World Bank Document

but in recent years has mostly disappeared. In 2013, joint ILO-government monitoring of the cotton 

harvest concluded that “there was no systematic recourse to forced child labor” and government 

national monitoring in 2014 confirmed this conclusion. In 2015, ILO-government monitoring in ten 

oblasts  where WBG-financed agricultural projects are being implemented found no conclusive 

evidence that the beneficiaries of these projects used child or forced labor. However, serious concerns 

were raised about the potential for forced labor associated with the widespread mobilization of adults 

for cotton harvesting. Noting that the risks of forced labor were acknowledged by the authorities, ILO 

monitoring concluded inter alia that additional vigorous steps were required to remove them. 

  

3. 

A Poverty and Social Impact Assessment of Cotton Mechanization underscored that for