Project to Reduce the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Improve Labor Law Enforcement and Working Conditions in Paraguay

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $6,000,000 total costs for one or more cooperative agreements to fund a technical assistance project(s) in Paraguay to support efforts to reduce the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) and improve labor law compliance, with a particular focus on the Department of Guairá. The project will provide technical assistance to support Paraguay’s newly established Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security (MTESS) to strengthen its organizational capacity, particularly that of its labor inspectorate, to enforce child labor laws, improve working conditions with regards to minimum wage and hours of work violations, and develop employment training opportunities for vulnerable populations, including with a focus on rural adolescent girls. The project will use an area-based approach to combat the WFCL in urban work and agriculture, and it will continue the progress already made in eliminating child labor in sugarcane production. The project will gather and disseminate lessons and results from project implementation in the Department of Guairá that can be replicated or adapted by the MTESS for use in other parts of the country. The duration of the project will be a maximum of 4 years (48 months) from the effective date of the award.