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Uzbekistan|life|June 19, 2014 / 03:03 PM
Cotton Campaign warns World Bank of unintended consequences

AKIPRESS.COM - Cotton-field The Cotton Campaign has warned the World Bank of unintended consequences of its recently approved grant for the development of agriculture in Uzbekistan, UzNews reported.

Human rights activists in Uzbekistan described possible negative consequences from the $410.3-million grant to develop food production and irrigation in Karakalpakstan.

The Cotton Campaign had called on the World Bank to postpone its grant authorization until Uzbekistan develops and implements meaningful mechanisms to curtail human rights abuses in the country.

“Forced labor in Uzbek agriculture is not limited to just the two months of the cotton harvest,” they explain. “It affects tens of thousands of farmers growing cotton, grain and silk worms.”

“The World Bank should have created and established some sort of feedback mechanism as part of its project development because civil society and the free press are non-existent in the country. For instance, it is already known that as part of its irrigation project in Karakalpakstan tentatively 83 residents will be displaced.”

“The Uzbek authorities do not respect the private property rights of citizens. Houses can be taken away with inadequate compensation for resettlement. How can the World Bank guarantee that private property rights will not be violated in this case?” the Cotton Campaign continued.

The activists also criticized giving money to the education sector whose main focus in the past few years has been on devising ways to coerce its employees and students to work in the cotton fields.

“The authorities constantly interrupt school sessions to send students and teachers to weed, harvest, clean up, and construct infrastructure in the cotton fields.”

“The World Bank should have called on the country to demonstrate concrete steps to improve the education system before approving the grant. Freeing the educators from their agricultural responsibilities should have been the first step before we can talk about any additional education programs. The World Bank is violating its own rules and regulations by subsidizing child labor.”

The activists are currently observing the developments with yet another possible grant and project, this time from the EU, which has announced its intention to invest €168 million in agricultural projects – specifically in irrigation infrastructure in Uzbekistan.

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