US Department of Labor awards $5 million grant to combat child labor in Burkina Faso

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs has awarded a $5 million cooperative agreement to Counterpart International to combat child labor in Burkina Faso. The project will target child labor in cotton production and gold mining, focusing on the northern area of the Haute Bassins, the Boucle de Mouhoun and the northern and central-northern Cascades.

Counterpart International will partner with Terre des Hommes to protect children from the worst forms of child labor. The project will help children attend quality schools and training programs, and families to build sustainable livelihoods. It also will link them to national social protection programs.

The project will build local governments' capacity to implement policies to eliminate child labor. It also will conduct research, including collection of data, on children working in the cotton and gold sectors of Burkina Faso.

Since 1995, ILAB projects have rescued approximately 1.5 million children from exploitive child labor. The Labor Department has funded 260 such projects implemented by more than 65 organizations in 91 countries. ILAB currently oversees more than $210 million of active programming to combat the worst forms of child labor. More information is available at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/.