As I was walking around the countryside of Uzbekistan, I couldn't help but notice that all the people harvesting the cotton in the fields were CHILDREN and not adults! Why weren't these kids in school getting an education and where were their parents? Well, my curiosity got the best of me so I went to talk to some of the kids, which was a struggle considering they would need an education to learn to speak English. From what I understood, they labor long hours in the field and have little time for school. Since the children will work for less money than their parents, the country of Uzbekistan has taken advantage of the situation and forced them to be cotton harvesters. This action has received international attention and criticism. The issue became even more significant to me when i learned that Uzbekistan is the world's second largest cotton exporter and fifth largest producer! Lots of labor + high demand = lots of child workers and undereducated citizens. I did the math.
This relates to the sustainable development of the country because it shows how Uzbekistan isn't perhaps as developed as other countries since a large portion of their labor force comes from minors.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uz.html
http://mediavoicesforchildren.org/?p=2460
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