press release

The U.S. Department of Labor Donates $5 Million for the Elimination of Child Exploitation in Nicaragua

November 4, 2008

The U.S. Department of labor will donate five million dollars to Nicaragua as part of an international program for the elimination of the most dangerous forms of child labor.  U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, Robert J. Callahan made the announcement this Tuesday, November 4 together with Nicaragua’s Vice-Minister of External Relations and External Cooperation Valdrack Jaentschke.  Present during the event were Jeannette Chávez, Minister of Labor; Miguel de Castilla, Minister of Education; Guillermo González, Minister of Health; Ariel Bucardo, Minister of Agriculture, and María Isabel Muñoz, Minister of Family.

The project in Nicaragua will focus on 5,045 boys and girls in Madriz, Jinotega and Managua, providing education opportunities through public-private associations.  The work will be done in coffee plantations in Jinotega and Madriz, for example.  Additionally, a national information campaign on the topic of child labor is planned. These projects will be handled by the American Institute of Research (AIR), which will work together with the Association of Education and Communication La Cuculmeca; the Institute of Human Promotion of Somoto (INPRHU-Somoto); The “Tuktan Sirpi” Child Association, and the Ministries of Labor, Agriculture and Family.

Ambassador Callahan said this project is another form in which the two countries can face common threats through mutual achievement and mutual respect.  “The fact that we are signing this agreement today, Election Day in the United States, goes a long way in showing that, no matter who wins, our commitment to good relations with the people of Nicaragua continues.”

U.S. Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao, announced that the Department of Labor would donate $58 million during fiscal year 2008 to fight dangerous child labor in several countries around the world.  These endowments will help save and prevent children from exploitation type labor through education and other services. Part of the money will also be used to collect credible statistics and strengthening governments’ abilities to fight this problem.

Since 1995, The U.S. Congress has approved close to $660 million as part of the Department of Labor’s budget towards the fight of child exploitation throughout the world.  As a result, the Department has managed to save more than a million children.

###