Children in cotton fields in 2004; photo: Thomas Grabka (c) |
Children are paid 500 sums ($0.20) for manually weeding one 300-metre-long bed. Generally, a maximum of three beds can be weeded in one day.
The government pays farmers up to 30,000 sums ($12) for weeding one hectare of cotton. Public sector workers are obliged to donate between 5,000 and 8,000 sums per month from their pay for the weeding campaign.
Jizak Region is not alone in employing child labour. One human rights campaigner based in Tashkent said she had seen children as young as 13 weed cotton fields in Hojeyli District in Karakalpakstan.
As children throughout Uzbekistan graduate from school today, many campaigners remain concerned that children employed as a cheap agricultural labour force in this way will fall behind academically.
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