WASHINGTON, DC – To help reduce child labor in Madagascar, one of the leading suppliers of mica where estimates of 10,000 children work in the mines, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $4.5 million cooperative agreement to the United Nations Development Programme.
The award will support implementation of a project to bolster the resiliency of vulnerable families in micaproducing communities, build the capacity of government officials to address child labor in the mica supply chain and increase engagement of non-governmental stakeholders to combat the practice. The project aims to provide direct educational services to 3,380 children and livelihood services to 1,575 families.
The grant is made available through the Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, whose mission is to promote a fair global playing field for workers and businesses in the U.S. and around the world by enforcing trade commitments, strengthening labor standards and combating international child labor, forced labor and human trafficking.
Learn more about the Department’s work.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
… malagasy version (PDF 101K)
Media Contact: Grant Vaught , 202-693-4672, vaught.grant.e@dol.gov