BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Uzbekistan plans to ratify at least two more conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) - "On the revision of the 1952 Maternity Protection Convention" and "On the basis for promoting occupational safety and health", Trend reports citing Uzbek media.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor of Uzbekistan presented for the first time an annual report ‘Strengthening the protection of labor rights in Uzbekistan’, according to which it was noted that to date, Uzbekistan has ratified 16 ILO conventions, including eight basic ones.
Minister of Employment and Labor Relations Nozim Khusanov also named the adoption of the Labor Code of Uzbekistan in the new edition and the approval of the National Employment Strategy until 2030 among the priority tasks of his department this year.
“We plan, in cooperation with the ILO, to expand the scope of monitoring compliance with labor rules in other sectors of the economy,” Khusanov said. According to the ministry, the matter concerns the construction sector, silkworm breeding and catering.
In addition, the Uzbek government, international experts and civil society are monitoring labor violations in the cotton sector. According to the report, the number of citizens' complaints on forced labor during the cotton harvest in 2020 decreased by 40 percent compared to 2019 to 790 citizens.
The ministry said that this is due to the strengthening of feedback mechanisms, public awareness and an active dialogue of the authorities with civil society.
Also, according to the ministry, the strengthening of administrative responsibility for forced labor and the introduction of a criminal article for the use of child and forced labor made it possible in practice to increase the effectiveness of punishment in this area.
In particular, in 2020, 231 officials were punished for allowing cases of forced labor, and the total amount of fines increased by 20 percent to 1.14 billion soums ($108 million).
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