Fair Labor Association awarded $4.87M to reduce child laborin hazelnut production in Turkey

Funding Recipient: Fair Labor Association

Total Funding: $4.87 million

Purpose: Implement a project to improve hazelnut suppliers' social compliance programs and reduce child labor in hazelnut production.

Location: Turkey

Scope: The Fair Labor Association will partner with multinational food and beverage company Nestlé and its two main hazelnut suppliers in Turkey, Balsu and Olam-Progida, to reduce child labor in the hazelnut supply chain. The 28-month project, called "Piloting the USDA Guidelines in the Hazelnut Supply Chain in Turkey," will design and pilot a comprehensive, sustainable program that implements the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Guidelines for Eliminating Child and Forced Labor in Agricultural Supply Chains. The project will have a particular focus on preventing migrant children from child labor in hazelnut production and will be implemented in approximately 1,000 hazelnut plantations in the regions of Ordu and Sakary, as well as in Urfa, the region of origin for most seasonal migrant labor in Turkey.

ILAB leads the U.S. government's efforts to ensure that workers around the world are treated fairly and are able to share in the benefits of the global economy. To these ends, ILAB has provided funding for more than 290 projects in more than 90 countries to combat the worst forms of child labor by assisting vulnerable children and their families. More information is available at www.dol.gov/ilab/.