WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced the release of three reports on child labor and/or forced labor around the world. Secretary Solis was joined by Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa at U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in unveiling the reports.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced the award of $40 million in grants by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2010 to combat exploitive child labor in 12 countries. The grants will offer children access to educational and training alternatives, help improve the livelihoods of their households so their parents can meet basic needs without relying on child labor, and build local capacity to scale-up and sustain efforts to eliminate exploitive child labor.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a grant award of more than $5.3 million to the International Labor Organization to support the global Better Work program by implementing projects in Bangladesh and continuing projects in Cambodia and Vietnam. The grant was awarded by the department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs.

WASHINGTON — Deputy Undersecretary of Labor Sandra Polaski today issued the following statement clarifying the U.S. Department of Labor's position on the use of child labor and forced labor in carpet production in India:

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $4 million competitive grant solicitation listed at http://www.grants.gov seeking applications from qualified organizations for innovative strategies to combat the worst forms of child labor in Jordan.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a $2 million grant award to implement a Better Work program in Nicaragua. The grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs will be implemented by the International Labor Organization.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs has announced a $9.5 million competitive grant solicitation listed at http://www.grants.gov seeking applications from qualified organizations to combat the worst forms of child labor in the cotton and other agriculture sectors in Egypt.

Applicants should focus on five goals for combating child labor:

MANAMA, Bahrain — The United States and Bahrain convened a meeting of the Subcommittee on Labor Affairs of the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement on Sept. 20. Representatives at the meeting reaffirmed their commitments under the agreement to recognize and protect the rights stated in the International Labor Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a $10 million grant to fund a new Framework of Action to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. Together the two countries supply more than half of the world's cocoa. Labor Minister E.T. Mensah of Ghana, Labor Minister Emile Guirieoulou of Cote d'Ivoire, and representatives of the international chocolate and cocoa industry joined Secretary Solis in making renewed commitments of resources to address the problem.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced that the U.S. government has requested labor consultations with the Government of Guatemala under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). This is the first time that the United States has requested consultations under the labor chapter of a U.S. free trade agreement.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — In her first visit to El Salvador as U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis announced a new United States government contribution of $10 million to support the Salvadoran government’s efforts to combat and eradicate child labor.

JINOTEGA, Nicaragua — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis saw first-hand the work of the U.S. Department of Labor-funded ENTERATE project during her July 26 visit to the coffee plantation Los Potrerillos in Jinotega. This project works to combat child labor in Jinotega, Madriz and Managua.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced the publication of a final list of products that federal contractors must certify under Executive Order 13126 are not produced with forced or indentured child labor. The list will appear in the July 20 edition of the Federal Register.

RABAT, Morocco — The United States and Morocco on May 18 convened in Rabat the inaugural meeting of the Sub-Committee on Labor Affairs created under the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement. Representatives at the meeting reaffirmed their commitments under the agreement to recognize and protect the rights stated in the International Labor Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis chaired the first meeting in 10 years of the President's Committee on the International Labor Organization, which is responsible for formulating and coordinating United States policy toward the ILO, on May 4. This meeting is the committee's first since May 2000.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding the Human Rights Watch report "Fields of Peril: Child Labor in U.S. Agriculture" on child labor in agriculture:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis and her fellow G20 labor and employment ministers today met with President Obama and presented him with their recommendations to meet the challenges that the economic crisis is posing for workers and their families worldwide.

A two-day meeting hosted by Secretary Solis, representing the first time that the ministers responsible for labor markets in the 20 largest economies in the world convened to help their nations' leaders coordinate labor market policy, concluded today.

WASHINGTON — On April 20 and 21, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis will host the first ever meeting of the G20 labor and employment ministers. Ministers of countries that account for more than 85 percent of the global economy will gather at the U.S. Department of Labor to assess how the global economic crisis has affected employment worldwide. The ministers will compare experiences and policy responses, and offer recommendations for putting quality jobs at the heart of the global economic recovery.

WASHINGTON — Sandra Polaski, deputy undersecretary of labor for the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, today testified before two subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on the role of labor issues and workers' rights in the Obama Administration's global agenda.

Polaski testified before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, and the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) today announced that it is publishing two related requests for information (RFIs) from the public in advance of developing reports to Congress and the president. One RFI seeks information on goods produced in foreign countries by child labor, forced labor, and/or forced or indentured child labor. The other focuses on certain countries' efforts to implement their international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.