[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77516-77517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-31784]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Child Labor Education Initiative

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of 
Labor.

ACTION: Notice of intent to solicit cooperative agreement applications.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs (ILAB), intends to award approximately U.S. $30 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: Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, 
Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Mali, Morocco, Philippines and Uganda. 
ILAB will solicit cooperative agreement applications from qualified 
organizations (i.e., any commercial, international, 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.

Dates: The solicitations for cooperative agreement applications will be 
published in the Federal Register and will remain open for at least 30 
days from the date of publication. All awards will be made before 
September 30, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Once solicitations are published in the Federal Register, 
applications must be delivered to: U.S. Department of Labor, 
Procurement Services Center, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-5416, 
Attention: Lisa Harvey, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa Harvey. E-mail address: [email protected]. All inquiries should make reference to the USDOL Child 
Labor Education Initiative--Solicitations for Cooperative Agreement 
Applications.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 1995, USDOL has supported a worldwide 
technical assistance program implemented by the International Labor 
Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
(ILO-

[[Page 77517]]

IPEC). In that time, ILAB has provided $195 million to ILO-IPEC and 
other organizations for international technical assistance to combat 
abusive child labor around the world.
    In its FY 2002 appropriations, in addition to funds earmarked for 
ILO-IPEC, USDOL received $37 million for the Child Labor Education 
Initiative to fund programs that increase access to quality basic 
education in areas with a high incidence of abusive and exploitative 
child labor. The cooperative agreements awarded under these 
solicitations will be funded by this initiative.
    USDOL's Education Initiative nurtures the development, health, 
safety, and enhanced future employability of children around the world 
by increasing access to basic education for children removed from child 
labor or at risk of entering it. Eliminating child labor will depend in 
part on improving access to, quality of, and relevance of education. 
Without improving educational quality and relevance, children withdrawn 
from child labor may not have viable alternatives and may return to 
work or resort to other hazardous means of subsistence.
    The Education Initiative has the following four goals:
    1. Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children 
and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education 
infrastructures;
    2. Strengthen formal and transitional education systems that 
encourage working children and those at risk of working to attend 
school;
    3. Strengthen national institutions and policies on education and 
child labor; and
    4. Ensure the long-term sustainability of these efforts.
    When working to increase access to quality basic education, USDOL 
strives to complement existing efforts to eradicate the worst forms of 
child labor, to build on the achievements of and lessons learned from 
these efforts, to expand impact and build synergies among actors, and 
to avoid duplication of resources and efforts.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 12th day of December, 2002.
Lawrence J. Kuss,
Grant Officer.
[FR Doc. 02-31784 Filed 12-17-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-28-P