The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $10 million toward a cooperative agreement with an NGO to implement a project addressing exploitative labor among youth in Ethiopia.
The effort, to be conducted with the group World Vision, aims to help vulnerable youth in Ethiopia develop the skills they need to make a successful transition into good jobs.
"We know when youth are provided skills training and career services that align with needs in the jobs market, they are less likely to be drawn into exploitative labor," Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Carol Pier said in announcing the award.
The project will promote education and vocational training opportunities and seek to enhance livelihoods and access to social protection programs for youth and their households. Focusing specifically on the needs of girls, the project aims to address exploitative child labor by providing youth ages 14 to 17, with marketable skills and support to secure decent work. The project will also support President Obama's Young African Leaders Initiative.
Since 1993, the ILAB has produced reports to raise awareness globally about child labor and forced labor. ILAB has also provided funding for more than 280 projects in more than 94 countries to combat the worst forms of child labor by providing assistance to vulnerable children and their families.
Based in Washington State, World Vision is a non-profit, humanitarian organization conducting relief, development, and advocacy activities in its work with children, families, and their communities in nearly 100 countries to help them reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
In its 2013 report on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State noted that “the lack of labor inspectors and controls prevented the [Ethiopian] government from enforcing the law. The resources for inspections and the implementation of penalties were extremely limited.”
This project builds on the successes of the Ethiopians Fighting Against Child Exploitation project that was also implemented by World Vision in 2011-2014.
