Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In order to raise awareness of farms and cotton-textile clusters on the procedure for hiring seasonal workers during the cotton harvest in accordance with the Roadmap approved at a meeting of the National Commission on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Forced Labor on 17 June 2020, on all regions of the republic hosted online training seminars on the prevention of forced labor and compliance with labor laws when hiring workers for seasonal work.

Representatives of the International Labor Organization, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, local government authorities, with the participation of representatives of the Confederation of Employers, the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Trade Unions, civil society activists, heads of farms and cotton textile clusters and employers at online training seminars in detail and information on the prevention of forced labor and the procedure for hiring seasonal workers during the cotton harvest is clearly explained.

In the context of strict adherence to quarantine requirements, the online training seminars provided a useful exchange of views on the prevention of forced labor; flyers and manuals were distributed among the participants, revealing the basic concepts, types of forced labor and measures to prevent them.

Also, representatives of the Criminal Court, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice gave exhaustive answers to the questions of the participants about the measures of responsibility for the forced labor of workers and children.

In total, over 2,100 people took part in the events throughout the Republic. Of these, 120 are regional representatives of cotton clusters, 528 are representatives of farms, 318 are labor inspectorates, 71 are civil society activists, 104 are representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions, 77 are the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 153 are justice bodies, 242 are mahalla committees and others. ...

Along with this, this year, together with the International Labor Organization, more than 800 banners were produced and placed in busy places throughout the republic, 300 thousand flyers were distributed to citizens, more than 20 thousand specially made manuals for the prevention of forced labor were distributed among employers and in mahalla committees.