The Republic of Uzbekistan is a member of the International Labour Organization since 1993 and by now it has joined 13 conventions of the ILO.

Since 2005 the activity of the International Programme of ILO on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is being carried out in Uzbekistan.

In March 2008 Uzbekistan ratified the two ILO conventions on child labour: on Minimal Age of Employment (№138), on Prohibition and Immediate Action for Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (№182), Press-Service of the MFA Republic of Uzbekistan reported.

With a view of full implementation of the ratified ILO conventions regulations, the Government of Uzbekistan approved the National Action Plan (NAP) directed to taking measures in terms of banning compulsory child labour in any of its forms and manifestations, as well as coordinating the activity of ministries and local bodies of power.

The complex of the NAP measures envisage perfection of the normative and legal basis, monitoring and holding an awareness work concerning implementation of the conventions №138 and №182, as well as implementation of the projects of international cooperation.

In the framework of this activity in December 2009 the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved the Law “On introducing addenda into the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on administrative responsibility”. This statutory act provides inclusion in the national legislation of the norms of responsibility of physical entities, including parents, for use of work of minors at jobs with adverse conditions, which may harm the health or safety of a minor, as well as consolidates responsibility of employers for violation of the legislation on labour and protection of labour concerning minors.

The law is aimed at strengthening the mechanisms of the child rights protection, as well as perfection of national legislative basis and law-enforcement practice in view of fulfillment of the norms of international conventions.

At the same time, the Law “On introducing alterations and addenda into the Labour Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan” and the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On guarantees of the child rights” have been passed. The legal norm has been developed in the framework of implementation into the national legislation of requirements of the ILO Convention “On Minimal Age of Employment” (№138) which establishes the minimum age for employment – the age of graduation of the mandatory school education and age under 15.

According to addenda introduced into the legislation of Uzbekistan, the minimum age for employment is 16 years old.

Article 77 of the Labour code provides that for the purpose of preparing of youth to work – the pupils of schools, academic lyceums and professional colleges, a teenager at a time free from his studies and who reaches 15 years of age can be hired for job upon the written consent of one of the parents or a guardian replacing him.

Thus, they can be attracted only to an easy work, which does not cause harm to his health and development while not infringing the educational process.

Thus, alterations and addenda introduced on the basis of laws approved by the Senate of Oliy Majlis – as they strengthen the national legislative guarantees of the rights of young generation also harmonize the national legislation with international legal norms. As a whole, for over the last period Uzbekistan has fulfilled in full the obligations on presenting reports under conventions and recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The system of executive bodies on protecting the rights in the sphere of labour of the child has been elaborated in the country: the Cabinet of Ministers’ Complex on protection of family, maternity and childhood; the Special commission at the Cabinet of Ministers on minors; district State legal labour inspections; district Inspections on labour protection.

However, apart from the state bodies the non-government organizations actively participated in elaborating the laws. In particular, they include Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan, the International Fund “Soglom avlod uchun” (“For healthy generation”), “Kamolot” public youth movement, Republican Public Children's Fund “Sen Yolgiz Emassan” (“You are not alone”), “Hayot” (“Life”), Children's Fund, and others.

It is obvious that Uzbekistan has elaborated the firm and steady system of administrative and legal protection of the rights of minors guaranteed by the norms of the Constitution, Family Code, Labour Code, Criminal Code, and other statutes.

Apart from this, the rights of children are stipulated in the State program of reforming the system of health care, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Education”, National Program for Personnel Training, State National Program on Development the School Education, as well as in such large-scale state social programs as «The Healthy Generation», «Mother and Child», «The Year of Family», «The Year of Health», «The Year of Social Protection», «The Year of Youth», and «The Year of harmoniously developed generation».

2010 is announced in Uzbekistan as the Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation. It is envisaged the implementation of a wide-range policy measures in terms of creating necessary opportunities and conditions for upbringing the healthy and harmoniously developed generation, growing the comprehensively developed youth.

The measures being taken in the Republic of Uzbekistan witness about fulfillment of the adopted international obligations and international standards of the ILO in the field of prevention and prohibition the child labour, ensuring the legislative mechanisms of protection the child rights in the sphere of labour and consecutive fulfillment of the National Action Plan approved by the Government of Uzbekistan on implementation the ILO Conventions №138 and №182.

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