Empowering Women and Girls in Agricultural Supply Chains in Mexico | NOI ILAB 18 07

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOI ILAB 18 07

This notice is a Notice of Intent from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), signaling that the agency planned to release a future competitive funding announcement, but it was not accepting applications at the time of the notice. The planned award would be issued as a cooperative agreement (meaning the government typically expects to be more actively involved in the project than in a standard grant), and it was framed as a single, relatively large project rather than multiple smaller awards. The notice emphasizes that everything is contingent on the availability of funds and that the actual requirements would only be finalized in a later Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to be posted on Grants.gov.

The purpose of the anticipated project was to economically empower vulnerable women and girls working in a specific agricultural supply chain in Mexico, with a direct connection to goods produced in Mexico and exported to the United States. The core labor rights focus was prevention and risk reduction: the project was intended to reduce the likelihood of child labor, forced labor, and related labor rights violations affecting women and girls in that supply chain. Rather than being a broad national program, the design clearly aimed at targeting a particular export-oriented commodity chain where labor exploitation risks are present and where interventions can influence both worker outcomes and company behavior.

ILAB laid out two main intended outcomes. First, the project was expected to improve the economic participation of women and girls who are vulnerable to child labor, forced labor, and other labor rights abuses within the targeted agricultural supply chain. In practical terms, that outcome points toward activities that strengthen women and girls ability to access safer, better-paying, and more stable work or income opportunities, and to reduce the economic pressures that can contribute to exploitation and hazardous child labor. Second, the project was expected to improve business practices among private sector actors in the supply chain, with the aim of strengthening protections against child labor, forced labor, and other labor rights violations. That second outcome signals an emphasis on engaging employers, recruiters, producers, processors, exporters, and other commercial actors to adopt and implement stronger labor standards, compliance systems, and safeguards that specifically address the risks faced by women and girls.

A key eligibility constraint in the project design was the choice of supply chain. The project had to focus on an agricultural good produced in Mexico and exported to the U.S., and it generally needed to be a good identified on USDOLs List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (often referred to as the TVPRA List). The notice also allowed an alternative: applicants could propose an agricultural supply chain not on the TVPRA List if they could provide substantive evidence showing indicators of child labor or forced labor in that chain. One commodity was explicitly excluded: tobacco could not be proposed as the agricultural supply chain under this planned opportunity.

In terms of size and structure, ILAB anticipated funding one award with an award ceiling of up to $5,000,000, reflecting an intention to support a single comprehensive project rather than several parallel efforts. The opportunity was categorized under Employment, Labor and Training (CFDA 17.401). While the notice did not spell out detailed eligibility rules, it listed eligible applicants broadly as "Others" with a note that further clarification would appear in the later FOA, which is typical when an agency wants to signal openness to a range of organizations (for example, nonprofits, NGOs, international organizations, or other qualified entities) but reserves the exact definitions for the formal solicitation.

Finally, the notice explained the timeline and where to find the official solicitation. The Employment and Training Administrations Office of Grants Management expected to publish the FOA as soon as possible and no later than August 2018, although that timing could change. The notice pointed interested organizations to ILABs grants webpage for general guidelines and examples of prior cooperative agreement applications, but it stressed that the notice itself included no FOA and no attachments. Any eventual FOA would be made available only through Grants.gov, with no email or paper copies provided, so potential applicants were instructed to monitor Grants.gov for the formal announcement and application instructions.

• The Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs in the employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Empowering Women and Girls in Agricultural Supply Chains in Mexico" 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 Jun 08, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 31, 2018 NOTE This is a Notice of Intent. An announcement is not related to this notice. We are not accepting applications at this 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 $5,000,000.00 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 NOI ILAB 18 07

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