US Department of Labor awards $5 million to reduce child domestic work and promote decent work for domestic workers in Indonesia

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs awarded a $5 million cooperative agreement to the International Labor Organization for a project to support efforts to reduce child domestic work by building the capacity of domestic worker organizations and promoting decent work for domestic workers in four provinces of Indonesia.

Under the agreement, the International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor will partner with the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy in Indonesia, the Network of Indonesian Child Labor NGOs, and the Action Committee for Protection of Domestic Workers and Migrant Workers. The project will draw on the proven strengths of different organizations, associations, agencies and government institutions at the local, national and international levels.

The organizations will focus on: expanding legal protection to child and adult domestic workers; broadening the outreach and responsiveness of domestic worker organizations at the national and regional levels to combat the problem of child domestic work and improve decent work of domestic workers through targeted capacity building; promoting in-country and regional knowledge sharing; raising awareness using non-traditional media and innovative partnerships; and analyzing and documenting project outcomes.

Since 1995, the Labor Department has funded 260 projects implemented by more than 65 organizations in 91 countries, which have resulted in the rescue of approximately 1.5 million children from exploitative child labor. ILAB currently oversees more than $210 million of active programming to combat exploitative child labor. More information on the agency's efforts is available at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/.