EMBASSY TASHKENT HOSTS CHILD LABOR ROUNDTABLE

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000949

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, SCA/PPD, G/TIP, IIP/NEA-SCA, AND DOL
DOL/ILAB FOR SEROKA MIHAIL, DRL/ILCSR FOR ALFRED ANZALDUA,
G/TIP FOR MEGAN HALL, IIP/NEA-SCA FOR ANDERS LYNCH,
SCA FOR JESSICA MAZZONE AND BRIAN RORAFF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2018
TAGS: PHUM ECON ELAB KPAO PGOV PREL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: EMBASSY TASHKENT HOSTS CHILD LABOR ROUNDTABLE

REF: TASHKENT 793

Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D)


1. (U) Summary: On August 11, poloff hosted an informal
roundtable at the Embassy on child labor in Uzbekistan in
conjunction with representatives from the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor
Organization (ILO). The roundtable was also attended by the
Charge, the Swiss Ambassador, the French and Italian DCMs,
and representatives from the British and Czech Embassies.
The main goal of the roundtable was to inform like-minded
Embassies about DRL's multi-stakeholder initiative on child
labor in Uzbekistan's cotton sector and a recent petition
challenging Uzbekistan's General System of Preferences (GSP)
benefits. In addition, UNICEF and ILO representatives
discussed recent efforts to engage the government on child
labor. The UNICEF representative was largely upbeat about
the Uzbek government's newly drafted National Action Plan to
implement ILO Conventions 182 and 138 (reftel),while the ILO
representative was somewhat more critical. Their
presentations were followed by a discussion on how best to
combat child labor and the viability of possible
alternatives. One positive outcome from the event was a
discussion among the participants of forming a task force to
monitor the government's anti-child labor efforts and
coordinate the formation of a single message on the issue.
End summary.

CHARGE'S OPENING REMARKS
--------------


2. (U) In his opening remarks, the Charge noted that while
Uzbekistan has used child labor in its cotton sector since
the Soviet era, it has recently taken greater steps to combat
the problem, including adopting ILO Conventions 182 (On the
Worst Forms of Child Labor) and 138 (On the Minimum Age of
Employment, whose adoption is not yet recognized by the ILO,
see para 13). The Charge explained that the United States
continues to urge the government to enforce its existing laws
against child labor and continue its cooperation with UNICEF
and ILO, including allowing the organizations to conduct an
independent assessment during this fall's cotton harvest.
The Charge also expressed a desire to coordinate efforts with
international organizations and like-minded Embassies so that
the Uzbeks hear a single message on the issue.

POLOFF EXPLAINS MULTI-STAKEHOLDER INITIATIVE
--------------


3. (U) Poloff then gave his presentation on DRL's creation
this year of a multi-stakeholder initiative on child labor in
Uzbekistan. Poloff observed how the issue gained increased
international attention after the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) aired a documentary on child labor in
Uzbekistan last fall, which was shortly followed by
announcements from several European retailers that they would
stop buying clothes or materials made with Uzbek cotton.


4. (U) Poloff explained that DRL's Deputy Assistant Secretary
first met with representatives of socially-responsible
investment firms to discuss the use of child labor in
Uzbekistan's cotton sector in January. He noted that DRL
then hosted an informal multi-stakeholder initiative in May
with 48 participants - including representatives from eight
major U.S. brands and retailers, six socially-responsible
investors, five U.S. government agencies, the World Bank,
UNICEF and ILO - the purpose of which was to facilitate
dialogue among Uzbek-cotton stakeholders. Poloff also
mentioned that as a result of the meeting, dialogue between
participants has continued through the formation of a working
group. In addition, poloff noted that a particular effort
has been seen on the part of brands and retailers to
coordinate strategy on the issue.

POLOFF NOTES GSP PETITION
--------------


5. (U) In addition, poloff explained that the U.S. State
Department is currently participating in an interagency
review process of a 2007 petition from the International
Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) to suspend Uzbekistan's Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) benefits. The petition alleges
that Uzbekistan has failed to fulfill commitments to
eradicate child labor. Poloff reported that the U.S.
government in April extended review of the GSP petition for
another year. In the meanwhile, poloff noted that the
Embassy has urged the government to take concrete steps to
combat child labor, including enforcing its own decree from
2001 which prohibits anyone under the age 18 from engaging in
manual cotton harvesting.


6. (U) Poloff also made available copies of the 2007 U.S.
State Department Human Rights Report chapter on child labor
in Uzbekistan and the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) 2007
Child Labor Report on Uzbekistan. He also noted that the
2008 version of the DOL report would come out soon, and
offered to forward an electronic copy to the attendees.

UNICEF PRESENTATION
--------------


7. (C) UNICEF Child Protection Officer Siyma Barkin began
her presentation by noting some of the challenges that UNICEF
continues to face in its efforts to combat child labor in
Uzbekistan. She noted that the mobilization of children for
the cotton harvest has become engrained in many, especially
rural, regions of the country. Another challenge was the
lack of awareness by government officials of existing
anti-child labor legislation. She also explained that
efforts to combat child labor were hampered by the lack of
official statistics. She noted that most sources on child
labor in Uzbekistan were informal and that it was still
unclear how many children participated each year and their
age range.

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN "NOT PERFECT, BUT CLEAR PROGRESS"
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Despite these challenges, Barkin noted that UNICEF
has seen some recent progress, including the government's
drafting of a National Action Plan on implementing ILO
Conventions 138 and 182 (reftel). She explained that the
Plan had three main sections: strengthening the legislative
framework; enhancing the monitoring mechanisms of child
labor; and engaging in an awareness raising campaign on the
worst forms of child labor. Barkin noted that the Plan was
developed and approved by key government ministries in July
and was now awaiting endorsement from the Ministry of
Justice. She argued that the Plan's development, which
included input from UNICEF, validated UNICEF's pro-engagement
stance towards the government (Note: ILO representative
Svetlana Rakhimova complained to poloff that ILO was not
included in discussions on the Plan's development, even
though it focused on implementing ILO Conventions. Barkin
explained that UNICEF had unsuccessfully advocated for ILO to
be included in the discussions. End Note.)

9. (C) Barkin argued that the National Action Plan "was not
perfect," but was "clear progress." While government
officials had been previously unwilling even to admit the
existence of child labor in Uzbekistan, Barkin noted that key
representatives now publicly acknowledged that child labor
existed and were preparing steps to combat the problem.
Barkin expected that the Plan would be signed by the Prime
Minister this year. She also believed that the plan could be
turned into formal legislation and signed by the President
next year.

ROUNDTABLE ON NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ENDORSEMENT
-------------- -


10. (C) In addition, Barkin reported that UNICEF
participated in a roundtable focusing on the implementation
of the National Action Plan on July 10. She described the
roundtable as "the largest number of high level Ministers and
dignitaries, from the broadest range of government
Ministries, ever to publicly discuss ways to eliminate forced
child labor in cotton harvesting." There was reportedly open
discussion of the need for an accurate assessment of the
extant of child labor in Uzbekistan and how international
organizations could participate in the assessment. The
Ministry of Education and the state-controlled Association of
Farmers were reportedly asked to take all necessary steps to
ensure that children were not mobilized this year, while the
Prosecutor General's Office was asked to monitor the
situation and take necessary disciplinary action against
those who exploit children. According to Barkin, the
discussion mostly focused on preventing children younger than
14 years old from being mobilized (Note: Both Barkin and ILO
Representative Svetlana Rakhimova reported that fewer younger
students were observed picking cotton in recent years.
Rakhimova explained that schools are often requested by
regional administrations to mobilize a certain number of
students for the harvest. When mobilizing students, schools
reportedly try to send older students, but are sometimes
forced to contribute younger students when there are not
enough older students to meet their quota. End note.)

UNICEF TRAINING EFFORTS
--------------


11. (C) Barkin also described UNICEF's efforts to raise
regional officials' awareness of child labor issues. She
reported that UNICEF had recently completed trainings for
local officials in nine regions of the country on the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (which
Uzbekistan has ratified),which included information on the
worst forms of child labor. Many local officials she
encountered were reportedly unfamiliar with the country's
anti-child labor legislation, including the 2001 decree
expressly forbidding those under 18 years' of age from
engaging in manual cotton harvesting. She also reported that
UNICEF conducted trainings at schools for students and
teachers on child labor issues in five different regions of
the country. UNICEF also supported the creation of a
Children's Parliament in Tashkent. According to Barkin, the
Children's Parliament decided for itself that one of its
functions would be to monitor the use of child labor.

NEXT STEPS FOR UNICEF
--------------


12. (C) Barkin said she hopes that the government will allow
UNICEF to help implement several aspects of the National
Action Plan, including: developing awareness-raising
materials; providing training to school administrators,
farmers, families and local officials on the worst forms of
child labor; strengthening child protection measures,
including advocating for improved social services for
vulnerable families; providing international expertise on
harmonizing national legislation with international
standards; and supporting the participation of government
officials at international meetings. Barkin also said that
the government plans to hold another roundtable to discuss
the implementation of the national action plan this fall.
She reported that UNICEF is currently lobbying for a wider
range of external participants at the roundtable, including
ILO and the International Cotton Advisory Council (ICAC).

ILO STILL HAS NOT RECOGNIZED UZBEKISTAN'S ADOPTION OF
CONVENTION 138
-------------- --------------


13. (C) ILO representative Svetlana Rakhimova's presentation
focused on how ILO Conventions 138 and 182 could be used as
instruments to combat child labor in the cotton sector. She
began by noting that ILO has recognized Uzbekistan's adoption
of ILO Convention 182, but not its adoption of Convention

138. Rakhimova explained that Convention 138 stipulates that
the minimum age of employment in a country should not be less
than the age of completion of compulsory schooling. She
observed that Uzbek law sets the minimum age of employment at
16, but also allows children to work at 14 if they receive
written permission from their parents, in contravention of
Convention 138. However, she noted that ILO has discussed
the issue with Uzbek officials, and she was optimistic that
ILO would eventually recognize Uzbekistan's adoption of
Convention 138 after some legislative changes. Rakhimova
also emphasized that ILO considers manual cotton picking as
work that is likely to jeopardize the health and safety of
youth, and thus should not be done by anyone under 18 years
of age (Note: ILO Convention 138 stipulates that anyone under
18 years' old should not engage in any work that jeopardizes
the health, safety, and morals of young persons. End note.)

EVALUATION OF NATIONAL ACTION PLAN DRAFT
--------------


14. (C) Rakhimova reported that the ILO has also reviewed
the recent draft National Action Plan and has sent the
government back comments via a letter from ILO Subregional
Office for Central and Eastern Europe Director Elaine Fultz.
In her letter, Fultz noted that the ILO Conventions envision
a tripartite process of policy formulation on combating child
labor, where social partners are involved in the
consideration of the full range of issues dealt with by the
government. However, the draft Plan, as now written, calls
for only limited involvement of workers' representatives and
even less for employers' representatives. Rakhimova also
criticized the Plan for not focusing on child labor in the
cotton sector, which is not explicitly mentioned in the
current draft. In addition, Rakhimova noted with regret that
the government has not yet responded to ILO's comments on the
Plan. She said that Fultz planned to visit Uzbekistan in
September and hoped that the government would respond to the
comments before her visit.

EVALUATION OF NEW LAW ON RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
--------------


15. (C) Rakhimova also shared her thoughts on the new
"Guarantees on the Rights of the Child" law, which the
government adopted in January. Rakhimova observed that the
law clarifies protections for children against forced labor
and includes language for the establishment of an official
Ombudsman for Children (Note: Barkin explained that UNICEF
had recently been approached by the government for assistance
in creating such an Ombudsman. End note.) However,
Rakhimova noted that there were also some problematic aspects
of the law, including a section detailing "children's right
to work." As Rakhimova noted, such "right to work"
legislation for children can easily be manipulated by
authorities to claim that children should be allowed to
"willfully" engage in cotton picking.

MULTI-AGENCY WORKING GROUP
--------------


16. (C) Rakhimova reported that at the heart of ILO's
efforts in Uzbekistan has been the creation in February 2006
of a Multi-Agency Working Group consisting of 25 governmental
agencies and state-controlled public associations, as well as
UNICEF and ILO. She noted that the working group promoted
the inclusion of many child labor related action points into
the Uzbek government's National Program of Improving
Children's Well-Being for 2007-2011. Rakhimova provided the
participants with a handout listing the Program's relevant
action points, some of which were undertaken this year,
including the adoption of ILO Conventions 182. Other
relevant action points included implementing
awareness-raising activities on children's rights and holding
training courses for authorities on preventing children from
dropping out of school.

ILO TRAINING EFFORTS IN UZBEKISTAN
--------------


17. (C) Rakhimova also detailed ILO efforts over the last
few years to engage government officials on child labor
issues. She noted that Uzbekistan already had workable
anti-child labor legislation; the problem was that the laws
were not widely enforced and many regional officials,
especially in rural area, were unaware of their provisions.
Rakhimova shared copies of a manual on occupational safety
and health that ILO created in collaboration with the
Occupational Safety and Health Center of the Uzbek Ministry
of Labor. The manual included information on the worst forms
of child labor and made specific reference to the
government's 2001 decree banning persons under 18 years' old
from engaging in manual cotton picking. Rakhimova also
shared posters that ILO developed in consultation with
government officials which depict hazardous forms of labor
for youth, including manual cotton picking.


18. (C) Rakhimova further explained that ILO used the manual
and posters to conduct trainings for 15 labor inspectors, 14
occupational safety and health doctors, 25 employees of the
Association of Farmers, and 100 trade union activists.
Afterwards, these individuals then conducted their own
trainings across the country for farmers and school
administrators, in the process distributing 1,000 copies of
the manual and 10,000 copies of the posters. They also
helped establish labor representatives at farms to oversee
occupational safety and health issues and monitor incidences
of child labor. In addition, Rakhimova reported that ILO
conducted trainings for 630 juvenile delinquency officers in
six regions of the country. It also worked with parents and
mahalla (neighborhood committee) members to establish a
community-based child labor monitoring system. Rakhimova
also reported that ILO has recently been approached by the
Ministry of Justice to conduct trainings for prosecutors on
filing child labor-related complaints.

REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
--------------


19. (C) Rakhimova noted that many regional officials were
caught in a "Catch-22" situation: on one hand, Uzbek
legislation formally forbids them from recruiting students
younger than 18 years of old to pick cotton; on the other
hand, they are often compelled to recruit students to meet
their cotton quotas. Rakhimova noted that regional Hokims
(governors) are punished for not meeting their cotton quotas,
but not for violating the country's child labor legislation.
The Swiss Ambassador also observed that regional Hokims
(governors) from Andijon and Ferghana were dismissed from
their positions last year for failing to meet cotton
production quotas.

ILO'S VIEWS ON THE WAY FORWARD
--------------


20. (C) As a first step, Rakhimova said she would like to
see the government invite ILO to conduct a rapid assessment
of child labor in Uzbekistan during this year's cotton
harvest. Over the longer term, Rakhimova believed that ILO
should lobby to reform the current quota system for cotton
production, which she believed should be gradually replaced
with a more market-oriented system which allows farmers to
choose what crops to plant and in what amounts.

PARTICIPANTS DISCUSS LIKELY EFFICACY OF BOYCOTT
-------------- --


21. (C) The presentations were then followed by a discussion
on several points. The first question raised was whether it
would be effective to implement a boycott of Uzbek cotton.
Barkin and Rakhimova argued against pursuing a boycott,
noting that it could have many unforeseen, negative
consequences and actually hurt those who it was intended to
help, including adult rural laborers and their children.
Barkin also noted it could hurt workers in other countries
which depend on Uzbek cotton, such as in Bangladesh.
However, Barkin recognized that it was probably the threat of
a boycott which spurred the government into adopting ILO
Conventions 182 and 138 and drafting the National Action Plan
this year (Note: The export of cotton is still one of
Uzbekistan's primary sources of hard currency. End note.)

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES TO CHILD LABOR
--------------


22. (C) All those present agreed that child labor in
Uzbekistan was a complex issue with no simple solutions, and
that developing and implementing alternatives would take
time. One of the participants asked whether greater
mechanization of the cotton harvest might be a solution.
Barkin explained that greater mechanization was not likely a
viable option for Uzbekistan, as the country's rural areas
continued to be plagued by high levels of unemployment and
many adult laborers were dependent upon the income they
received from manually picking cotton. Rakhimova also
explained that the high-quality cotton seed used in
Uzbekistan would be damaged by combines, significantly
lowering its market value.


23. (C) Another alternative discussed was whether to pay
adult cotton pickers higher salaries. Barkin noted with
irony that many Uzbek adult laborers migrated to Kazakhstan
and Kyrgyzstan each cotton season - where wages were higher -
leaving children behind to pick cotton in Uzbekistan.
Rakhimova agreed, noting that regions with high levels of
unemployment and labor migration also tended to have a high
prevalence of child labor. Rakhimova believed that if adult
cotton pickers were paid more, they would stay in Uzbekistan
and not migrate to other countries during the harvest.


24. (C) Participants also discussed reforming the cotton
quota system. Barkin explained that the cotton harvest was
conducted in roughly three phases. During the first phase,
she explained that cotton is most plentiful in the fields and
farmers are largely able to hire adult laborers. However,
during the second and third harvests, she noted that much of
the cotton has already been picked, and local authorities
turn to children to pick the remaining cotton to fulfill
their quotas. Barkin explained that this phenomenon was
largely unique to Uzbekistan, as farmers in other cotton
producing countries usually do not attempt to collect "every
last bud" of cotton in their fields. Rakhimova observed that
to meet quotas, students sometimes are forced to pick cotton
as late as November, when the weather is already cold and
there is sometimes snow in the fields.


25. (C) Participants noted that since the economy was still
so heavily dependent on cotton exports, any changes to the
current system of cotton collection could have profound and
unanticipated economic effects. In addition, the
participants recognized that efforts to combat child labor in
cotton cultivation should be systematic and not aimed at
eliminating the problem overnight, an approach which is
likely to fail and potentially even worsen the situation for
rural laborers and children. All those present also agreed
that efforts to eliminate child labor in Uzbekistan should be
coordinated with policies aimed at addressing related and
broader issues, such as rural poverty, unemployment, labor
migration, and the perverse effects of cotton quotas.

ROUNDTABLE MAY LEAD TO FORMATION OF TASK FORCE
-------------- -


26. (C) Barkin explained that UNICEF planned to invite
representatives of foreign Embassies to participate in the
creation of a child labor task force to monitor - and ideally
aid - implementation of the government's national plan. She
observed that the Embassy's roundtable could be seen as the
task force's first meeting, and suggested that
representatives from international financial institutions,
including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB),
and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) - be invited to share their expertise at future
meetings. Many of the attendees were interested in
participating in the task force and all agreed that it was
important to continue to meet periodically to monitor the
government's ant-child labor efforts. They also agreed that
the task force could help coordinate a single message that
could be delivered to the government on the issue. Poloff
offered to host future meetings at the Embassy.

COMMENT
--------------


27. (SBU) The Embassy's roundtable on child labor succeeded
in its main goal of informing like-minded Embassies about
DRL's multi-stakeholder initiative on child labor, the GSP
petition, and other efforts the United States has taken to
combat the problem. It also provided a useful forum for both
UNICEF and ILO to share their views of the draft National
Action Plan and explain their recent efforts at engaging the
government. Furthermore, the roundtable provided attendees an
opportunity to discuss how best to combat child labor in
Uzbekistan and the pluses and minuses of various
alternatives. One of the positive outcomes from the event
was discussion of creating a task force with representatives
from foreign Embassies and international organizations to
periodically assess the government's anti-child labor efforts
and coordinate a single message on the issue. Our Embassy
will also monitor the development and implementation of the
National Action Plan carefully and will urge the government
to continue its cooperation with ILO and UNICF. We believe
that a good first step for the government to demonstrate its
commitment to implementing the ILO Conventions would be to
allow an independent assessment during this fall's cotton
harvest.
BUTCHER