Reducing Child Labor and Forced Labor in Palm Oil Supply Chains | FOA ILAB 18 09

Opportunity Information: Apply for FOA ILAB 18 09

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (USDOL-ILAB) announced a discretionary funding opportunity titled "Reducing Child Labor and Forced Labor in Palm Oil Supply Chains" (FOA ILAB 18-09). Through a competitive process and subject to the availability of funds, ILAB planned to award a single cooperative agreement to support one project focused on improving how social compliance systems are implemented in palm oil supply chains. The core purpose is to strengthen acceptable conditions of work and reduce risks and incidences of child labor and forced labor connected to palm oil production and sourcing.

The grant centers on improving "social compliance systems," meaning the policies, procedures, monitoring, remediation, and accountability mechanisms used by companies and supply chain actors to identify labor risks, prevent abuses, and respond effectively when problems are found. Rather than funding general awareness campaigns alone, the opportunity emphasizes practical improvements in how private sector partners operate and enforce labor standards across their supply chains, including how they assess suppliers, conduct oversight, and follow through with corrective actions.

ILAB outlined two intended project outcomes. The first outcome is to strengthen the capacity of private sector partner or partners in the palm oil sectors of Colombia and Ecuador to implement a robust social compliance system. In practical terms, this would likely involve helping companies and related industry actors build or upgrade tools and processes such as labor risk mapping, supplier codes of conduct, worker grievance mechanisms, training for management and labor intermediaries, internal controls, monitoring and verification approaches, and credible remediation pathways when child labor or forced labor indicators appear. For this first outcome, the project must be implemented in both Colombia and Ecuador.

The second outcome is to increase understanding at both regional and global levels of promising practices in social compliance systems specifically within palm oil supply chains. This outcome is broader and more outward-facing, aiming to generate and share lessons learned, models that work, and evidence about effective compliance approaches so that the knowledge can be applied beyond a single company or country. For this second outcome, applicants were required to implement activities across four countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru, reflecting ILAB's interest in documenting and disseminating practices across a wider palm oil region and making the results relevant to international supply chain stakeholders.

Administratively, the opportunity was offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally signals substantial involvement by the federal agency during implementation compared to a standard grant, often through collaboration on planning, oversight, and performance management. The funding opportunity listed an award ceiling of $6,000,000, with one expected award. The assistance listing is tied to CFDA number 17.401, within the Employment, Labor and Training activity category. The notice was created on July 5, 2018, and the original application deadline was August 23, 2018, with applications due by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Eligibility was not limited to a single applicant type in the summary provided and is described as "Others" with further clarification referenced in an additional eligibility section of the full announcement. Overall, ILAB's intent was to fund one sizable, focused project that both strengthens real-world corporate compliance capacity in Colombia and Ecuador and produces transferable knowledge on what works in palm oil social compliance across Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru.

• The Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs in the employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Reducing Child Labor and Forced Labor in Palm Oil Supply Chains" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.401.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 05, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 23, 2018 Applications must be received no later than 40000 p.m. Eastern Time.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $6,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for FOA ILAB 18 09

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