[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39043-39044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15398]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Research on Forced Labor in the Production of Goods in Selected 
Countries

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

ACTION: New. Notice of Availability of Funds and Solicitation for 
Cooperative Agreement Applications (SGA). The full announcement is 
posted on http://www.grants.gov and DOL/ILAB's Web site at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/main.htm.

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    Funding Opportunity Number: SGA 08-07
    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: Not 
applicable.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor 
Affairs (ILAB), will award up to USD 1.25 million over three years 
through a cooperative agreement to a qualified organization and/or 
Association to carry out research in eight (8) countries on forced 
labor in the production of goods, and to develop strategies to assist 
governments, industries, and/or third parties in taking action to 
address these

[[Page 39044]]

problems. Four (4) countries are required for research, and applicants 
must choose four (4) additional countries. The solicitation provides a 
list of eleven (11) countries from which these four (4) additional 
countries should be chosen, but applicants may propose four (4) 
alternate countries and provide justifications for these choices. 
Projects funded under SGA 08-07 will involve gathering and analyzing 
data to answer the research questions outlined in the solicitation. The 
research will aim to complement and expand upon existing research on 
the use of forced labor in the production of goods.
    Application and Submission Information: The full-text version of 
SGA 08-07 is available on http://www.grants.gov and USDOL/ILAB's Web 
site at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/main.htm. All applications for 
funding under SGA 08-07 must be submitted electronically to USDOL via 
http://www.grants.gov. Any application sent by mail or other delivery 
services, e-mail, telegram, or facsimile (FAX) will not be accepted.
    Key Dates: The deadline for submission of applications is August 8, 
2008. All technical questions regarding SGA 08-07 must be sent by July 
18, 2008 in order to receive a response. USDOL will publish its 
responses to these technical questions on SGA 08-07 by July 28, 2008. 
Any questions regarding the electronic assembly of application packages 
must be sent at least one week prior to the application deadline. USDOL 
will make all cooperative agreement awards on or before September 30, 
2008.
    Agency Contacts: All technical questions regarding SGA 08-07 should 
be sent to Ms. Lisa Harvey, Grant Officer, U.S. Department of Labor's 
Office of Procurement Services, via e-mail (e-mail address: 
[email protected]; telephone: (202) 693-4592--this is not a toll-
free-number).
    Background Information: ILAB conducts research and commissions 
studies to inform and formulate international economic, trade and labor 
policies in collaboration with other U.S. government agencies, and 
provides technical assistance to countries abroad in support of foreign 
labor policy objectives. OCFT, formerly the International Child Labor 
Program (ICLP), was created at the request of Congress in 1993 to 
specifically research and report on child labor around the world. More 
recently Congress, through the Trafficking Victims Protection 
Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005, directed ILAB to include, among 
its responsibilities, monitoring and combating forced labor. 22 U.S.C. 
7112(b). Today, OCFT develops policy, conducts research, and implements 
technical cooperation projects to eradicate exploitive child labor, 
trafficking in persons, and forced labor worldwide.
    Since 1994, ILAB has published over 20 congressionally mandated 
reports on international child labor. In addition to its own research, 
USDOL has funded projects aimed at building the knowledge base on child 
labor, forced labor and human trafficking world wide for the purposes 
of improving program planning, policy design and impact measurement. 
Research projects have included the collection of child labor data 
through national surveys, rapid assessments, baseline studies; special 
and thematic studies; comprehensive literature reviews on forced labor, 
child labor and human trafficking; and the development of creative and 
innovative methodologies to measure child labor, forced and bonded 
labor, and human trafficking.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 1st day of July 2008.
Lisa Harvey,
Grant Officer.
 [FR Doc. E8-15398 Filed 7-7-08; 8:45 am]
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