ILAB News Release: [9/26/2002] Contact Name: Bob
Zachariasiewicz Phone Number: (202) 693-4686
Labor Department Awards $1.5 Million Grant to CARE to
Counter Child Labor in Bolivia
Project to Provide Assistance on Education and
Training
Washington, D.C.The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a
$1.5 million grant to CARE to develop and implement educational and vocational
programs to combat the worst forms of child labor in Bolivia. The project, part
of the departments Child Labor Education Initiative, will improve access
to basic quality education for children working or at-risk of working.
Associate Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs Michael
Magán, in La Paz today to sign a letter of agreement with the Bolivian
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labor and Micro-Enterprise, noted,
It is of minimal help simply to remove child workers from abusive work
situations if we dont provide an alternative. Our program of education
and training counters not only the exploitation of children but also offers the
opportunity for a meaningful, productive future for these young
people.
Components of the Child Labor Education Initiative in Bolivia will
include: awareness-raising of the importance of education for all children and
the mobilization of a wide array of actors to improve and expand educational
infrastructure; strengthening formal and transitional education systems that
encourage working children and those at-risk of working to attend school;
strengthening national institutions and policies on education and child labor;
and ensuring the long-term sustainability of these efforts.
CARE was selected by an independent panel at the department to implement
the project after a competitive bidding process undertaken this summer. CARE
will work in close coordination with the Bolivian Ministry of Education. The
project will complement other current programs in Bolivia that combat child
labor and promote education, including the International Labor
Organizations International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
(IPEC) regional project on small-scale mining. The U.S. Embassy, La Paz, has
played an important role from the inception to the design of the education
project, and will continue to be involved during implementation. The project
will be centered in Bolivias Department of Potosí.
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