From Protocol to Practice: A Bridge to Global Action on Forced Labor (The Bridge Project - Uzbekistan)

Background The ILO Bridge Project is funded by USDOL and currently covers 6 countries, including Uzbekistan. The project aims to support global and national efforts to combat forced labour under the 2014 ILO Protocol and Recommendation on Forced Labour, which was ratified by Uzbekistan in 2019. More specifically, the project aims to effectively eliminate traditional and state-imposed forced labour systems and to significantly reduce contemporary forms of forced labour, which are often linked to human trafficking. This will be done through: • increased knowledge, awareness, and implementation of the 2014 ILO Protocol and Recommendation; • improved evidence-based and responsive national policies and action plans on forced labour, with strong implementation, monitoring, and enforcement mechanisms; • enhanced efforts to collect reliable national statistics in order to carry out research and share knowledge across institutions at national, regional, and global levels; • strengthened workers’ and employers’ organizations to support the fight against forced labour in partnership with other interested parties; and • strengthened awareness and livelihoods programs to prevent forced labour and to provide victims with access to remedies. Proposed activities in Uzbekistan Given the general objective of the Bridge Project, it is considered that the following activities could be supported in Uzbekistan: 1. Institutional capacity-building of the Labour Inspection Service concerning unacceptable forms of work, including forced labour. The work would involve the training of staff and the incorporation of relevant tools in relevant procedures and training curricula of the Labour Inspection Service. 2. Institutional capacity-building of legal practitioners (judges, lawyers) and law enforcement officials (police, prosecutors) on the judicial and enforcement aspects of the elimination of forced labour. The work would involve the training of staff and the incorporation of relevant tools in relevant procedures and curricula of relevant institutions. 3. Developing recommendations for measures to be taken that will enable Uzbekistan to achieve Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Status. 4. Capacity-building for the National Tripartite Commission and selected territorial and sectoral tripartite commissions to increase members’ awareness of forced labour and measures that can be taken to address it

Project symbol

UZB/20/50/USA

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Moscow

Start date

01/10/2020

End date

31/07/2023

Total allocation

202691

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

202691

Development Partners

USA, United States Department of Labor, Bureau for International Labor Affairs, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking

Country/Countries

Uzbekistan

Outcomes

Outcome 7: Adequate and effective protection at work for all