The World Bank delegation visit

A World Bank delegation headed by Mark Woodward, the Lead Expert in Social Development has visited Uzbekistan on issues of cooperation in the sphere of social and labor relations.

During the meetings with the heads of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Board of the Federation of Trade Unions and the Chamber of Trade and Industry, the parties have exchanged information and discussed the current status and prospects of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the World Bank.

In particular, they discussed the results of work carried out by the mission of the experts of the World Bank Inspection Board that visited Uzbekistan in November 2014. The Inspection Board has positively assessed the significant progress in issues of reforming the labor and cotton production industry, lack of problems with the use of child labor in cotton harvesting as well as implementation of the Program of decent labor in the country by the Government jointly with the ILO.

Also, the Uzbek party was informed during the meetings that the World Bank and the ILO signed a Memorandum of Understanding that set up the framework for cooperation. In accordance with the said Memorandum, issues are being developed regarding carrying out surveys in agriculture (of the influence of mechanization on the labor market and the practice of hiring workforce in agriculture), establishment of feedback and monitoring by a third party of the World Bank-financed projects implemented in Uzbekistan.

Considering the fact that all the discussed mechanisms should include a component of building up the potential and awareness of the target groups, a preliminary agreement has been reached that the World Bank will promote building up of the potential and legal awareness of the beneficiaries within the frameworks of their projects.

During the visit, the issues have been also discussed related to holding in early March 2015 a Round Table meeting with participation of the representatives of the World Bank, the ILO and other concerned international organizations at which the issue will be discussed relating to constructive cooperation among Uzbekistan, the ILO and the World Bank.

On February 5, a Round Table meeting was held in the World Bank office in the Republic of Uzbekistan jointly with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Board of Federation of Trade Unions and the Chamber of Trade and Industry participated by the representative of non-government organizations of Uzbekistan.

At the said event, Junghun Jo, the Head of the World Bank Representative Office in the Republic of Uzbekistan has noted that the World Bank assigns high priority to interaction with non-government organizations and the experience of Uzbekistan in this term is very important.

The Uzbek party has noted that today specific attention is paid to establishment of communication between concerned government and non-government organizations on issues related to labor relations in agriculture.

The HGO has been informed about the existing WB projects in Uzbekistan: “Support of Agricultural Enterprises”, “Improvement of Water Management in Ferghana Valley” and “Development of Agriculture and Mitigation of Impacts of Climate Change”.

The NGO representatives spoke about their performance and participation in the National Monitoring of Child Labor in Uzbekistan. They said that they acquired a rich experience in the process of the said monitoring and expressed their wish to further participate in similar surveys.

Coordination Council
on Uzbekistan Child Labor