WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $5 million cooperative agreement to reduce child labor in rural Zambia among adolescent girls, ages 15-17, by increasing access to quality formal and non-formal education and training.

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

WASHINGTON – ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Miguel Hernandez is 12 years old and already an experienced miner. Instead of going to school, he has worked for years –11 hours a day – extracting precious gems in the mines of Bolivia.

Across the ocean, Salay Ry has spent years laying bricks in Cambodia to help repay a family debt. At 13 years old, his education takes a back seat to his family’s subsistence. These stories of child exploitation are far too common, and two reports released today seek to bring greater awareness and attention to the problem.

WASHINGTON – A report released today under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation by the U.S. Department of Labor responds to a submission filed by U.S. and Mexican labor unions and worker advocacy groups that alleges that the Mexican government has failed to meet its obligations under the NAALC with respect to a large chain of Mexican retail stores.

WASHINGTON – The European Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor compared practices and policies used to fight against long-term unemployment at a roundtable discussion in Washington on May 11, 2016.

WASHINGTON – A report released today under the labor chapter of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement by the U.S. Department of Labor raises significant concerns regarding the right to freedom of association in Peru’s non-traditional export sectors, which include exports of textiles, apparel and certain agricultural products. 

WASHINGTON – In the nipa groves that line the Philippine shore, families spend harrowing days in a desperate search for gold. Children crouch in the mud, separating gold from sediment. Meanwhile, their older siblings and parents dive deep into the marsh. Spending hours below the surface, seeking tiny flecks of the precious metal in cloudy water, drawing breath from makeshift tubes connected to small compressors. Children like Jonathon Ramorez use toxic mercury to amalgamate the gold.

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of International Labor Affairs' new mobile application, “Sweat & Toil: Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking Around the World,” is now available to download for devices using the Android operation system from Google Play.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Honduran Minister of Labor Carlos Madero have signed an historic agreement on labor rights that underscores their governments' shared commitment to making trade work for workers.

Funding Recipient: National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago

Total Funding: $3 million

Purpose: Implement a project to assess and measure progress in reducing child labor in cocoa-growing communities of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Location: Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

Funding Recipient: Fair Labor Association

Total Funding: $4.87 million

Purpose: Implement a project to improve hazelnut suppliers' social compliance programs and reduce child labor in hazelnut production.

Location: Turkey

Funding Recipient: International Cocoa Initiative

Total Funding: $4.5 million

Purpose: Implement a project to empower cocoa-growing communities in Côte d'Ivoire to reduce child labor

Location: Côte d'Ivoire

Funding Recipient: Winrock International

Total Funding: $4.5 million

Purpose: Implement a project to empower cocoa-growing communities and help youth further their education or develop marketable skills.

Location: Ghana

WASHINGTON — When the government of Paraguay established its Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security in 2014, it demonstrated a commitment to tackling important challenges, including combating child labor and strengthening enforcement of its labor laws. To help achieve this goal, it reached out to the U.S. Department of Labor to help build the capacity of its new ministry.

Funding Recipient: International Labour Organization

Total Funding: $9.8 million

Purpose: Implement a project to support global and national efforts aimed at combating forced labor under the 2014 ILO Protocol and Recommendation on Forced Labor.

Location: Global

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor's Deputy Secretary Christopher P. Lu; G7 ministers of Employment, Labor, Social Affairs, International Cooperation and Development

Funding Recipient: Catholic Relief Services

Total Funding: $13 million

Purpose: Implement a project to help at-risk youth in El Salvador and Honduras develop market-relevant skills and secure good employment.

Location: El Salvador and Honduras

WASHINGTON — For more than a decade, the U.S. government has been championing efforts to reduce child labor in West African cocoa production, providing vulnerable children in cocoa-growing areas with better access to education and vocational training, and their families with support so they can better provide for themselves and meet their basic needs without relying on child labor.

WASHINGTON — Ricardo stands on his tiptoes, straining to reach into a tangle of branches to retrieve a cluster of coffee berries. He makes his way along the row of trees, each laden with hundreds of the tiny fruit, dropping them carefully in his basket. He repeats this process for hours. His unprotected hands and arms are covered with scratches, his bare feet and legs bitten by bugs, his skin scorched by the hot sun. At 10 years old, this is the world he knows; he has never seen the inside of a classroom.