US Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs announces $1.4M in funding to support global apprenticeships

Opportunity Title: Global Project to Promote Private Sector Investment in Workplace-Based Training Programs for Vulnerable Youth

Amount approved/awarded: $1,400,000

Funding awarded to: Global Apprenticeships Network

Purpose: To strengthen country-level business networks in support of apprenticeships for vulnerable youth

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs has awarded a $1.4 million, two-year project for implementation by the Global Apprenticeships Network. GAN is an international coalition of companies, multilateral organizations, and employers’ federations dedicated to creating work-readiness programs for youth. The department’s grant to GAN will allow the organization to establish and strengthen country-level employer networks in support of apprenticeships for vulnerable youth – with a focus on youth who are at risk of being engaged in hazardous work. The project will also aim to secure new commitments from businesses and other donors to increase international support for youth apprenticeship programs, as well as promote the sharing of best practices among U.S.-based and international apprenticeship networks.

“The United States is investing in apprenticeship for one very simple reason – because it works,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. “Over the last two years, we’ve announced the availability of more than $250 million to help expand apprenticeship in America, and another $10 million to build lasting apprenticeship models abroad. Together, with partners like the Global Apprenticeship Network, we’re building a movement that changes people’s assumptions about apprenticeship – especially when it comes to whom and where they might be.”

Three $3 million projects to be awarded – in Kenya, Costa Rica and Argentina – will further support the grant to improve the capacity of governments, employers, workers’ organizations, and civil society to create and expand work-based training and apprenticeship programs for youth who are vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor. ILAB will announce the grant winners for these three projects in the coming weeks.