A number of great groups, in the U.S., Europe and Uzbekistan are collaborating to address this effort together. Diplomatic, economic and political forces are being used to motivate the Uzbek government to change its ways. Environmental Justice Foundation put out the report, White Gold, in 2005 that documents the problem of forced child labor, the atrocious environmental degradation that has occurred, and the corrupt government and banking system that lies as the foundation. Click here to read the report.

International Labor Rights Forum has a cotton campaign that is specifically focusing on child labor being used in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan and India.

Most Uzbek human rights activists have been banished from the country. They have called for two international boycotts of Uzbek cotton. Click here to read the request to boycott Uzbek cotton.

Uzbekistan recently ratified Convention 182, relating to the Worst Forms of Child Labor, and is in the process of officially ratifying Convention 138, the Convention on Minimum Age. These are positive and important steps. However, we have seen credible evidence of the systematic use of child labor in the cotton fields.

Stunning photos of the children picking cotton

Electronic Industry Code of Conduct
The Electronic Industry Code of Conduct identifies appropriate standards of conduct for socially responsible entities operating in the electronics industry. The Code provides guidelines for appropriate corporate behavior.

Fair Labor Association
Fair Labor Association is a non-profit auditing group started by Nike which does monitoring on behalf of members and critiques the in-house auditing operations of member companies.

Verité
Verité is an independent, non-profit social auditing and research organization. Verité auditors not only identify exploitation of workers or health and safety violations in the workplace, but also develop concrete steps to correct them through a combination of trainings for management and workers, education programs and remediation programs.

Reports & Studies

Clean Up Your Computer - Working Conditions in Electronics Industry
This report documents instances of unsafe factories, compulsory overtime, wages below the legal minimum and degrading treatment.