The United States federal labour department, acting through its Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). It funded ILO's GALAB project under a cooperative agreement and, before it, COTECCO, ILO's project against child labour in the DRC's cobalt mining. Its 2024 findings on the DRC describe the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System in the artisanal cobalt sector as now managed by CISTEMA, and say the labour inspectorate lacks the capacity to inspect the mining sector regularly. It awarded Pact a US$7 million cooperative agreement for the Madini Safi project in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba, announced in January 2026, and the Fair Cobalt Alliance reports that it funds a World Vision-led consortium in which the alliance is a subgrantee.
Sources support the description and the individual connections below. Publication and checking dates belong to the evidence: when it was published, and when this Hub last read it.
Reported means the cited source describes the relationship at its evidence date. Historical relationships refer to an earlier period. Announced agreements may not have been implemented. None of these labels confirms that trade continues today.
The alliance holds “a grant as a subgrantee within a larger consortium led by World Vision, funded by the U.S. Department of Labour”, according to its 2025 report. No amount is given.
EPRM provided funding to the FCA and partners (Fairphone, Datastake, and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM)) to digitalise and scale the RMC system.
ILO described COTECCO in November 2021 as running with funding from the US Department of Labor. ILO called GALAB its continuation in November 2024, so this phase is recorded as ended.
the COTECCO Project, which is combating child labour in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with funding from the US Department of Labor
The GALAB project will collaborate with development partners such as UNICEF, IMPACT Transform, and the PABEA-Cobalt initiative
The US Department of Labor funded the project under cooperative agreement IL-37950-21-75-K / IL-37950-F12, with federal funds covering its whole cost. ILO’s project page gives its duration as 1 December 2021 to 27 March 2025 and its budget as US$15,000,000; ILO’s December 2024 brief gave US$13,470,744. Both figures are for the whole project, of which the DRC was one of eight countries.
Assist the Interministerial Commission CISTEMA to tackle the issue of child labour at artisanal mining sites in developing a referral protocol
The GALAB project will collaborate with development partners such as UNICEF, IMPACT Transform, and the PABEA-Cobalt initiative
Duration 1 December 2021 - 27 March 2025 Budget US$ 15,000,000 Development partner(s) United States Department of Labor
US$7 million cooperative agreement awarded to Pact, as Pact announced on 27 January 2026. The Department of Labor's own release could not be read.
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded Pact a $7 million cooperative agreement to eliminate labor exploitation in key mineral supply chains
implemented in partnership with the DRC-based organization Initiative des Femmes Entrepreneurs pour le Développement Durable, University of Lubumbashi, and Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance.
The Fair Cobalt Alliance's 2025 report describes a consortium led by World Vision and funded by the US Department of Labor; its name, amount and dates are not given. Single source.
EPRM provided funding to the FCA and partners (Fairphone, Datastake, and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM)) to digitalise and scale the RMC system.