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The International Labour Organization and the International Finance Corporation have launched a Better Work programme in Uzbekistan aimed at improving working conditions and strengthening the competitiveness of the country’s textile and garment industry, the two organisations announced on 14 June.
The programme was formalised on 30 May, when the IFC, the ILO and Uzbekistan’s tripartite constituents — the government, employers and workers’ organisations — signed a memorandum of understanding setting out its terms. Over an initial 24-month period, the initiative will deliver compliance assessments, training and advisory services to factories across the sector.
Uzbekistan ranks among the world’s top ten cotton producers, and its cotton, textile and garment industries have been undergoing significant reforms in recent years. The Better Work programme is intended to act as an industry convener, ensuring that labour standards are upheld in factories as the country seeks to open its production to new export markets.
“The programme will support the sustainable growth of textile and garment manufacturing, which has the potential to create thousands of new, decent jobs for mostly women garment workers in rural areas across the country,” said Conor Boyle, Officer-in-Charge of Better Work.
Signal to global brands
The IFC’s Lukas Casey, Manager for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services in the Middle East, Central Asia and Türkiye, said the initiative was intended to reassure international buyers. “We hope Better Work’s presence will send a strong signal to global apparel brands and retailers, some of whom are already considering sourcing from Uzbekistan, about the strength and sustainability of the Uzbek textile and garment industry,” he said.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided the initial funding for the programme.
Years of groundwork
The launch builds on a decade of engagement by international institutions in Uzbekistan’s cotton and textile sectors. The IFC has provided advisory support and investments in the industry since 2016, while the ILO has maintained a presence in the textile sector since 2013, including through monitoring of the annual cotton harvest. In 2022 the ILO reported the eradication of systemic child and forced labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton production cycle — a finding that significantly altered the country’s standing with international buyers and development institutions.
The World Bank Group and other stakeholders have also contributed to longer-term efforts to improve labour and environmental standards in cotton fields, providing the foundation on which the Better Work programme now seeks to build at the factory level.