Child Labor Education Initiative

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), intends to award approximately U.S. $29 million to organizations to develop and implement formal, non-formal, and vocational education programs as a means to combat exploitative child labor in the following countries and regions: Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), Ecuador, Indonesia, Southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland), and Turkey. ILAB intends to solicit cooperative agreement applications from qualified organizations (i.e., any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organization capable of successfully developing and implementing education programs) to implement programs that promote school attendance and provide educational opportunities for working children or children at risk of starting working. The programs should focus on innovative ways to address the many gaps and challenges to basic education found in the countries mentioned above. Please refer to http://www.dol.gov/--sec/ regs/fedreg/notices/2002012956.pdf for an example of a previous notice of availability of funds and solicitation for cooperative agreement applications.