Opportunity Information: Apply for FOA ILAB 17 01
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) is offering a discretionary cooperative agreement opportunity (FOA ILAB 17 01) to fund a technical assistance project focused on improving how labor markets function in the Northern Triangle: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The Department is making available up to about $4,000,000 in total costs, with an expectation of making one award. The purpose of the award is to strengthen labor market efficiency and performance by helping governments in all three countries build or significantly improve labor market information (LMI) systems that produce and publish labor market data that are reliable, comprehensive, up to date, and presented in user-friendly formats.
At the center of the opportunity is the idea that better labor market data can reduce mismatches between what employers need and what workers can offer. ILAB is looking for a project that helps establish LMI systems capable of guiding three main groups of users. First, the systems should help education and workforce training providers understand which skills and occupations are in demand so they can steer job-seekers and youth toward training that leads to real employment opportunities. Second, the systems should make it easier for businesses to identify, recruit, and hire qualified workers by clarifying what talent is available, what skills are scarce, and where hiring needs are likely to grow. Third, the systems should give governments the evidence needed to design and adjust labor market policies based on current conditions rather than outdated or incomplete information.
A major emphasis of the grant is comparability across the three countries. The project is expected not only to improve national LMI outputs, but also to support LMI systems that generate data in ways that can be compared regionally across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. That implies alignment on concepts, definitions, methodologies, indicators, and dissemination approaches where feasible, so that trends and gaps can be analyzed across borders and not just within a single country.
The work is structured as technical assistance delivered through a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates substantial involvement by the funding agency during implementation compared with a standard grant. The funded organization will need to collaborate closely with government counterparts, particularly the official statistical agency in each country. The applicant is required to work with these statistical agencies on the collection and validation of labor market data, and then coordinate with those agencies or other relevant government institutions on the analysis and dissemination of LMI, depending on what makes sense in each national context. In practical terms, this points to activities like strengthening data collection systems, improving data quality assurance and validation processes, building analytical capacity to interpret labor market trends, and upgrading dissemination channels so that LMI is accessible and usable by non-technical audiences.
Administrative details include that the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, the activity category is Employment, Labor and Training, and the CFDA number is 17.401. The opportunity was posted June 9, 2017, with an original closing date of July 28, 2017. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text of the announcement, indicating the competition may be open beyond only governments and may include qualified organizations capable of implementing multi-country technical assistance and partnering effectively with public statistical and labor market institutions.
In short, this opportunity is designed to fund one major regional project that helps El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras build stronger labor market information systems that produce trustworthy, timely, and easy-to-use data, with the explicit goal of improving training alignment, hiring outcomes, and policy decision-making, while also enabling meaningful comparisons of labor market conditions across the Northern Triangle.Apply for FOA ILAB 17 01
- The Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs in the employment, labor and training sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Labor Market Supply and Demand in the Northern Triangle: Leveraging Data to Build an Efficient Labor Market" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 17.401.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jun 09, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 28, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $4,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is this funding opportunity?
This is a discretionary cooperative agreement funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), identified as FOA ILAB 17 01. It supports a technical assistance project focused on improving how labor markets function in the Northern Triangle: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Which U.S. agency is offering the award?
The opportunity is offered by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB).
What type of funding instrument will be used?
The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement. This generally indicates substantial involvement by the funding agency during implementation compared with a standard grant.
How much funding is available?
Up to about $4,000,000 in total costs is available under this opportunity.
How many awards does ILAB expect to make?
ILAB expects to make one award.
What is the main purpose of the project?
The purpose is to strengthen labor market efficiency and performance by helping governments in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras build or significantly improve labor market information (LMI) systems. These systems are expected to produce and publish labor market data that are reliable, comprehensive, up to date, and presented in user-friendly formats.
What problem is the project trying to address?
The project is centered on the idea that better labor market data can reduce mismatches between what employers need and what workers can offer. By improving the quality and usability of labor market data, the project aims to support better training decisions, hiring outcomes, and policy design.
What is meant by a labor market information (LMI) system in this opportunity?
Based on the announcement description, an LMI system in this context is a set of processes and tools used to collect, validate, analyze, and disseminate labor market data. The expected outputs emphasize reliability, comprehensiveness, timeliness, and user-friendly presentation.
Which countries are included in the Northern Triangle for this project?
The Northern Triangle countries referenced are El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Who are the primary intended users of the improved LMI systems?
The opportunity highlights three main user groups: (1) education and workforce training providers, (2) businesses/employers, and (3) governments/policymakers.
How should the LMI systems support education and training providers?
The systems should help education and workforce training providers understand which skills and occupations are in demand so they can steer job-seekers and youth toward training that leads to real employment opportunities.
How should the LMI systems support businesses and employers?
The systems should make it easier for businesses to identify, recruit, and hire qualified workers by clarifying what talent is available, what skills are scarce, and where hiring needs are likely to grow.
How should the LMI systems support governments?
The systems should give governments evidence needed to design and adjust labor market policies based on current conditions rather than outdated or incomplete information.
What does the opportunity mean by "comparability across the three countries"?
A major emphasis is that LMI improvements should enable meaningful regional comparisons across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This implies alignment where feasible on concepts, definitions, methodologies, indicators, and dissemination approaches so trends and gaps can be analyzed across borders and not only within one country.
Is the project expected to improve national data outputs, regional comparability, or both?
Both. The project is expected to improve national LMI outputs in each country and also support systems that generate data in ways that can be compared regionally across the three countries.
What kinds of activities are implied by the technical assistance described?
The description points to activities such as strengthening data collection systems, improving data quality assurance and validation processes, building analytical capacity to interpret labor market trends, and upgrading dissemination channels so LMI is accessible and usable by non-technical audiences.
Who must the funded organization collaborate with in each country?
The funded organization will need to collaborate closely with government counterparts, particularly the official statistical agency in each country.
What role do the official statistical agencies play in this project?
The applicant is required to work with the official statistical agencies on the collection and validation of labor market data. The applicant is also expected to coordinate on analysis and dissemination of LMI with those agencies or other relevant government institutions, depending on what makes sense in each national context.
Does the opportunity specify whether analysis and dissemination must be done only through the statistical agencies?
No. It states the applicant should coordinate with the statistical agencies or other relevant government institutions on analysis and dissemination, depending on what makes sense in each national context.
What makes this opportunity different from a standard grant?
The opportunity uses a cooperative agreement, which generally indicates substantial involvement by the funding agency during implementation compared with a standard grant.
What is the activity category for this opportunity?
The activity category is Employment, Labor and Training.
What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 17.401.
What is the posted date for the opportunity?
The opportunity was posted on June 9, 2017.
What was the original closing date?
The original closing date was July 28, 2017.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification referenced in the full eligibility text of the announcement. This indicates the competition may be open beyond only governments and may include qualified organizations capable of implementing multi-country technical assistance and partnering effectively with public statistical and labor market institutions.
Is this opportunity focused on one country or multiple countries?
It is explicitly multi-country and regional, covering El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
What is the expected end result of the funded project?
The expected end result is stronger LMI systems in all three countries that produce trustworthy, timely, and easy-to-use labor market data, with outputs that can also be compared across the Northern Triangle to support training alignment, hiring decisions, and evidence-based policymaking.
Is the project primarily about producing data, or also about making the data usable?
Both. The opportunity emphasizes producing data that are reliable, comprehensive, and up to date, and also ensuring the data are presented and disseminated in user-friendly formats that are accessible and usable by non-technical audiences.
Why does the opportunity emphasize user-friendly formats?
The description suggests user-friendly formats help ensure that education and training providers, employers, and government decision-makers can actually use LMI in practical ways, rather than having the information remain too technical or difficult to access.
Does the opportunity mention aligning training with employer needs?
Yes. A central objective is to reduce mismatches between employer needs and worker skills by helping training providers understand which skills and occupations are in demand.
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