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SRI News from SocialFunds.com
Forced Child Labor Remains Widespread in Cotton Fields of Uzbekistan
A report from the Environmental Justice Foundation finds that up to two million children are forced
into working in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields, and recommends that apparel retailers improve
monitoring of their supply chains to ensure that forced labor is not a part of them.
The 2009 cotton harvest in Uzbekistan was closely watched by social investors and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) alike. In part because of investor pressure on the corporate management of
supply chains by apparel companies such as Gap, Levi’s, and Nike, Uzbekistan ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions
relating to forced child labor and minimum age in 2008.
Following what it
described as the positive development of the Uzbek government’s decree against the use of forced
child labor in its cotton fields, a group of 60 investors led by members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) wrote a letter to the ILO last year, asking that the organization “be prepared to apply its global
and regional expertise and credibility to work with the Government of Uzbekistan on an urgent and
appropriate basis.”
Human rights defenders and independent journalists observed the 2009
cotton harvest in Uzbekistan, and the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has published a report documenting the
findings. Despite international efforts and Uzbekistan’s signing of the ILO conventions, the use of
forced child labor in Uzbekistan was undiminished in 2009. Up to two million Uzbek children are
estimated to have been forced into labor for the Uzbek cotton harvest, according to the report.
Although a number of major retailers have rejected Uzbek cotton from their supply chains,
Uzbekistan remains the world’s third largest exporter of cotton, earning approximately $1 billion
annually. Uzbekistan exports most of its cotton to Asian clothing factories and European cotton
traders. The origin of cotton in finished products is difficult to trace, but over 60% of clothing
produced in Bangladesh from Uzbek cotton is sold in Europe, the EJF report found.
Uzbek
officials responded to international attention by increasing surveillance activities in the cotton
fields, not to document instances of forced child labor, but to harass independent observers
seeking to end the practice. Furthermore, “voluntary actions by the private sector have not been
matched by coherent, consistent and effective action by national governments and international
policy-makers,” according to the report.
The EJF report concludes, “Little has changed in
the cotton fields since the Government of Uzbekistan ratified ILO Conventions on child and forced
labor.” Therefore, it is “imperative that the private sector takes action to ensure that forced
labor is not part of their supply chains.”
“Together with non-governmental organizations,
investors and unions, retailers can contribute towards efforts to end this exploitation,” the
report stated.
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