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| Map: Liberia. Credit: CIA World Factbook |
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
US Department of Labor awards $6 million to Winrock International to combat child labor in rubber-producing areas of Liberia
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $6 million cooperative agreement award to Winrock International for a project to combat child labor in geographic areas of Liberia that produce rubber.
Under the agreement, Winrock International will partner with local rubber-producing companies Liberian Co./LIBCO and Morris-American Rubber Co.; the General Agriculture and Allied Workers Union of Liberia; and nongovernmental organizations Forum for African Women Educationalists, and African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Labor.
The project is designed to support the direct delivery of services to children engaged in or at risk of child labor. It will assist households in Liberian communities where families are largely dependent on smallholder rubber plantations by providing education, livelihood and youth employment services. In addition, the project will promote improved policies to address child labor on company plantations, and enhance the monitoring and enforcement of these policies. Finally, the project will help vulnerable children and their families to access existing social protection programs such as school feeding and direct cash transfer programs that are supported by the government of Liberia.
Since 1995, the Labor Department has funded 260 projects implemented by more than 65 organizations in 91 countries, which have resulted in the rescue of approximately 1.5 million children from exploitative child labor. ILAB currently oversees more than $210 million of active programming to combat exploitative child labor.
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| Liberia Locator Map. Credit: CIA World Factbook |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Liberia is a low income country heavily reliant on foreign assistance for revenue. Civil war and government mismanagement destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around the capital, Monrovia. Many businesses fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them, but with the conclusion of fighting and the installation of a democratically-elected government in 2006, several have returned. Liberia has the distinction of having the highest ratio of direct foreign investment to GDP in the world. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and exporter of basic products, primarily raw timber and rubber and is reviving those sectors. Local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. President JOHNSON SIRLEAF, a Harvard-trained banker and administrator, has taken steps to reduce corruption, build support from international donors, and encourage private investment. Embargos on timber and diamond exports have been lifted, opening new sources of revenue for the government and Liberia shipped its first major timber exports to Europe in 2010. The country reached its Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative completion point in 2010 and nearly $5 billion of international debt was permanently eliminated. This new status will enable Liberia to establish a sovereign credit rating and issue bonds. Liberia''s Paris Club creditors agreed to cancel Liberia''s debt as well. The IMF has completed the sixth review of Liberia''s extended credit facility, bringing total disbursements to over $379 million. The African Development Bank approved a grant of $48 million in 2011 to support economic governance and competitiveness. Rebuilding infrastructure and raising incomes will depend on generous financial and technical assistance from donor countries and foreign investment in key sectors, such as infrastructure and power generation.
