"Forced labor, including children - linked to World Bank", July 2017

[Human Rights Watch launches a digital campaign against forced labour in the Uzbek cotton industry.] Each year Uzbekistan, one of the world’s largest exporters of cotton, forces many people, including children, to work in the cotton fields for weeks in arduous conditions. Nurses and teachers are among those targeted, undermining access to health care and education...[Meanwhile] [t]he World Bank has loaned half a billion dollars to bolster Uzbekistan’s agriculture sector in recent years, fully aware that the country’s cotton industry relies heavily on forced labor. In doing so, it is providing cover for the government’s forced labor system. [includes video]