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