World Bank Document

forced labor issues in Uzbekistan. This includes: (a) continuous in-country dialogue and 

collaboration with multilateral agencies and development partners concerned; (b) analytical work and 

                                                           

20

  Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Admission to Employment; Convention No. 182 on Worst Forms of Child 

Labor; Convention No. 29 on Forced Labor; and Convention No. 105 on Abolition of Forced Labor. 

21

 According to Article 2 of Convention No. 182, the term ‘child’ “. shall apply to all persons under the age of 18.” 

22

 According to Article 2 of Convention No. 29, the term ‘forced or compulsory labor’ refers to “. all work or service 

which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself 

voluntarily.” 

 

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investment lending designed to promote the mechanization of cotton harvesting and crop 

diversification away from cotton; and (d) project-level mitigation measures and binding provisions, 

including a Third Party Monitoring (TPM) and Feedback Mechanism (FBM) to help monitor child 

and/or forced labor issues in particular projects and within project areas. After a one-year deferral, to 

assess progress in WBG dialogue with the government, the Inspection Panel recommended in 

December 2014 against undertaking a full inspection. In so doing, it concluded that significant 

progress had been made in eliminating child labor and that WBG and other development partners’ 

engagement in Uzbekistan’s agriculture supports “. . . the diversification and modernization of the 

cotton sector so that child and forced labor can be firmly eradicated.” On January 23, 2015, the Board 

approved this recommendation on an ‘absence of objection’ basis.