The mission of ILAB involves improving working conditions, promoting workers’ rights, and addressing the workplace exploitation of children and other vulnerable populations overseas. This work is carried out by its Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT, referred to here as the child labor office) and its Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA, referred to here as the trade and labor office), through projects developed and funded by the offices and generally implemented by international or nongovernmental organizations. Figure 1 shows the structure of the ILAB office. In fiscal year 2013, Congress appropriated about $66.5 million to ILAB for international technical assistance and microfinance programs provided that “$40 million shall be for programs to combat exploitative child labor internationally” and “not less than $6.5 million shall be used to implement model programs that address worker rights issues.” Of that amount, the child labor office obligated about $56 million, and the trade and labor office obligated about $6.5 million for technical assistance projects.2013, ILAB obligated a total of about $225 million. During that time, the From fiscal year 2011 through fiscal year child labor office obligated about $176 million and the trade and labor office obligated about $49 million. ILAB-funded projects are typically managed using cooperative agreements between ILAB and the project-implementing organization. According to child labor office management procedures and guidelines, a cooperative agreement is a form of a grant in which substantial involvement is anticipated between DOL and the grantee during the performance of the proposed activities. Furthermore, the procedures and guidelines state that the level of monitoring and accountability required by DOL is less than what is required in a contract, but more than in a regular grant. ILAB generally utilizes cooperative agreements with grant recipients to outline the project’s goals and implementation requirements, timelines, key project personnel, and roles and responsibilities of ILAB and grantee staff, as well as to set forth general provisions on administration, allowable costs, property acquisition and management, and closeout procedures upon completion of the project. The child labor office’s technical assistance includes direct educational services, livelihood services, capacity building, and supporting research on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking. Among other responsibilities, the office funds and oversees cooperative agreements with organizations engaged in efforts to eliminate exploitative child labor around the world, particularly the elimination of the worst forms of child labor. Child labor includes those children (minors under age 18) working in the worst forms of child labor as outlined in ILO Convention and children engaged in work that is exploitative and/or interferes 182with their ability to participate in and complete required years of schooling. ILO Convention 182 defines, for the purposes of the convention, the worst forms of child labor as 1. all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; 2. the use, procuring, or offering of a child for prostitution, the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; 3. the use, procuring, or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; and 4. work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children. According to ILO Convention 182, the types of work referred to in number 4 above “shall be determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, taking into consideration relevant international standards.” Therefore, forms of work identified as hazardous for children may vary from country to country. According to ILAB, hazardous child labor could include children working in agriculture, in which they may use dangerous tools, carry heavy loads, and apply harmful pesticides. In El Salvador, for example, many children harvest sugarcane and coffee. These children are exposed to extreme weather, toxic substances, long workdays, and injuries from machetes and sharp knives. Other hazardous activities could include child labor in mines, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in which children are forced to mine diamonds, copper, gold, and other minerals, exposing them to heightened risks of disease, inadequate shelter, and fatal accidents from the collapse of mineshafts and explosions. However, some work done by minors is considered acceptable. According to the ILAB website, children of legal working age (as defined by their country’s government) who perform work that does not hinder their mental, physical, or emotional development can be acceptable and contribute to their families’ welfare. The child labor office funded 40 projects between fiscal years 2011 and 2013. For example, in fiscal year 2011, the child labor office funded a $13 million project to combat rural exploitative child labor in Peru that included education services, livelihood assistance, and research on child labor. Objectives of the project included reducing child dropout rates, increasing the agricultural productivity of households with child laborers to reduce the use of child labor, and reducing hazardous labor among adolescents. During our visit to the project, we observed a school that had extended class hours to keep children in school in the afternoons to provide an alternative to working. In addition, the project provided the community a threshing machine so children no longer needed to separate grains from stalks by hand. The trade and labor office’s technical assistance focuses on projects to improve worker rights. According to the trade and labor office website, while there is no single definition or definitive list of workers’ rights, ILO identifies what it calls “fundamental principles and rights at work” that all ILO members have an obligation to respect and promote, including freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, effective abolition of child labor, and elimination of discrimination in respect to employment and occupation. Additionally, according to DOL’s website, United States trade law adds factors such as acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health to that list, calling them “internationally recognized labor rights.” Workers around the world face unsafe working conditions, forced labor, long hours, workplace discrimination, and little or no right to representation or collective bargaining. In Peru, for example, indigenous communities are vulnerable to forced labor, including in the Amazon region, where indigenous adolescents and adults have been found under forced labor conditions, particularly in timber production and domestic service. Additionally, since 1991, Ukraine has experienced the second worst coal mine fatality rate in the world, with over 4,000 fatal accidents stemming from explosions and unsafe work conditions. The trade and labor office funded 34 projects between fiscal years 2011 and 2013, including multicountry projects to advance worker rights and improve working conditions, such as the ILO Better Work program, which includes an independent monitoring system of garment factory conditions, as well as capacity building efforts targeting employers, workers and government officials. The trade and labor office has funded Better Work projects in several countries, including Cambodia and Haiti. For example, in fiscal year 2011, the trade and labor office provided $1 million to improve labor compliance in the footwear industry in Cambodia and to improve the capacity of labor law enforcement. Specifically, the project sought to address working conditions and improve the application of labor law and occupational health and safety regulations through training labor inspectors and providing capacity building and training to the Cambodian government to strengthen its capacity to govern the labor inspection system. During our visit to the project, we accompanied a project factory audit that included inspecting lighting, noise, and temperature levels in the factory; determining whether the factory conducted fire drills and provided access to first aid kits; and assessing the prevalence of sexual harassment. The child labor office and trade and labor office both have guidance for the financial monitoring of projects, but could improve their financial oversight. For example, we found that project managers completed their acceptance or rejection of about 20 percent of quarterly financial reports more than 90 days after receipt from the grantee, after the next quarter’s report was due. ILAB does not have guidance that provides time frames and criteria for accepting or rejecting quarterly financial reports. In addition, although the child labor office supplements federal financial of selected projects to, requirements with attestation engagementsamong other things, assess the accuracy and reliability of grantee financial and performance data, the trade and labor office has not yet implemented its plan to conduct such attestation engagements of its grants, although officials said they plan to do so by November 2014. Without addressing these gaps in financial oversight, it could be difficult for ILAB to ensure federal resources are used efficiently and effectively to achieve desired objectives. Standard provisions generally in ILAB cooperative agreements and federal regulations require ILAB-funded grantees to submit quarterly federal financial reports no later than 30 days after the end of each quarter. These grant-specific financial reports include information such as the grantee’s cash receipts, expenditures, and on-hand cash balances. Project managers said they use the financial reports, combined with other grantee information, to monitor the financial status of the project by comparing the rate of planned versus actual expenditures. The child labor office has policies and guidance for project managers to review the grantee’s quarterly financial report within 30 days after receipt. Officials said review could entail project managers’ examining the report to ensure all required information is provided and following up with the grantee if there are any questions.