Blog

Casting a light on dependent contractors: a new statistical and increasingly important category

While dependent contractors have long existed as a group of workers, they have only been made visible in official statistics recently.

The relationships between workers and the economic units for which they work are complex and changing. These work relationships cover various dimensions, including work arrangements, forms of employment, the degree of workers’ autonomy in decision-making, the level of economic risk they are exposed to, etc. Work relationships are closely related to workers’ status in employment.

Violence against health workers in Kyrgyzstan sparks calls for protections and social dialogue

(4 August, 2025) In July, a disturbing incident in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, highlighted the growing threat of violence against health workers in the region. After a doctor asked the noisy relatives of a patient to calm down, he was physically attacked. Rather than the perpetrators being detained, it was the doctor who was taken into custody by police. The attackers filed a counterclaim accusing the physician of verbal abuse, and a court sentenced the assaulted doctor to three days of administrative arrest.

Fighting for the safety of Kyrgyzstan’s healthcare heroes

How a union leader is championing the rights of health workers.

Uzbek Farmer Punished with Water Cutoff After Refusing to Surrender Extra Grain to the State

In his video appeal Bobur Pardaev, a farmer from the Oltinsoy district, addressed the district hokim, Bahrom Mahmatraemov, standing in the middle of his wilted cotton field. In the video, Pardaev said that the hokim had instructed local irrigation authorities to deny his field access to water. As a result, the farmer said that half of his cotton harvest has already been destroyed.

Uzbekistan: Obstacles to Registration of Human Rights NGO Akbaskur in Karakalpakstan

Akbaskur’s case highlights how inconsistent legislation, unnecessary bureaucracy, and politically motivated interference can create fertile grounds for blocking civil society initiatives, particularly those launched by grassroots activists. It demonstrates that, despite the existence of a legal framework, its procedures and implementation remain vulnerable to arbitrary interpretation and informal power structures.

Turkmenistan Cotton: New Reporting Reveals Systemic Forced Labor, Despite Some Steps By Government To Reduce Mobilization

The government of Turkmenistan should expand the preliminary measures it took in the 2024 harvest to reduce forced labor through reforms that address root causes, empower workers and farmers, and allow independent monitoring and reporting, the Cotton Campaign said. The call comes as today the Cotton Campaign’s frontline partners Turkmen.News and Turkmen Initiative for Human Rights released their findings of independent civil society monitoring of the 2024 cotton harvest in Turkmenistan.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk from Belarus awarded the Arthur Svensson International Prize for 2025

Aliaksandr Yarashuk, president of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP), vice-president of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and a member of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body, is being honoured for his uncompromising defence of workers’ rights and democracy in Belarus.

JOINT STATEMENT: URGENT CALL ON THE IFC AND THE EBRD FOR REMEDY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT INDORAMA AGRO, UZBEKISTAN

Indorama Agro has systematically eroded workers’ rights by exploiting their vulnerability created by insecure working conditions whereby employees have been misclassified as “service providers”, depriving some 400 workers of trade union membership and safeguards and benefits under employment law. Public monitors have documented multiple cases of workers being coerced to work without pay under the threat of non-renewal of their contracts—an indicator of forced labor.

Turkmenistan – CESCR – Gender Equality – February 2025

Unfortunately, gender inequality is widespread in Turkmenistan. Sexual and reproductive healthcare, specifically resources, data and information, are inadequate or lacking altogether. This is exacerbated by state-controlled media and its failure to disseminate scientific knowledge and evidence-based information. Sexual and reproductive health information is desperately needed for women to have an opportunity to reach their full potential, particularly to ensure health, economic security and legal protections.

Reporter Nurgeldi Halykov Banned From Leaving Turkmenistan

Turkmen.news correspondent Nurgeldi Halykov has been placed under a travel ban. On January 12, he was not allowed to board a flight to Dubai where he was travelling on a work visa. He was held for several hours at Ashgabat airport and interrogated in a separate office. In the end he was not permitted to cross the border.