The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $4.25 million to continue its efforts to end forced labor by supporting a global technical assistance project by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations’ agency seeking to advance social and economic justice by setting international labor standards and promoting rights at work.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh announced the project at a meeting of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

The project represents a new phase of programming focused on eliminating forced labor through global, regional and local actions. Forced labor, found throughout the world, afflicts an estimated 28 million people as the global COVID-19 pandemic worsened its root causes and risks.

The new “Bridge II” project will build on achievements and lessons learned from “A Bridge to Global Action on Forced Labor,” the department’s seven-year flagship forced labor initiative. Bridge II will continue to advance forced labor research, policy, law enforcement, legal justice and victim remedies.

Administered by the department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, the project will establish strategic partnerships and support coordinated efforts at all levels of governance and with workers, employers and civil society organizations to respond effectively to the challenge of forced labor.

The project reflects the department’s role as a world leader fighting the worst forms of labor exploitation, and promoting fair competition for U.S. workers and businesses.

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