US Department of Labor announces competitive solicitation for $9.5 million to combat child labor in Egypt

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs has announced a $9.5 million competitive grant solicitation listed at http://www.grants.gov seeking applications from qualified organizations to combat the worst forms of child labor in the cotton and other agriculture sectors in Egypt.

Applicants should focus on five goals for combating child labor:

• Reduce exploitative child labor through provision of direct educational services and address the root causes of child labor.
• Strengthen policies on child labor, education and sustainable livelihood, as well as the capacity of national institutions to combat child labor.
• Increase public awareness of exploitative and hazardous child labor, its root causes and the importance of education for all children.
• Support research, evaluation and reliable data collection on child labor, its root causes and effective strategies.
• Promote the long-term sustainability of efforts to address issues involving child labor.

Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. EST on Nov. 22, 2010, as a hard copy to the Labor Department or electronically to http://www.grants.gov. Questions about the solicitation should be sent to Georgiette Nkpa, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Procurement Services, via e-mail to nkpa.georgiette@dol.gov by Oct. 15.

All cooperative agreement awards will be made by Dec. 31. A copy of the Solicitation for Grant Applications 10-09 is available online at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/ or at http://www.grants.gov.