US Children's Clothing Company Gymboree Bans Use of Uzbek Cotton

US children's clothing manufacturer Gymboree is the latest company to take a stand against child labour by refusing to buy cotton from Uzbekistan. Their web announcement of the policy change comes after over 3,000 Change.org members sent in letters asking for the company to stop buying Uzbek cotton.
 
Over 70 of the world's largest apparel brands and retailers have developed policies on the use of Uzbek cotton in their products or refusing to buy products made with Uzbek cotton. And now after nearly a year of advocacy from Change.org members, Gymboree will join their ranks. According to the statement on their website, "Gymboree prohibits the use of cotton sourced from Uzbekistan and textiles produced using Uzbekistan cotton because of Uzbekistan's history of forced child labor." It's a move that now puts Gymboree a step ahead of other children's brands, which ironically still use cotton harvested by kids.

Anti-Slavery will be following closely to ensure that Gymboree puts in place adequate tracking and tracing mechanisms to ensure that this commitment is enforced in practice.

This is an edited article originally published on change.org

Schoolchildren sent to cotton fields in Jizak Region

Uznews.net reported last week that schoolchildren in the Jizak region of Uzbekistan have been ordered to leave their classrooms and help farmers cultivate cotton by weeding fields.

 

A local teacher said the campaign was preventing school leavers from revising before their graduation exams. Those sent to the fields are 15 and 16 year-olds.

Sources claim that Jizak Regional education department was involved in sending high school pupils to the cotton fields. The campaign is no surprise to many activists trying to end the Uzbek government’s reliance on forced child labour to maximise its yields from cotton growing and exports each year. 

 

Uzbekistan exports about 1 million tonnes of cotton fibre every year. The Jizak Region is an important cotton producing area for the country.