Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Grant: Promoting Labor Rights in Burma, Vietnam, and Sub-Saharan Africa

Competitive proposals will: 1) foster linkages between unions, civil society organizations and relevant Government of Burma (GoB) officials; 2) foster linkages between workers and activists in the core and peripheral areas of the country, and activists representing a variety of issues; 3) conduct activities inside Burma and from its borders for a program that reaches a variety of ethnic groups in Burma; 4) incorporate women in training and leadership development; 5) demonstrate flexibility by discussing how proposed activities can expand or contract under changing political conditions; 6) prioritize working with a variety of local actors, while identifying how the program will not overwhelm existing absorptive capacity of organizations; 7) create an output- and outcome-driven program with a strong monitoring and evaluation plan; 8) outline how GoB officials identified to participate in project activities will be selected and vetted against the Specially Designated Nationals l
ist; and 9) discuss how this proposal complements or expands upon existing projects.

Vietnam (Approximately $500,000 available): DRL requests proposals for a program in Vietnam to promote the internationally recognized worker rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Well-developed proposals will include any or all of the following groups: disabled persons, women, youth, migrants, and/or informal sector workers. DRL seeks proposals with program activities that will:
• Support and reinforce initiatives to assist Vietnam in implementing its labor code and union law to more fully meet international labor standards;
• Advance trade union leadership opportunities for vulnerable populations, with a particular focus on women;
• Enhance trade unions and trade union officers’ collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiating skills, while also enhancing their capability to track the agreements’ effectiveness;
• Empower workers to directly elect worker representatives independent of workplace management;
• Assist grass-roots labor unions and labor organizations to effectively promote the interests of their members;
• Establish or support coordination and partnerships with local trade unions or trade union confederations;
• Provide technical assistance for trade union capacity building, with a focus on incorporating gender equality issues in union activities;
• Conduct oversight activities so that trade unions can monitor implementation of the labor law and propose recommendations when needed;
• Discuss how proposed activities complement or expand upon existing projects, and how this project differentiates itself from work funded by other donors.

Sub-Saharan Africa (Approximately $500,000 available): DRL requests proposals that promote adherence to international labor standards and strengthen corporate social responsibility in one or more countries where there is significant foreign investment in extractives, agriculture, construction, and resource product processing and where there is willingness on the part of government and civil society to address labor rights issues in those investments. Well-developed proposals will include any or all of the following groups: disabled persons, women, youth, migrants, and/or informal sector workers. Proposals should demonstrate flexibility by discussing how proposed activities can expand or contract under changing security and political conditions. DRL seeks proposals with program activities that will:
• Build the capacity of local and national governments to enforce labor laws and regulations of foreign-invested enterprises, particularly in extractive, agricultural, construction, and resource product processing sectors;
• Help ensure compliance by foreign-invested enterprises on regulations regarding wages, work safety, and freedom of association;
• Build the capacity of unions and worker associations in foreign-invested enterprises to monitor enforcement and implementation of labor laws and to recognize their labor rights;
• Build the capacity of unions and worker associations in foreign-invested enterprises to engage in bipartite and tripartite social dialogue, engage in dispute resolution and conflict management, and better represent the interests of its members;
• Track and measure the effectiveness of the collective bargaining and/or other agreements reached under the project;
• Include an impact assessment of the effect of foreign-invested enterprises on workers’ rights, although this should not utilize more than 5% of total budget costs.