The ILO project "From Research to Action: Using Knowledge to Accelerate Progress in the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour” (RTA project), in collaboration with IOM and supported by the USDOL, is pleased to announce 16 winning proposals on child labour, forced labour, and human trafficking.

A scientific committee and the project team received over 250 fellowship and seed grant proposals in the global competition.

In the upcoming 9 to 11 months, the project will support a group of junior researchers to fill knowledge gaps and accelerate policy action towards SDG Target 8.7.

Countries/territories to be studied

Candidates awarded with the research fellowship

4 candidates are awarded the research fellowship of $18,000 USD each:

• Natalie Bau, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
  Proposal title: Globalization and Child Labour
• Samuel Kembou, Junior Lecturer, Graduate School of Public Administration, Lausanne University
  Proposal title: Child labor and learning outcomes in agricultural households in Côte d’Ivoire
• Hasna Hena Sara, Senior Research Associate, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University
  Proposal title: Informal child labor in Dhaka City: Exploring the pull factors and health sufferings of children involved in waste management
• Isabela Warioba, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Mzumbe University
  Proposal title: Child marriage as a form of human trafficking in Tanzania: A human rights perspective

Candidates awarded with the seed grant

12 candidates are awarded the seed grant of up to $10,000 USD each:

• Alhassan Abdullah, PhD Candidate, Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong
  Proposal title: Unravelling the Normative Underpinnings of Child Labor in Ghana: A Bottom-Up Study Among Hotspot Communities (Ghana)
• Prachi Bansal, PhD Student, Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
  Proposal title: Modern Forms of Debt-Bondage in Indian Agriculture (India)
• Holly Koogler, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University
  Proposal title: Social Relationships and Child Labor Migration from Karamoja, Uganda: An Exploratory Study (Uganda)
• Naomi Lott, Research Fellow in Law, Survivor Support and Children’s Rights, Rights Lab, University of Nottingham
  Proposal title: Advancing a Child Rights Informed Approach to Antislavery Policy and Practice (Global)
• Audrey Lumley-Sapanski, Research Fellow in Migration and Integration, Rights Lab, University of Nottingham
  Proposal title: Points of inflection: Analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on the vulnerabilities Eritrean refugees face to human trafficking in Sudan (Sudan)
• Ana Montes Vinas, PhD student, Department of Economics and Management, University of Luxembourg
  Proposal title: The effect of longer school days on crime: Are kids the victims or the perpetrators? (Colombia)
• Elyssa Schroeder, PhD Student, School of Social Work, University of Georgia
  Proposal title: Using the Past to Inform the Future: Archival Data Analysis to Improve Evidence for Policy and Practice for Child Labor Trafficking Survivors in Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone)
• Charline Sempéré, PhD Student, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield
  Proposal title: Gender and Forced Labour: Understanding Women’s Disproportionate Vulnerability to Exploitation in France’s Domestic Supply Chains (France)
• David Leone Suber*, Doctoral Researcher, Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science, University College London
  Roshan De Stone, Investigative Reporter, Brush & Bow
  Proposal title: The risk of forced labour and exploitation that migrants and migrant workers face whilst on their undocumented journeys to Europe (Bosnia, Italy, United Kingdom)
• Robson Tigre*, Professor, Department of Economics, Universidade Católica de Brasília
  Yuri Barreto, PhD Student, Department of Economics, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
  Guilherme Bayma, PhD Student, Department of Economics, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
  Danny de Castro, PhD Student, Department of Economics, Universidade Católica de Brasília
  Proposal title: Preventing forced labor: causal evidence from both government and non-governmental interventions in Brazil (Brazil)
• Hanna Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
  Proposal title: School, Work or Marriage? Gender Gaps in Child Development (India)
• Aye Thiri Kyaw, Junior Researcher based in Myanmar, Women Rights and Violence against Women and Girls
  Proposal title: Opening the ‘black box’ of protection and reintegration interventions for trafficking survivors in Myanmar: A realist evaluation of World Vision’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons (A/TIP) program (Myanmar)

* indicates the lead applicant.

The Scientific Committee

The project team thank the Scientific Committee for their valuable time and feedback. The Scientific Committee members are:

• Jessie Brunner, Director of Human Trafficking Research, Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Stanford University
• Sarah Craggs, Research Fellow, Center for Human Rights and International Justice, Stanford University and Human Rights Centre, University of California, Berkeley
  Senior Programme Officer, International Organization for Migration
• Cecile Fanton d'Andon, Senior Program Officer, CPC Learning Network, Columbia University
• Michaelle de Cock, Head, Research and Evaluation Unit, Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work Branch, International Labour Organization
• Eric Edmonds, Professor, Department of Economics, Dartmouth College
• Kelly Gleason, Data Science Officer (RTA Team), Research and Evaluation Unit, Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work Branch, International Labour Organization
• Samentha Goethals, Assistant Professor, Globalization Academy, SKEMA Business School
• Lorenzo Guarcello, Policy Research and Statistics Officer (RTA Project Director), Research and Evaluation Unit, Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work Branch, International Labour Organization
• Phineas Jasi, Data Management and Research Specialist, Migrant Protection and Assistance Division, International Organization for Migration
• Nicola Pocock, Head of Data & Research, Lumos Foundation
  Honorary Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• André Portela Souza, Professor, Escola de Economia de São Paulo
  Director, Centro Regional para Aprendizagem em Avaliação e Resultados para o Brasil e África Lusófona (CLEAR )
  Coordinator, Centro de Estudos em Microeconomia Aplicada (C-MICRO)
• Lorraine Man Wing Wong, Research Officer (RTA team), Research and Evaluation Unit, Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work Branch, International Labour Organization