shareef mentioned
that access to education is not an issue for Uzbekistan's
youth, but rather the quality of education is a main concern.
School readiness is also a problem, as grade one is
typically the first structured educational setting most Uzbek

students encounter; Shareef noted this is in contrast to the
Soviet era when there was a decent pre-school system in
place, particularly on collective farms. He noted that there
is a lot of highly visible "bricks and mortar" investment in
schools throughout the country, but he lamented that there
has been no effort to link this with qualitative improvement.
Therefore, UNICEF is planning to work with the Government of
Uzbekistan, particularly with Deputy Khokims (governors)
responsible for local education affairs, to train teachers,
revise curriculums, and establish more pre-schools at the
mahalla (neighborhood) level.

Comment:
--------------


9. (C) In declining UNICEF's overtures to conduct an official
joint assessment on child labor, the Government of Uzbekistan
missed an opportunity to build good will, which could further
sharpen the criticism leveled against it. Officials in
Tashkent are doubtless worried about what results a full
assessment would turn up since even they are probably unaware
of how far provincial officials actually go to meet the
cotton quotas. The Government of Uzbekistan has shown an
increased willingness to admit problems this year --
officials now openly refer to mistakes in handling Andijon,
the existence of trafficking in persons crimes, and
shortcomings in the legal system -- and we will try to
convince Uzbek officials that similar frankness can be an
important step in resolving an issue that threatens its
economic lifeblood. Meanwhile, we agree with UNICEF
Representative Shareef that our interests in advancing
progress on child labor here would best be served by
supporting a strategy of engagement at the upcoming UNICEF
Regional Executive Board Meeting on September 16 in New York.

NORLAND