U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao Announces $23 Million
In Grants to World Vision and Catholic Relief Services

Grants Fund Education Programs in Africa and Latin America To Help Child Labor Victims

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the award of $23 million in grants to World Vision and Catholic Relief Services for education programs in Africa and Latin America. The Labor Department awarded these grants under its Child Labor Education Initiative through a competitive bidding process.

This $23 million in grants will increase access to educational opportunities for African and Latin American children, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine E. Chao. Everything possible must be done to combat the scourge of child labor and ensure that these youths have a bright future.

World Vision has been awarded a $14.5 million grant aimed at providing educational opportunities to HIV/AIDS affected children and youth who are working or at risk of participating in exploitive labor. World Vision will implement this project in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and the Academy for Educational Development. World Vision has also been awarded a $3.5 million grant aimed at providing educational opportunities to children working or at risk of entering into the informal cut-flower sector of Colombia.

Catholic Relief Service (CRS) has been awarded a $3 million grant that will combat child labor in the banana and cut-flower industries of Ecuador through the provision of educational services. In Ecuador, CRS will work with a consortium of international, local and faith-based organizations, including Save the Children UK, CARE International, the Ecuadorian Catholic Episcopal Conference and the Fundación Wong. In addition, CRS has been awarded a $2 million grant to conduct research and community awareness-raising, and implement pilot initiatives to improve access to quality education for children who are at-risk of or engaged in exploitive child labor in Niger. In this project, CRS will be working in partnership with World Vision and Plan International.

In 2003, World Vision International received a $5 million grant from USDOL to educate children removed from the worst forms of child labor in the Philippines. Also in 2003, Catholic Relief Services received a $2 million grant from USDOL to combat child trafficking in Benin. Secretary Chao launched the CRS project in Benin in December 2003 during a trip to Africa.

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