Projects

Our international grants support projects to combat some of the most abusive labor practices, including the use of child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking in global supply chains. ILAB-funded projects also promote trade partners’ compliance with the labor requirements of U.S. trade agreements and preference programs – helping to ensure a fair global playing field for workers in the United States and around the world.

 

Building Governments’ Capacity

ILAB works with governments to make them more effective in combating labor abuses, through efforts in areas such as data collection, monitoring, and enforcement. As a direct result of ILAB initiatives:

  • More than 80 countries have strengthened their monitoring and enforcement of laws, regulations, policies, and programs to combat child labor, forced labor and human trafficking;
  • More than 60,000 labor inspectors and law enforcement officials have been trained to more effectively enforce child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking laws and regulations; and
  • Governments have adopted best practices to assist victims of child labor and forced labor. For example, ILAB worked in partnership with the Government of Paraguay to develop and pilot an electronic system that registers adolescent workers to ensure they are protected under the law and assist with enforcement of labor laws.

 

Assistance for Vulnerable Children and Families

ILAB projects adopt a holistic approach to promote sustainable efforts that address child labor’s underlying causes, including poverty and lack of access to education. Project strategies include linking vulnerable groups to existing government social programs, providing children with quality education or afterschool services, helping families improve their livelihoods to meet basic needs without relying on child labor, and raising awareness about risks of trafficking so that adults don’t end up in situations of forced labor.

 

ILAB at the Forefront of Rigorous Evaluation Research

ILAB continues to invest in impact evaluations of innovative interventions to broaden the global knowledge base on effective strategies for combating child labor and forced labor. ILAB’s randomized controlled trials, the gold standard for impact evaluations, allow governments and policymakers to make evidence-informed decisions about programs that affect child laborers and their families.

Find out what ILAB projects are doing in response to COVID-19.

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Title Amount Grantee Start End

Support for Labor Law and Industrial Relations Reform in Malaysia

 $1,550,000 International Labor Organization (ILO) 10/01/2016 03/30/2019

Youth Pathways to Leadership, Learning, and Livelihoods in Costa Rica

The project is helping bridge the skills gap in Costa Rica by increasing the number and quality of on-the-job training programs, such as internships and apprenticeships, while ensuring these opportunities are accessible to the youth who need them the most. The project is supporting improvements in the legal and policy framework surrounding youth training, raising awareness about the benefits of work-based training, documenting and disseminating good apprenticeship practices in Costa Rica, and helping both public and private-sector youth training programs to increase their effectiveness.

 $3,750,000 YouthBuild International 09/30/2016 11/30/2022

Better Utilization of Skills for Youth (BUSY) through Quality Apprenticeships

The Better Utilization of Skills for Youth (BUSY) project will help build the capacity of government, employers, workers’ organizations, and civil society actors to establish and expand workplace-based training programs for vulnerable youth, including by identifying gaps in relevant laws and policies.

 $3,000,000 International Labor Organization (ILO) 09/30/2016 06/30/2023

Promoting Apprenticeship as a Path for Youth Employment in Argentina, Costa Rica, and Kenya through Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN) National Networks

The Promoting Apprenticeship as a Path for Youth Employment Project is working directly with employers, workers’ organizations, and governments to help increase the number of apprenticeship opportunities for vulnerable youth in Argentina, Costa Rica, and Kenya. The project will create and strengthen private sector networks in support of apprenticeship and other types of work-based training, such as internships, in all three countries, helping employers launch quality work training programs while ensuring these programs are accessible to disadvantaged youth.

 $3,300,000 Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN) 09/01/2016 07/31/2023

Together Against Child Labor in Tunisia (PROTECTE)

The PROTECTE project will strengthen Tunisia’s ability to implement their Child Labor National Action Plan (NAP), a multi-stakeholder effort involving government, business, and civil society. The project will turn policy and promises into action by facilitating a comprehensive approach to safeguarding every child’s right to attend school and avoid exploitative labor.

 $4,000,000 International Labor Organization (ILO) 09/01/2016 08/31/2022

M&E Toolkit: OCFT Sectors & Themes

The project will help enhance the sustainability of child labor and forced labor program efforts by contributing to the overall body of knowledge on how best to assess child labor and forced labor interventions.

 $1,000,000 JBS International 09/01/2016 08/31/2018

Improving Labor Law Compliance in the Kingdom of Lesotho

$500,000 International Labor Organization (ILO) 12/31/2015 12/31/2017

Building Union Capacity to Reduce Precarious Employment in Peru

$1,000,000 American Center for International Labor Solidarity (Solidarity Center) 12/31/2015 11/20/2017

CARING Gold Mining Project

 $5,000,000 International Labor Organization (ILO) 12/11/2015 03/10/2020

Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa-Growing Areas of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana

The overall objective of this project is to identify the various interventions carried out since the signing of the Declaration in 2010, assess their relative effectiveness, and measure progress towards the achievement of the various goals and targets outlined in the Declaration and Framework, including the goal of a 70 percent reduction in aggregate of the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sectors of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana by 2020.

 $3,458,861 National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (NORC) 12/01/2015 11/30/2023