Labor Department Awards $1.5 Million Grant to CARE to
Counter Child Labor in Bolivia

Project to Provide Assistance on Education and Training

Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $1.5 million grant to CARE to develop and implement educational and vocational programs to combat the worst forms of child labor in Bolivia. The project, part of the department’s Child Labor Education Initiative, will improve access to basic quality education for children working or at-risk of working.

Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs Michael Magán, in La Paz today to sign a letter of agreement with the Bolivian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labor and Micro-Enterprise, noted, “It is of minimal help simply to remove child workers from abusive work situations if we don’t provide an alternative. Our program of education and training counters not only the exploitation of children but also offers the opportunity for a meaningful, productive future for these young people.”

Components of the Child Labor Education Initiative in Bolivia will include: awareness-raising of the importance of education for all children and the mobilization of a wide array of actors to improve and expand educational infrastructure; strengthening formal and transitional education systems that encourage working children and those at-risk of working to attend school; strengthening national institutions and policies on education and child labor; and ensuring the long-term sustainability of these efforts.

CARE was selected by an independent panel at the department to implement the project after a competitive bidding process undertaken this summer. CARE will work in close coordination with the Bolivian Ministry of Education. The project will complement other current programs in Bolivia that combat child labor and promote education, including the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) regional project on small-scale mining. The U.S. Embassy, La Paz, has played an important role from the inception to the design of the education project, and will continue to be involved during implementation. The project will be centered in Bolivia’s Department of Potosí.

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.