On October 28, 2021, at the joint initiative of the International Labor Organization and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkmenistan, a webinar “Promoting fair employment to prevent forced labor” has been held.

Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Federation of Trade Unions, as well as representatives of the Republic of Turkmenistan, representatives of the Ministry of Development, Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Qatar, representatives of Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations as well as international ILO experts in the field of fair employment and forced labor have attended this webinar.

The purpose of this meeting was to exchange experience in the areas of activities and policies in the field of countering forced labor between ILO and responsible branches of Governments attended at this meeting.

During the meeting, the international expert of the ILO Gaela Rudy Fraser presented introductory information about the practices of fair employment and its importance and also discussed the causal relationship of the need to prevent any forms of forced labor.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in turn, made a substantive report on the progress of the Government in preventing the use of child and forced labor achieved in cooperation with the International Labor Organization, in particular, the results of the activities of the State Labor Inspectorate under the Ministry during the cotton campaign from 2018 to the present time. were a positive result of changes in the cotton sector, recognized by a plurality of international institutions and members of the international community has been demonstrated.

At the same time, the Ministry expressed readiness to the Representatives of the Government of the Republic of Turkmenistan to provide universal support in the field of combating forced labor, in particular by strengthening cooperation between the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Turkmenistan within the framework of the memorandum between the sides, signed during the visit of the President of the Republic of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the Republic of Uzbekistan on October 5-6, 2021.

In conclusion, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkmenistan expressed a great gratitude to the Uzbek side for providing such important information as part of the exchange of experience and expressed great hope for strengthening relationships with the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan in order to borrow the experience that has been accumulated in recent years.