USDOL: Addressing Child Labor in DRC’s Cobalt Industry

NOTE: This is a Notice of Intent. An announcement is not related to this notice. We are not accepting applications at this time.

Subject to the availability of funds, USDOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) intends to award, through a competitive process, one cooperative agreement to organizations to strengthen efforts by the Congolese government and other relevant stakeholders to address child labor in the cobalt industry of the DRC. The project should achieve the following outcomes: 1) Increased common understanding of the challenges and opportunities for addressing child labor in the DRC’s cobalt industry; 2) Increased capacity of government and other relevant stakeholders to address child labor in the DRC’s cobalt industry; and 3) Improved monitoring and remediation efforts by private sector of child labor in the cobalt supply chain. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA)’s Office of Grants Management anticipates publishing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as soon as possible and not later than July 2018 (this timing is subject to change). Please refer to: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/grants/ for general guidelines and examples of previous cooperative agreement applications.

This notice does not include an FOA or any attachments. It only constitutes a notice of USDOL’s intent to publish an FOA at a later date. Interested applicants are encouraged to monitor www.grants.gov for the FOA because, if an FOA is published, grants.gov is the method by which the FOA will be made available to the public. No email or paper copies of any FOA will be provided.

Any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organization(s), including any faith-based, community-based, or public international organization(s) capable of successfully implementing a project to strengthen efforts by the Congolese government and other relevant stakeholders to address child labor in the cobalt industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are eligible to apply if and when a Funding Opportunity Announcement is published. Lack of past experience with USDOL cooperative agreements, grants, or contracts does not bar eligibility.

All applicants for ILAB funding opportunities must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to applying for funding. New applicants should be aware that applying for a DUNS number and registering in SAM may take several weeks. Applicants should plan accordingly to avoid unexpected delays that could result in the rejection of the application. NOTE: If you are registering a new entity in SAM.gov, you must provide an original, signed notarized letter stating that you are the authorized Entity Administrator before your registration will be activated. Read our guidance on notarized letters (https://gsafsd.service-now.com/fsd-gov/answer.do?sysparm_kbid=d2e67885db0d5f00b3257d321f96194b) and our FAQs (https://www.gsa.gov/samupdate) to learn more about this process change. For more information, please see http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/displayHomePage.do and https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM. Successful applicants will be required to ensure any subrecipients also have a DUNS number prior to receiving DOL approval of any subawards.

NOTE: This is a Notice of Intent. An announcement is not related to this notice. We are not accepting applications at this time.

Subject to the availability of funds, USDOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) intends to award, through a competitive process, one cooperative agreement to organizations to strengthen efforts by the Congolese government and other relevant stakeholders to address child labor in the cobalt industry of the DRC. The project should achieve the following outcomes: 1) Increased common understanding of the challenges and opportunities for addressing child labor in the DRC’s cobalt industry; 2) Increased capacity of government and other relevant stakeholders to address child labor in the DRC’s cobalt industry; and 3) Improved monitoring and remediation efforts by private sector of child labor in the cobalt supply chain. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA)’s Office of Grants Management anticipates publishing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) as soon as possible and not later than July 2018 (this timing is subject to change). Please refer to: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/grants/ for general guidelines and examples of previous cooperative agreement applications.

This notice does not include an FOA or any attachments. It only constitutes a notice of USDOL’s intent to publish an FOA at a later date. Interested applicants are encouraged to monitor www.grants.gov for the FOA because, if an FOA is published, grants.gov is the method by which the FOA will be made available to the public. No email or paper copies of any FOA will be provided.