Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Turkmenistan (Ratification: 2010)

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The Committee notes the Government’s report received on 31 August 2023. It also takes note the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 27 September 2023, as well as the Government’s reply received on 27 October 2023. The Committee also takes note of the report on the implementation of the 2023 Roadmap for cooperation between the ILO and the Government of Turkmenistan (implementation report), produced following the visit of the independent ILO mission on the observance of the conditions of work and recruitment of cotton pickers during the 2023 harvest.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (d). Hazardous work in the cotton sector. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to continue taking effective measures to ensure that children under 18 years are not engaged in hazardous work or subject to forced labour in the cotton sector, including during the school holidays or their time out of school. Moreover, the Committee observes that, in the context of the discussion of Turkmenistan’s application of the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105), at the 111th Session of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in June 2023, the Conference Committee urged the Government to reinforce its efforts to ensure the complete elimination of the use of compulsory labour of students in state-sponsored cotton production, in consultation with the social partners and in the context of the ongoing ILO assistance, through the development of an action plan to that end.

The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, regarding the measures taken to reduce manual cotton harvesting, including by children, such as the increase of agricultural machinery and efforts taken to create conditions for decent work for cotton pickers. Most significantly, the Committee takes note of the measures taken in the framework of the implementation of the Roadmap for cooperation between the ILO and the Government of Turkmenistan, adopted in March 2023 as a result of several ILO high-level technical assistance missions. The Government indicates in this regard that: (1) an analysis has been carried out of Turkmenistan’s current legislative framework with regard to the application of international labour standards and the resulting draft legislative acts that were submitted to Parliament; (2) there are ongoing efforts to produce a qualitative study of recruitment practices for the cotton harvest; (3) a seminar was held with the participation of representatives of the relevant ministries and agencies and social partners to identify the key elements of a national action plan to align the labour inspection system in Turkmenistan with ILO standards; and (4) the Parliament is actively engaging in public awareness-raising activities. Moreover, the Committee takes note of the Government’s reply to the ITUC observations, which consists of information prepared by the National Center of Trade Unions of Turkmenistan (NCTU). The NCTU indicates that, together with local trade unions, it conducted trainings and seminars on international labour standards, including Convention No. 182, in the regions, with the participation of the local authorities.

The Committee notes from the ITUC’s observations that, despite the commitments taken by the Government of Turkmenistan, forced labour practices in cotton production are unfortunately still prevalent on a massive scale in the country. With regard to the forced labour of children specifically, the ITUC states that, while child labour was not directly organized by the State, it was used in the 2022 harvest, driven by both poverty and the forced labour system. The ITUC shares examples of specific instances in which child labour was used for cotton picking, and adds that independent monitors reported that children, some as young as eight, were paid to work as “replacement pickers,” hired by public sector employees forced to either pick or hire someone else; others were sent as replacement pickers by parents or relatives who were forcibly mobilized; and still others joined the harvest to earn money for their families.

Moreover, the Committee notes that, with the acceptance of the Government, an independent ILO observance mission of the conditions of work and recruitment of cotton pickers, by ILO staff and independent consultants recruited by the ILO, took place during the 2023 harvest in October 2023. The Committee notes that, according to the information contained in the implementation report, initial findings from this observance mission indicate that children below the age of 15 were observed working in many of the cotton fields visited across the country.

While taking due note of the Government’s collaboration with the ILO in the framework of the Roadmap and during the observance of the cotton harvest in 2023, the Committee must note with deep concern that children under the age of 18, and even below the age of 15, continue to work in the cotton fields in Turkmenistan in hazardous conditions and, in some instances, forcibly. The Committee therefore urges the Government to pursue and strengthen its efforts to ensure the complete elimination of the use of forced and hazardous child labour in cotton picking. In this regard, it urges the Government to continue to engage in cooperation with the ILO and the social partners, within a cooperation framework, to ensure the full application of the Convention. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this respect, including measures taken to monitor the cotton harvest, strengthen record-keeping in educational institutions, apply sanctions against persons who engage children in the cotton harvest, and further raise public awareness on this subject.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2024.]

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.