Child Labor and NGO Interventions

NGOs intervention on Child slavery - labor abuse

Child labor and slavery is a global problem that has raised concern among various agencies and bodies of governments in different countries. Global organizations like WTO, ILO and GATT among others have prohibited its members from any forms of child labor and encouraged them to take proactive measures towards curbing the vice. With the direct and indirect pressure from these global organizations, there are hardly any nations that do not have explicit laws that ban and condemn the various forms of child labor with serious jail sentences attached to any offence related to child labor, what remains to be done is the implementation of the laws. ILO[footnoteRef:1] recommended that the member states needed to have a time-bound program of the actions they will undertake to eradicate child labor which manifests in the form of forced labor, slavery and slave like conditions, debt bondage, serfdom, pornography, child prostitution, using children for drug trade and employments, acts that are considered harmful, dangerous and hazardous to the child and interferes with their normal lifestyle and education. [1: International labor Organization, "Amsterdam Conference Condemns Intolerable Forms of Child Labor: Call for New International Standards and Global Solidarity" (1997): par-33. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/media-centre/press-releases/WCMS_008044/lang -- en/index.htm]

However, there are still rampant cases of child labor within the borders and cross borders, child labor is still employed from the small scale farming to the sports industry and even the manufacturing industries. Child labor is a disturbing facet of modern day slavery with cartels that fetch millions of dollars from the trade of innocent children across the globe. There are internal child labor markets within the borders of almost all countries with higher rates experienced in Africa and Asian countries, further, there are international child trafficking for the purpose of exploiting their labor taking place mostly from the poor nations to the relatively richer areas. The proceeds of the child labor and trafficking do not help the children but go to the uncaring parents and guardians in their home countries. The seriousness of the matter has made the aspect of child labor and how it is being handled by governments be a defining mark in the relations between nations and also between international organizations and the host nations[footnoteRef:2]. [2: Global March International Secretariat, "Child Trafficking." 2015: Par-2, Accessed April 13, 2015 from http://www.globalmarch.org/issues/Child-Trafficking ]

In the recent history, with the challenge of globalization acting as a facilitating factor in child labor and consequent trafficking, many developed nations have insisted on clean records as far as child labor is concerned for the nations that would like to be in a harmonious diplomatic relations with them. In order to get the clear picture of the extent of implementation of the internationally recognized laws and ethics on child labor among other human rights, the international community and the West have been relying on the NGOs and their annual reports to make decisions on whether to engage a country or not, the levels of engagement and the conditions that need to be met before an engagement is reached as well as the rules of engagement forward.

Since the NGOs have been significant partners in reflecting the levels of international policies implementations among the developing nations, it will is the focus of this paper to divulge the various ways in which NGOs involve the host governments and how their existence and operations among the host nations shape the policies of the host nations and their relationship with the West.

Participation and influence of NGOs

The Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are predominantly known to be non-profit and voluntary membership groups where citizens organize themselves in a local basis, at the national and even international level to offer the requisite services to their people. There are three types of NGOs; the Advocacy NGOs-which are known to stand up for the voiceless or who have no access to the government or international community. Operational NGOs -- these concern themselves mainly with the provision of goods and services to the populations that direly need them for instance in times of calamity or disasters. The hybrid NGOs - are known to perform the functions of the above motioned two categories. NGOs are known to generally be organized around specific issues for instance the most outstanding achievements of many NGOs has been in the area of Human Rights, environmental protection and health. NGOs are known to serve as early warning signs to impending danger to the society as well as act as a monitoring agency for agreements made between the various government and their citizens or international community. Over many years, NGOs have operated in the social service areas mostly with the help of the private partners as well as governments of the developed nations willing to partner with the NGOs to uplift the lives of the host nations. The different U.S. governments are well know for encouraging these ties and complementary approaches to social issues. Ideally, the NGOs are meant to be non-political neither should they be directly affiliated with any government of the day in the host nations[footnoteRef:3]. However, there are NGOs that come in the form of lobby groups and ideally they push to influence political decisions made within the host nations. [3: Youngwan Kim, "The Unveiled Power of NGOs: How NGOs influence States' Foreign Policy Behaviors." 2011:Pp-17, Accessed April 8, 2015 http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2537&context=etd]

The theoretical tie that is between the conduct of the NGOs and the foreign policy of states is highly dynamic and conditional with the extent of the influence that the NGOs have on the states activities and behavior of the leaders relying on the type of regime in place as well as the age of the NGO that is exerting the influence. It is also true that the NGOs influence the foreign policy behaviors of one state towards another in a direct and indirect manner since the NGOs act as the points of reference by Western nations, they are information providers, seen as agenda setters, lobby groups as well as generators of norms. The NGOs are known to set change agenda in many nations and have successfully made leaders and policy makers to pay attention. NGOs have the capacity and the technological power of late to form a social agenda and push it through to the top on list of the decision makers. The NGOs are also known to negotiate outcomes since they have been essential in various occasions in designing the multilateral treaties that have worked. The NGOs cannot also be undermined since they have a way of asserting legitimacy to issues. The judgment that NGOs give to a particular pertinent issue can make the difference between the promotion and the withholding of a much needed support to an agency within a country or the government as a whole by the developed nations. It is also worth noting that in the international relations, the NGOs cannot be undermined since they make solutions to be successfully implemented. The NGOs that work at the grassroots often manage to do what the host government cannot do or deems difficult to achieve. It is these NGOs that have helped many countries to translate the international agreements to the local realities that benefit the average citizen in the rural areas. These functions are known to form the basis of the actions of the NGOs and become more intense and in the process they influence the international society and the official agencies[footnoteRef:4]. When the NGOs tie the aid to be given to the conditions to be fulfilled like upholding of the rights of children, then there is a high possibility that the rates of child labor will be reduced due to the interventions by the NGOs. [4: Anup Shah, "Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues." (2005). Accessed April 8, 2015 http://www.globalissues.org/article/25/non-governmental-organizations-on-development-issues]

How NGOs influence foreign policy behaviors

The U.S. government, like the other governments willing to work with the developing nations, look at the dataset of the activities of the U.S.-based NGOs in the developing nations constructed by the annual reports of the NGOs and posted on their websites or even obtain such data through direct contact with the management of these NGOs. The dataset is studied and quantitative analysis is made, based on this the decision on which nation would have an increment of the aid and which one would lose out is made. In this respect, NGOs that have a long standing history of serving in the developing nations have higher and better chances of influencing the aid that is to be released to a given nation. Apparently, when the number of activities by the U.S. based NGOs increase in a given nation, the media attention becomes more saturated and more is said about the nation and the challenges therein. This is often followed by qualitative analyses and the media reports that direct the attention of the U.S. To the needs of the country under the media coverage. With the extensive coverage by the New York Times and such like media outlets, the interaction between the NGO and the U.S. government increases, the NGOs in this case function as information providers as well as a lobby group and agenda setters towards influencing the decisions of the West about the policies between them and the host nations[footnoteRef:5]. In this respect, a nation is likely to get assistance in curbing the menace of child labor from the West through the NGOs with the NGOs having acted as intermediaries. [5: Allard G. & Martinez A., "Global Forum VII on International Investment: The influence of Government Policy and NGOs on Capturing Private Investment." 2008, Accessed April 8, 2015 http://www.oecd.org/investment/globalforum/40400836.pdf]

Role of NGOs in International Relations and laws

The international relations over many years has been assumed to be the relations between states, however, this has significantly changed since the 1990s. The enormous change in world politics over the years has rendered that assumption null and void since more players have entered the scene from the 1990s onwards, one of the significant players being the NGOs. The concept of global governance and transnationalism has pulled the NGOs to the center of international relations and their existence and influence has shaped the laws of many nations.

Transnationalism means the movement of goods across border which may include war materials, the exchange of information and ideas, cultures and doctrines, movement of money and credit facilities and the movement of persons. Most of the interactions at this level are initiated and maintained by the governments of the states concerned and usually come with some form of diplomatic activities. However, there are other interactions that involve the NGOs and are still considered international. These interactions involve the movement of tangible and intangible items across the boundaries of states. In such relations, the non-state players and the interest groups are seen to be more central in the contemporary society than it was before. The NGOs are known to give their expert opinion of issues on a consultative basis and leaves it to the particular government to act on the advice given or not. The efforts of the government have been seen to be supplemented by the NGOs efforts. This is why it is viable to indicate that the issue of child labor and child abuse can effectively be put at the forefront by the NGOs in a manner that it defines the international relations agenda with the given affected nations in line with the laws they have in place to curb child labor.

NGOs seek to be distinct from the state actors and act independent from the state. They are known to aid the people in charge of formulating policies and they remain to act merely as a transmission belt delivering the policy and its benefits especially those of international, interest from the legislators to the citizens in a manner that may influence transnational interactions. The aspect of global governance relies mainly on coordination and not control and it is the NGOs and the civil society that can be instrumental in providing the much needed coordination to effectively nurture the international relations between nations. At the global stage, the aspect of governance has been widely seen as intergovernmental relationships but this has since changed and it needs to be viewed to involve citizens' movements, NGOs, multinational corporations as well as the global capital market. The wider involvement of the NGOs is paramount to benefiting the global governance.

There are some specific areas and issues in which NGOs have demonstrated authority in international relations and significantly uninfluenced the laws passed especially on human rights under which child labor falls. One of these is the Amnesty International which is an advocacy group that not only pushes for laws that protect human basic right but also follows up on the levels of implementation of the laws regarding human rights and corruption elimination. CARE international is yet another and provides healthcare, food, clean drinkable water and emergency responses among the poorest people of the world and several other NGOs have proven that they are instrumental in fostering international relations. NGOs have also been involved in providing the symbol of peace in countries with running battles. NGOs have been seen to force the countries to accept some guidelines for instance against the exportation of ivory and environmental protection. These NGOs and their activities serve to indicate that they really matter when it comes to international society and laws that define international relations[footnoteRef:6]. [6: Firdoos Dar, (2014). "Emerging role of NGOs in the world's socio-political affairs." 2014, Accessed April 8, 2015 http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/IJPDS/article-full-text/65C3A4949285]

NGOs power regarding policy making

As earlier indicated, the NGOs are known for setting the agenda on the various issues including the child labor. This it does due to the public demand for the considerations of the policies that they consider to be suitable for the country or through the use of the backing of the mother countries like the U.S. And Britain to urge the governments of the day to institute policies that would meet required needs like the protection of children against labor and slavery. NGOs are known to be significant complementary partners to governments in particular relationships. One such example of complementary relationship is the entrusting of NGOs with the distribution of a given relief rather than the government doing it themselves in times when in times of famine or other forms of distress. In this complimentary existence and working with the government, the NGOs can influence the government to modify its behavior hence a shift in policy. Indeed it is indicated that without the NGOs there would be little change in governments since the changes that the NGOs often push for are sensitive to the interest of the government and would rather be ignored that be implemented by complacent governments[footnoteRef:7]. [7: Youngwan Kim, "The Unveiled Power of NGOs: How NGOs influence States' Foreign Policy Behaviors." 2011: Pp 34-37, Accessed April 8, 2015 http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2537&context=etd]

Role of NGOs in the UN

The UN has enjoyed operation in many nations and part of the reason behind this is the deep involvement of the NGOs in supporting the activities of the UN globally. NGOs have always worked in collaboration with the UN and indeed it was against the background of the lobbying by the 42 NGOs that were present at San Francisco in 1945 that the Human Rights Commission was formed. The NGOs that were present in the drafting of the UN charter insisted that the provision on the human rights had to be included for the establishment of the human rights commission, since then, the NGOs have been the pillars for the Commission. The NGOs have been considered a significant partner in the UN because they have a powerful networking capacity which helps them to better discuss their ideas, scrutinize them and ventilate them as effectively as is possible[footnoteRef:8]. Indeed, the UN has always implemented most of its activities through other NGOs that are influential in the areas that they target. They collude with other NGOs in terms of material, finances, training, technical support and logistics in order to implement their agenda and vision for a given region. This convergence of operations or the collusion in operations is an indication of the level of influence that NGOs generally have on the UN as a global body. [8: Rene Wadlow, "The growing role of NGOs at the United Nations." 2012, Accessed April 8, 2015 http://forusa.org/blogs/rene-wadlow/growing-role-ngos-united-nations/10148]