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The Project to Increase Worker Voice and Address Forced Labor, Child Labor, and Other Labor Violations in Cattle Raising Areas of Brazil and Paraguay will help to increase collective action by workers organizations (WOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) to address forced labor, child labor, and other labor violations in cattle raising areas of Brazil and Paraguay, specifically in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso do Sul and in the Paraguayan Department of Boquerón in the Chaco region.

The ATLAS project builds the capacity of governments to combat child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking by helping them strengthen their laws, regulations, and enforcement efforts and enhance coordination between law enforcement and social protection entities. After completing the implementation and institutionalization of interventions in Argentina, Thailand, and Paraguay in 2022, ATLAS will continue working in Liberia to help develop a new child labor law and advocate for its passage. The project will also support the dissemination, implementation, and institutionalization of best practices in support of labor laws and policies recently approved by the Government of Liberia.

In partnership with the Paraguayan Ministry of Labor, Paraguay Okakuaa is strengthening the enforcement of labor laws in agriculture in the Department of Guairá and providing educational and livelihood opportunities for families vulnerable to child labor, particularly young women. And in response to the government’s political will to address forced labor, the project is now expanding efforts to the Chaco, a significant cattle- and beef-exporting region. By addressing labor issues in global supply chains, particularly in the beef sector, the project will help ensure a fair playing field for U.S. goods in global export markets.

To contribute to the elimination of the worst forms of child labor among racially and socially excluded populations — primarily Afro-descendants and indigenous— through horizontal cooperation.