Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in the Cotton Supply Chain- Rise for Impact - Uzbekistan component

In India, Pakistan and Uzbekistan millions of farmers and workers depend on cotton cultivation for their livelihoods. At present, cotton farmers are struggling to keep their farms viable. They are affected by falling yields, erratic rains due to climate change, water scarcity, disease resistance to pesticides, health hazards, rising cost of inputs, lack of access to affordable credit and volatile market prices. INDITEX entered into a partnership with the ILO in 2017 to promote an integrated approach to Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (FPRW) in the cotton supply chain. The first phase of the project in India, Pakistan and Mali produced some remarkable results that highlighted the links between the FPRWs. These will be replicated in new target zones in India and Pakistan and adapted for Uzbekistan. The proposed project addresses a) decent work deficits in cotton cultivation in selected districts of the three countries, and b) farm viability by introducing ecological cotton cultivation techniques protective of occupational health, access to professional financial and insurance services and to alternative marketing channels. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining will be the motor of the project, allowing male and female workers to negotiate compliance with the other four FPRW through social dialogue. Self-assessment of compliance with social and environmental norms will help to trace the evolution of the FPRW status and its impact on farm viability. This is in line with ILO’s promotion of a Just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies. Cotton-growing communities will be made aware of and empowered to assert the five FPRW, namely elimination of child labour and forced labour, non-discrimination, freedom of association and collective bargaining, and occupational safety and health. Their efforts will be supported by responsible institutions, including ILO constituents and civil society organizations. Feasible models and tools for promoting FPRW in cotton cultivation while boosting farm productivity through responsible and sustainable farming will be shared with global stakeholders for replication in the upper tiers of the cotton supply chain as well as in other cotton-growing communities across the world.

Project symbol

UZB/22/51/INX

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Moscow

Start date

02/03/2023

End date

02/03/2026

Total allocation

637203

Total expenditure

Status

Active

484232

Development Partners

INDITEX, Industria del diseno textil S.A.

Country/Countries

Uzbekistan

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Strong, modernized normative action for social justice