Preventing human trafficking in supply chains focus of OSCE forum in Uzbekistan

Combating human trafficking and forced labour in supply chains of companies and public entities was the focus of a forum organised today in Tashkent by the Office of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan, in partnership with the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons and Forced Labour of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The goal of the forum was to examine how countries are tackling human trafficking in public and private supply chains and good practices that can be implemented in Uzbekistan. With several recent initiatives launched in the OSCE area, including a proposed EU ban on products made with forced labor, the topic of the forum is timely.

“There is a momentum right now across the OSCE region with the adoption of new laws in several OSCE participating States that prevent human trafficking and advance human rights by exercising due diligence in supply chains,” said the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Valiant Richey.

Richey also noted a shift from voluntary, reactive approaches in the OSCE area to mandatory laws that require companies and governments to take positive steps to tackle trafficking in human beings and forced labour in their supply chains.

"One of the most serious issues affecting every member state in the international community is human trafficking. Consequently, it is crucial to defend all aspects of human rights in order to avoid and fight this atrocity. In this regard, Uzbekistan has made it a priority of the state policy to promote the protection of fundamental human rights and liberties, as well as the welfare of its citizens and their sense of hope for the future based on the core principle ‘The needs of people are fundamental’. Concurrently, related reforms have been systematically implemented and have produced tangible results,” Highlighted Tanzila Narbaeva, Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis.

“The OSCE Project Co-ordinator welcomes a number of measures taken by the Republic of Uzbekistan to eliminate forced labor in supply chains, including the signing by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of the Law on Criminalization of Forced Labor; a substantive increase in administrative fines in 2021 for forced labor; doubling the number of labor inspectors; and finally, excluding the cotton produced in the country from the so-called ‘List of goods produced using child and forced labor’,” said Hans-Ullrich Ihm, Acting Head of Mission of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan.

Looking ahead, the forum aims to establish a network of experts to support OSCE participating States, including Uzbekistan, in adopting and implementing policies to ensure that their supply chains do not contribute to human trafficking.