Public documents give detailed activity plans for two of the four awards and general roles for the others:
• Indonesia – Winrock International ($7M, “Secure Nickel Supply Chains: Strengthening Labor Governance”) – Work mainly in Central and Southeast Sulawesi, engaging ~20,000 nickel workers and ~50 institutions. – Close legal gaps by helping Indonesian authorities enforce bans on forced and child labor and advance new decrees and labor frameworks for the nickel sector. – Expand labor inspection and oversight through advocacy, worker‑led monitoring, and stronger links between private‑sector standards, audits, and grievance systems. – Pilot an independent, multilingual grievance mechanism for workers; train paralegal networks, courts and Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to secure remedies such as repayment of recruitment fees and unpaid wages. – Conduct research that combines fieldwork, data analytics and civil‑society input to map forced‑labor risks, trace investment flows (including Chinese‑owned operations) and strengthen traceability and accountability for U.S. buyers.
• Indonesia – Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) ($3M) – The DOL release says this award is also to “combat labor exploitation in Indonesia’s nickel supply chain,” but detailed activity descriptions are not yet public. – Based on C4ADS’s track record (e.g., its 2025 “Refining Power” work on ownership and control of Indonesia’s nickel industry), it is likely to focus on data‑driven mapping of corporate structures, trade flows and high‑risk actors to expose abusive or opaque parts of the nickel supply chain; however, specific project activities for this grant are not documented in available sources.
• DRC – Pact ($7M, “Madini Safi: Securing Fair and Reliable Critical Mineral Supply Chains in the DRC”) – Work in Haut‑Katanga and Lualaba provinces on cobalt, copper and “3Ts” (tin, tungsten, tantalum). – Conduct a policy and systems gap analysis and convene structured dialogues among government, companies and civil society to agree on reform priorities. – Support reform‑focused working groups to align DRC laws, regulations and policies with U.S. and international labor and trade standards. – Provide compliance training and technical assistance so mining and trading companies bring their due‑diligence systems into line with national, U.S. and international standards. – Upgrade national systems for monitoring, identifying and recording child and forced labor cases; strengthen collaboration between government and civil society on enforcement. – Expand referral networks so children and other affected workers can access remediation services; mobilize communities and incubate company‑community initiatives to prevent and address child and forced labor. – Conduct a research study on child and forced labor in copper‑cobalt mining along the DRC‑Zambia border.
• DRC – World Vision ($5M) – The DOL release only states that World Vision’s award is to combat “egregious labor practices” in cobalt, copper and 3T supply chains. – World Vision’s existing work in DRC mining areas focuses on child‑labor reduction through community child‑protection systems, school support, livelihood programs for families, and remediation for children withdrawn from mines; it is reasonable to expect similar types of on‑the‑ground activities under this grant, but specific project‑level interventions for this particular award have not yet been published.
The DOL has not yet released a project‑specific monitoring plan for these four grants, but ILAB uses a consistent evaluation and measurement approach across its international labor programs:
• Results frameworks and indicators: Each cooperative agreement must develop a results framework (objectives, outcomes, outputs) and performance indicators during ILAB’s “stakeholder engagement and strategy validation” process. The HigherGov grant records for Winrock and Pact note that project‑specific outcomes and indicators will be finalized with ILAB, consistent with ILAB’s standard practice.
• Monitoring of labor‑abuse reduction and transparency – Quantitative indicators typically include: number of children/ workers identified and removed from child/forced labor; number of workplaces inspected; number of violations detected and remediated; number of workers with improved access to remediation or grievance systems; and number of institutions adopting or enforcing stronger labor standards. – For supply‑chain transparency, ILAB projects often track development or use of traceability systems, company adoption of due‑diligence procedures, and publication of risk‑mapping or research reports on forced‑labor risks in specific supply chains.
• Independent evaluations: ILAB routinely commissions independent mid‑term and final evaluations (often by external research organizations or the ILO) that assess changes in prevalence of child/forced labor, strength of institutions and effectiveness of remediation systems. These evaluations use mixed methods (surveys, interviews, document review) and are publicly posted.
Because detailed MEL (monitoring, evaluation and learning) plans for these specific awards have not been published, the exact indicators and targets cannot yet be stated, but they will follow ILAB’s standard child‑ and forced‑labor evaluation framework.
The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is the international arm of the U.S. Department of Labor. It does not directly regulate foreign workplaces, but it has several tools and sources of leverage to influence labor practices abroad:
• Mandate and role – ILAB’s mission is to improve working conditions globally, combat child and forced labor, and ensure that U.S. trade partners meet labor commitments so U.S. workers are not undercut by abusive practices. – It manages U.S. labor provisions in trade agreements and preference programs (such as USMCA, GSP when in force) and advises on labor conditions relevant to trade policy.
• Tools and authority – Research and reporting: ILAB publishes authoritative reports like the annual “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor” and country‑by‑country child‑labor reports; these lists can trigger reputational and commercial pressure, and they inform importers’ due‑diligence and, in some cases, U.S. government procurement or trade actions. – Trade‑related enforcement: Through its role in enforcing labor chapters of trade agreements, ILAB can investigate complaints, participate in dispute‑settlement cases, and recommend trade sanctions or remedial plans when partners fail to uphold labor standards. – Technical‑assistance projects: ILAB funds and oversees cooperative agreements (like the Indonesia and DRC projects) that work with foreign governments, employers and civil society to strengthen labor laws, inspections, child‑protection systems and supply‑chain compliance. – Diplomacy and interagency coordination: ILAB works with the State Department and other agencies to raise labor issues in bilateral dialogues and multilateral forums, and to shape U.S. positions on international labor standards.
These mechanisms give ILAB indirect but significant influence over labor practices in countries that export to the United States or seek access to U.S. markets and investment.
In practical terms, the $22M in DOL funding operationalizes parts of Executive Order 14241, “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” even though the EO is focused on U.S. domestic production:
• The EO’s core aim is to secure minerals critical to U.S. national security, manufacturing and the energy transition by maximizing domestic production and strengthening supply‑chain resilience. It directs agencies to identify vulnerabilities, support investment, and ensure that U.S. industry can reliably access critical minerals.
• The ILAB projects complement this by: – Targeting major foreign sources of critical minerals that U.S. manufacturers currently depend on: Indonesian nickel and DRC cobalt, copper and 3Ts are central to EV batteries, electronics and many defense and energy technologies. – Reducing the risk that U.S. companies are “undercut by” or “dependent upon” producers (notably those dominated by Chinese firms) that rely on forced or child labor to lower costs, as the DOL release explicitly states. – Strengthening labor governance, transparency and traceability in those supply chains, so U.S. firms can source from compliant operations with less legal and reputational risk under U.S. laws and corporate due‑diligence expectations.
• Functionally, the grants use labor‑governance and supply‑chain reforms in Indonesia and the DRC as a tool for securing cleaner, more reliable streams of critical minerals that are consistent with the EO’s objective of ensuring that U.S. manufacturers have secure and ethically acceptable inputs.
Each of the four organizations has substantial, relevant prior experience:
• Winrock International – Has more than 40 years’ experience in Indonesia and has implemented global programs to combat child and forced labor in over 30 countries. – Runs supply‑chain and labor‑governance projects that strengthen labor inspections, social compliance systems and grievance mechanisms, which is exactly what the new Indonesia nickel project will fund.
• Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) – A research nonprofit specializing in data‑driven analysis of illicit networks, trade flows and ownership structures. – Its 2025 “Refining Power” work documented how Chinese firms control about 75% of Indonesia’s nickel refining capacity and analyzed risks tied to that dominance, showing direct experience mapping critical‑mineral supply chains and high‑risk actors.
• Pact – Has worked in the DRC for years on child labor in artisanal and small‑scale mining, including cobalt and 3T mines, using community‑based child‑labor monitoring, livelihoods support, and collaboration with companies and authorities. – Its “Madini Safi” proposal builds on this by focusing on legal/policy reforms, monitoring systems and remediation specifically for cobalt, copper and 3T supply chains.
• World Vision – A large humanitarian organization with long‑standing child‑protection and anti–child‑labor programs globally and in the DRC. – In mining‑affected areas of the DRC, World Vision has run projects that create and strengthen community child‑protection committees, support schooling for children formerly in mines, and provide livelihood support to families so they do not rely on child labor—approaches that align closely with the goals of the new grant.
The main U.S. industries expected to benefit are those heavily dependent on nickel, cobalt, copper and the 3Ts (tin, tungsten, tantalum) for manufacturing and energy technologies:
• Electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries: Nickel and cobalt are key inputs for many lithium‑ion battery chemistries; copper is essential for electric motors and wiring.
• Clean‑energy and grid infrastructure: Copper, nickel and certain 3Ts are used in wind turbines, solar equipment, power electronics and large‑scale energy‑storage systems.
• Electronics and semiconductors: Tantalum, tin and tungsten are critical for capacitors, solder and high‑temperature or high‑density electronic components used in computers, smartphones and other consumer electronics.
• Defense and aerospace: Many of these minerals are designated “critical” because they are used in advanced alloys, munitions, guidance systems and communications equipment.
By making it easier for U.S. companies in these sectors to access “transparent, reliable” mineral supply chains with lower legal and reputational risk, the projects are intended to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of these industries.
These projects are part of a broader U.S. strategy to diversify critical‑mineral supply chains away from heavy dependence on China and other high‑risk actors, and they could have indirect effects on trade relations:
• China currently dominates key parts of the global critical‑minerals value chain, including control over much of Indonesia’s nickel refining capacity and extensive investments in DRC cobalt and copper mining and processing.
• By strengthening labor governance, transparency and compliance in Indonesian and DRC supply chains, ILAB’s projects aim to: – Make it easier for U.S. and allied companies to source minerals from operations that meet higher labor standards and are less entangled with abusive or opaque practices linked to some Chinese‑controlled ventures. – Support “friend‑shoring” and diversification strategies that reduce reliance on minerals processed or controlled by entities in China.
• This could contribute, at the margins, to a gradual rebalancing of market power and trade relationships—tilting some future investment and offtake agreements toward more transparent, rights‑respecting operations and away from suppliers seen as using labor abuse to gain cost advantages. However, the DOL grants themselves do not change tariffs or formal trade rules; their impact is mainly through transparency, compliance pressure and reputational and legal risk for importers.