The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) is offering a grant to strengthen labor rights for migrant workers in CAFTA-DR countries.

* Be a U.S. university or research institution meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c) (3).

Background:
In the free trade agreement signed by the United States and the countries of Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR) in August 2004, each party committed itself to effectively enforcing its own labor laws and to developing cooperative activities in priority labor areas. A key priority identified by the CAFTA-DR Vice-Ministers responsible for trade and labor in the April 2005 report (http://www.iadb.org/trade/1_english/pub/labor-CADR.pdf) entitled The Labor Dimension in Central America and the Dominican Republic (known as the “White Paper”) was the need to promote a “culture of compliance” to increase respect for labor rights in law and practice. In the Department of State’s budget for fiscal year 2008, Congress made funding available to support cooperative activities to build capacity and strengthen respect for labor rights in the CAFTA-DR countries.

Building a culture of labor rights compliance in the CAFTA-DR countries is a long-term challenge, which must extend to workers in all sectors of the economy. Migrant workers are employed in a growing range of sectors in the region, and they are particularly vulnerable to labor exploitation in the midst of the global financial crisis, due to their more limited access to social safety nets and protections afforded to other workers.

DRL requests proposals that address the following objective:

Strengthening a Culture of Compliance through Promoting Labor Rights for Migrant Workers in Central America and the Dominican Republic:
This solicitation seeks proposals to support initiatives that improve the labor rights situation of migrant workers in the CAFTA-DR region. Successful proposals will develop strategies to sustain and improve the application of labor standards for migrant workers, particularly among vulnerable groups, such as women, undocumented and indigenous workers.
Project components may include, but are not limited to:

• Developing and implementing strategies for promoting respect for the labor rights of migrant workers and disseminating good practices within the target countries;
• Providing technical assistance to worker organizations and NGOs to:
o Raise awareness among migrant workers and other vulnerable populations about their labor rights;
o Promote the organization of migrant workers in support of their labor rights; and/or
o Work with existing legal aid support networks to provide legal assistance to migrant workers;
• Conducting outreach and advocacy among employers and other key stakeholders to strengthen respect for labor rights for migrant workers;
• Providing training to government officials on mechanisms for improving labor law coverage for migrant workers, including increasing outreach to migrant workers, stronger enforcement, and extending – to the extent possible – social safety net protections.

Please note: Applicants may address the needs of migrant workers in CAFTA-DR countries that primarily receive immigrants as well as in countries that primarily send immigrants to other CAFTA-DR countries. Specifically, proposals must include activities in Costa Rica and may also include activities in one or more of the remaining 5 CAFTA-DR countries: Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and/or Nicaragua. Applicants are strongly encouraged to include a compelling rationale for the target countries selected, whether one or more, in the proposal narrative section. Applicants should propose to closely coordinate with other USG-funded partners implementing existing CAFTA-DR labor capacity-building programs.

As of the release date of this RFP, the status of U.S. assistance to Honduras is under review.