[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 243 (Thursday, December 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 70545]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-31200]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Child Labor Education Initiative

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 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. $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.

DATES: Specific solicitations for cooperative agreement applications 
are to be published in the Federal Register and remain open for at 
least 30 days from the date of publication. All cooperative agreements 
awarded will be made before September 30, 2004.

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-IPEC). In that time, ILAB has provided over $270 million to ILO-
IPEC and other organizations for international technical assistance to 
combat abusive child labor around the world.
    In its FY 2003 appropriations, in addition to funds earmarked for 
ILO-IPEC, USDOL received $37 million in two-year funding for the Child 
Labor Education Initiative to support programs that improve access to 
basic education in international areas with a high rate of abusive and 
exploitative child labor. All such FY 2003 funds will be obligated 
prior to September 30, 2004.
    USDOL's Child Labor 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 Child Labor 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 in Washington, DC, this 11th day of December, 2003.
Lawrence J. Kuss,
Grant Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-31200 Filed 12-17-03; 8:45 am]
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