This week we’re looking at an important regional story: cotton, or “oq oltin”(“white gold”), as Uzbeks call it.
From forced labour in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the shrinking of the Aral Sea, we explore what’s changed, what hasn’t, and whether the region’s cotton is finally becoming ethical.
Joining us is Umida Niyazova, head and founder of the Uzbek Forum for Human Rights, who has been monitoring labour conditions in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields for many years. I asked her about her personal journey and why she founded her organisation in Germany, what cotton means to local communities in Central Asia, and the main labour and human rights challenges still facing the industry in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan today.
