UZBEKISTAN: UNICEF SIGNS NEW AGREEMENT ON CHILD LABOR WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TASHKENT 000483

SIPDIS SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA, DRL, AND G/TIP
DRL/ILCSR FOR TRACY HAILEY AND TU DANG
G/TIP FOR MEGAN HALL
DOL/ILAB FOR CHARITA CASTRO, TINA MCCARTER, AND SEROKA MIHAIL
ASTANA FOR ALMATY/USAID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ECON ELAB PGOV PREL SOCI TX UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: UNICEF SIGNS NEW AGREEMENT ON CHILD LABOR WITH
GOVERNMENT

REF: TASHKENT 327; 08 TASHKENT 1256


1. (SBU) Summary: On April 6, the Ambassador met with a visiting
UNICEF representative from Geneva, who reported that UNICEF would
sign a new Annual Work Plan with the government that fleshes out
several key points from the September 2008 National Action Plan
(NAP) on the elimination of child labor. Under the Work Plan, the
government has agreed to implement a public awareness campaign to
change social attitudes on child labor and to allow UNICEF to
conduct studies, among other measures. Arguing that 2009 had the
potential to be a "transitional year" in the fight against child
labor in Uzbekistan, the representative argued that authorities
should employ returned Uzbek labor migrants to pick cotton instead
of schoolchildren. The representative believed that UNICEF's
policy of engagement has already paid dividends, while arguing that
threats of a boycott could derail further progress. We fully agree
with these sentiments. End summary.



UNICEF DEPUTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR VISITS UZBEKISTAN

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2. (SBU) On April 6, the Ambassador had dinner with Geneva-based
UNICEF Deputy Director Shahnaz Kianian-Ferouzgar, UNICEF
Representative in Uzbekistan Mahboob Shareef, and UNICEF Child
Protection Officer Siyma Barkin, who briefed him on UNICEF's recent
efforts to engage the Uzbek government on combating the use of
child labor during the annual fall cotton harvest, a long-standing
practice from the Soviet era that is still carried out to varying
degrees in all Central Asian countries.



UNICEF TO SIGN NEW WORK PLAN WITH GOU ON CHILD LABOR

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3. (SBU) Kianian-Ferouzgar reported that she traveled to Tashkent
to sign an Annual Work Plan between UNICEF and the Ministry of
Labor for 2009. The Work Plan describes 2009 as a critical
"transitional year" in the effort to eliminate the use of child
labor in Uzbekistan and fleshes out several key points from the
government's September 2008 National Action Plan (NAP). The Work
Plan envisions that various government partners, including the
Ministries of Education and Labor and the Presidential Apparatus,
will play a leading role in its implementation. According to the
UNICEF representatives, it took five months of careful negotiations
with officials to come to agreement on the document.



OUTLINE OF WORK PLAN FOR 2009

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4. (U) Kianian-Ferouzgar provided the Ambassador with an outline
of the 2009 Annual Work Plan, which highlighted several of the
Plan's key action points for UNICEF and the government, including:



1) Building the capacity of the Labor Ministry to better monitor

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the implementation of the NAP on child labor;



a. Establishing a child labor working group within the

Ministry of Labor;



b. Strengthening the Labor Ministry's coordination mechanism for
overseeing NAP implementation through regular meetings, reporting,
and other measures;



2) Improving understanding of the scale of child labor in
Uzbekistan;



a. UNICEF is to conduct a study on social benefits provided to
vulnerable children to assess their effectiveness in alleviating
poverty and preventing child labor;



b. UNICEF is to conduct a "knowledge and attitudes" survey to
assess the awareness of children, parents, government officials,
and farmers regarding existing legislation on child labor and to
clarify their attitudes towards child labor and the value of
education (Note: While UNICEF representatives stressed the
importance of such a survey, they also noted that it was not
intended to replace a full-fledged independent assessment of the
use of child labor during the cotton harvest, to which the
government has not yet agreed. End note.);



3) Raising awareness of child labor and relevant national and
international legislation;



a. Implementing a wide-ranging public awareness campaign to change
social attitudes on child labor and to increase the population's
knowledge of children's rights;



b. Developing and distributing awareness-raising materials through
appropriate channels such as farmers' associations, schools, local
hokimiyats (administrations),local departments of labor, and
branches of the Human Rights Ombudsman's office (Note: UNICEF
representatives reported assisting the Education Ministry develop
relevant anti-child labor materials. The Ministry shared the
materials with us during a meeting in February and said they would
be distributing them to all schoolchildren in Uzbekistan this year,
see ref A. End note.);



4) Building the capacity of relevant government bodies to address
child labor;



a. Conducting a series of trainings for labor inspectors, local
officials, teachers, school administrators, prosecutors, police,
farmers, and Human Rights Ombudsman staff;

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5) Sharing international best practices on how to address the worst
forms of child labor;



a. Exposing government officials to international best practices
and effective methods for preventing the worst forms of child
labor;



b. Promoting information sharing between Central Asian countries on
child labor and developing joint solutions;



6) Promoting community-based prevention;



a. Empowering local communities to prevent child labor through
cooperation with local Mahallas (neighborhood committees).



OTHER RECENT UNICEF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE GOU

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5. (U) UNICEF representatives explained that in the lead up to the
signing of the Work Plan, they held a series of meetings with
government officials to develop the next Program of Cooperation
between the government and UNICEF for the 2010 - 2015 period, in
which child labor has been identified as a priority area.




6. (U) In December 2008, at a Cabinet of Ministers meeting chaired
by Deputy Prime Minister for Social Issues Rustam Kasimov, Acting
Minister of Labor and Social Protection Aktam Khaitov expressed his
desire to continue collaboration with UNICEF on eliminating child
labor. At a January 2009 follow up meeting between Khaitov and
Shareef, the government agreed to the Work Plan and the action
points outlined above.



GOU MAY INVITE ILO REPRESENTATIVE TO UZBEKISTAN

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7. (SBU) Shareef reported that during the January meeting, he
stressed to Khaitov the importance of inviting an International
Labor Organization (ILO) representative to Uzbekistan and to
identify areas in the NAP which ILO could help implement.
Recently, Khaitov has told UNICEF that the government is "now
considering" inviting an ILO representative to Uzbekistan. Khaitov
also reportedly stated that he would go to Moscow to meet with ILO
"if invited."



KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE?

TASHKENT 00000483 004 OF 007


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8. (SBU) Kianian-Ferouzgar observed that one potential consequence
of the current financial crisis and the corresponding loss of
employment among Uzbek labor migrants in Russia and Kazakhstan is a
lower prevalence of child labor in Uzbekistan. She believed that
the Uzbek government should develop a plan to use unemployed Uzbek
labor migrants - who have been returning to the country in droves -
to pick cotton during the harvest instead of schoolchildren. At
the same time, the government would be providing much needed income
to unemployed labor migrants and their families, thus helping to
quell any potential unrest in rural regions over socio-economic
conditions. Kianian-Ferouzgar said that she planned to raise this
possibility with officials during her visit. UNICEF
representatives also observed that the participation of
schoolchildren in the annual cotton harvest was driven in part by
rural poverty. They noted that many rural residents, both adults
and children, earned a significant amount of their families' annual
income each year picking cotton during the harvest.




9. (SBU) UNICEF representatives noted that another factor which
might result in decreased incidence of child labor this year is the
government's recent decree on increasing food production, which has
resulted in a decrease in the amount of land devoted to cotton
cultivation. Land that was previously used to grow cotton is now
being used to grow food crops, whose cultivation in Uzbekistan has
not traditionally involved child labor.



EXPLORING MECHANIZATION AS A CHILD LABOR SOLUTION

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10. (U) The UNICEF representatives debated the potential pros and
cons of promoting the greater mechanization of Uzbekistan's cotton
harvest as a potential alternative to child labor. They noted that
the level of mechanization in Uzbekistan's agricultural sector has
declined significantly since the Soviet era. If Uzbeks were to
purchase new combines and tractors, there would be less need for
manual labor during the harvest. However, they noted that given
the lack of employment opportunities in rural Uzbekistan, it may be
wiser for the government to raise wages to attract greater numbers
of adult cotton pickers, many of whom currently head to Kazakhstan
and Kyrgyzstan to pick cotton, where they are paid more. The type
of high-quality cotton grown in Uzbekistan is also susceptible to
damage by harvesting machines, lowering the price Uzbekistan would
receive for its cotton on the world market. Shareef suggested that
the Uzbeks experiment with planting other strains of cotton that
are less likely to be damaged by mechanical harvesting.



THE EXAMPLE OF TURKMENISTAN

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11. (SBU) The UNICEF representatives cited Turkmenistan as an
example of a Central Asian country which has made great strides
recently in combating the use of child labor during the cotton
harvest, partly through increased mechanization. They noted that

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high-level Turkmen officials, including President Berdimuhamedov,
have made clear statements against the use of child labor in the
local media, while Turkmen authorities have purchased a new fleet
of combines and tractors for the harvest. Kianian-Ferouzgar
observed that while the use of child labor during the cotton
harvest in Turkmenistan might still be continuing at some level, it
is clear that schoolchildren are at least picking cotton for much
shorter periods of time than before.



UNICEF CITES ENGAGEMENT AS KEY TO BUILDING MOMENTUM

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12. (U) While UNICEF representatives allowed that the threat of an
international boycott of Uzbek cotton might have encouraged the
government to adopt legal reforms, they believed that such threats
have outlived their usefulness. Instead, they argued that
continued engagement with officials was more likely to lead to
further progress. The representatives explained that child labor
in Uzbekistan was a complex problem that could not be solved
overnight. Instead, they argued that any effective solution would
take time and need to address wider issues, including economic
development, agricultural reform, labor migration, and
unemployment. The UNICEF representatives also stressed the
importance of having multiple interlocutors - including
international organizations like UNICEF and ILO, NGOs and human
rights groups, the United States and European countries, and
retailers - deliver a clear and consistent message on child labor
to the Uzbeks, which will resonate more in Tashkent. The UNICEF
representatives also noted that one key partner with whom to pursue
closer coordination is the International Cotton Advisory Council
(ICAC).




13. (U) The UNICEF representatives argued that their engagement
with officials over the past few years has gradually built momentum
within the government to address its child labor problem. As
proof, they cited several examples of how their efforts have led to
positive change. For example, in a response to a January 2008
letter from Foreign Minister Norov, UNICEF recommended that the
government adopt ILO Conventions 182 and 138. After the government
voted to adopt the ILO Conventions in April 2008, UNICEF advocated
for the government to develop a plan for their implementation,
which resulted in the National Action Plan (NAP),the government's
first systematic mechanism for the elimination of forced child
labor in Uzbekistan. UNICEF provided input for the draft NAP on
several occasions, including during a roundtable chaired by
Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Elyor Ganiev in July 2008.
The NAP was eventually signed by the Prime Minister in September
2008 and was immediately followed by the Labor Ministry sending
letters to the Farmers Association and the Education Ministry
advising them not to use of child labor during the cotton season -
the first time such instructions were ever issued by Tashkent.



TRAININGS UNICEF PROVIDED TO GOU OFFICIALS IN 2008

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14. (U) The UNICEF representatives reported that their
organization carried out a series of child labor-related trainings
for local officials and others in 2008. With technical support

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from ILO, UNICEF provided training on children's rights and child
labor to 175 local administrators in 9 out of Uzbekistan's 14
regions, as well as to 2,000 students and teachers from 700 schools
in five regions of the country. UNICEF provided workshops for
journalists on how to distinguish legal work involving children
form forced child labor. As part of its program creating a
Children's Parliament in Uzbekistan, UNICEF provided information to
parliamentarians on child labor and also conducted a "training of
trainers" for youth leaders.



UNICEF SHARES REPORT FROM INFORMAL MONITORING IN 2008

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15. (U) During his January 2009 meeting with Khaitov, Shareef
reported sharing the results of UNICEF's informal monitoring of the
2008 fall cotton harvest. He also shared with the Ambassador a
written report based on those field visits (UNICEF had earlier
provided an oral briefing on those field visits to foreign
diplomats last fall, see ref B). Shareef noted that the Labor
Ministry publicly announced that it was undertaking its own field
monitoring, but has not yet released any results.




16. (U) UNICEF conducted its informal monitoring by visiting eight
provinces (Tashkent, Syrdarya, Jizzakh, Navoi, Samarkand, Bukhara,
Kashkadarya, and Ferghana provinces) between mid-September and
mid-October 2008. It asked questions to a random set of children
and adults in cotton fields, schools, local administrative offices
and other locales. According to its written report, UNICEF found
students participating in the cotton harvest in all eight
provinces. At most sites, it was reported that only college
students were initially involved in the cotton harvest, but younger
schoolchildren were mobilized starting in the third week of
September. Weather forecasts predicting heavy rains from the
beginning of October (earlier than normal) and the consequent need
to accelerate the harvest processes were reported by interviewees
to be the main reason why younger schoolchildren were eventually
mobilized. In some areas, the greater availability of adult labor
in 2008 resulted in a lower prevalence of child labor than in
previous years.




17. (U) During the harvest, local residents reported that younger
children worked in the cotton fields mainly after school hours. In
contrast, children from the eighth grade and higher and college
students appeared to pick cotton an average of eight hours a day
with a one hour lunch break. In a few isolated regions, monitors
found that schools were completely closed during the cotton
harvest. College students traveled home at night if they lived
near the fields; otherwise they stayed overnight in nearby
shelters, usually school dormitories.




18. (U) Families reported in Tashkent and Kashkadarya provinces
that school administrators threatened children with lower grades if
they refused to pick cotton. Some respondents were aware of
measures undertaken by the government to reduce child labor in 2008
and supported such efforts. In general, though, respondents saw
the involvement of children in cotton picking to be a practice
which was either necessary or a normal component of children's
education and social development. Some children, especially older
ones, appear to see their involvement in the cotton harvest as part

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of their normal duties, or sometimes even as "something fun to do."




19. (U) UNICEF concluded that the scale of the phenomenon and age
of children picking cotton varied considerably among locations,
including those within the same province and district, and appears
to be influenced by a variety of factors, including: the quality
and quantity of the local cotton harvest; the availability of adult
labor; variations in weather; and specific arrangements between
schools, farmers, and/or local officials. Only college students
were observed picking cotton in Kashkadarya and Ferghana provinces.
Schoolchildren as young as the eighth grade were observed picking
cotton in Syrdarya province; as young as the fifth grade in
Tashkent, Jizzakh, Samarkand, and Navoi provinces; and as young as
the first grade (7 years old) in Bukhara province.



TASHKENT UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE PLANS VISIT TO WASHINGTON

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20. (U) Shareef reported that he would attend a conference in New
York City at the end of April. While in the United States, he
expressed interest in traveling to Washington to meet with U.S.
State Department officials to share his insight on child labor in
Uzbekistan. Shareef also was interested in meeting with other
organizations, including ICAC.



COMMENT

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21. (SBU) We agree with UNICEF that 2009 is potentially shaping up
to be a "transitional year" in the fight against child labor in
Uzbekistan. The government's decision to sign the Work Plan with
UNICEF is a significant development, and we will continue to
monitor its implementation throughout the year. In particular, if
the government were to implement a public-awareness campaign on
child labor similar in scale to its current campaign against
trafficking-in-persons, it would greatly increase awareness
regarding children's rights and legislation prohibiting child labor
among local officials and the general population. We also agree
with UNICEF that continued engagement with the government is the
key to eliciting further progress on child labor and that any
effective solution will take time and would need to address wider
issues. There are much more effective tools for combating child
labor in Uzbekistan than threats of a boycott (which is likely to
hurt most those it is intended to help),including promoting the
use of former labor migrants to pick cotton instead of
schoolchildren. The government's decision this year to grow less
cotton may also lead to less schoolchildren picking cotton in 2009.
We will urge the government to continue cooperation with UNICEF on
implementing the Work Plan and NAP, to invite an ILO representative
to Uzbekistan, and to allow an independent assessment of the use of
child labor during the cotton harvest.
BUTCHER