Closing the Child Labor and Forced Labor Evidence Gap: Impact Evaluations

USDOL/ILAB intends to award up to $10 million for multiple cooperative agreements to organizations to implement impact evaluations globally to expand the evidence base on child labor and forced labor. Applicants may submit proposals to cover the cost of a full impact evaluation, to request supplemental funding for ongoing evaluations, or for additional analysis on completed evaluations, including survey costs. In general, USDOL would expect proposed full evaluations to range in cost from approximately $250,000 to $1 million; requests for supplemental funding for ongoing evaluations, including support of a survey, to range in cost from approximately $10,000 to $250,000; and requests for supplemental funding for additional analysis on completed evaluations to range in cost from approximately $10,000 to $50,000. It should be noted that these guidelines are not absolute; proposals for impact evaluations must describe and justify the level of funding for each evaluation or additional analysis being requested. Applications must propose impact evaluations outside of the United States that address key evidence gaps regarding child labor or forced labor program interventions in the areas outlined in this solicitation, and must demonstrate how they would leverage partnerships with implementing organizations to build upon existing, planned or completed interventions and/or impact evaluations, or secure separate funding for the intervention(s) itself. Subgrants may be made to academics or academic institutions, and study results may be published independently after the cooperative agreement has closed. Applicants may propose multiple studies. Funding through this cooperative agreement must only be used to fund impact evaluation design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination and must not be used to fund projects or interventions. Proposed impact evaluations must: 1) provide evidence that will be relevant to informing the design and effectiveness of a project or government policy that has direct or indirect effects on child labor or forced labor; 2) utilize partnerships between researchers, contractors, and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local organizations in the country where the proposed impact evaluation will take place; 3) ensure that impact evaluation results will be available within the time-period of the cooperative agreement; 4) build the evidence base on child labor or forced labor in OCFT’s intervention areas and/or outcomes of interest; 5) test interventions or combinations of interventions; 6) examine interventions that are relevant and promising; 7) ensure that study designs, surveys, and analysis conform to international and national definitions and standards on child labor and forced labor; and 8) use RCT designs.