Legal and ethical issues at Save the Children International

Money makes the mare go. Majority of the business today is conducted to multiply our wealth. Yet there are people working for noble cause too. The Non-Profit organizations or the non-government organizations are those working for the betterment of mankind and their purpose of existence is humanitarian work rather money making. While their objectives are different from organizations interested only in increasing revenues and income, these NPOs and NGOs however face same problems related to organizational structure, leadership, governance and ethical issues more or less as same level. This paper analyzes what specific legal, governance and ethical issues are faced by Save the Children International. The Save the Children is described by The Global Journal as one of the leading NGO in the world (Top 100 NGOs list, 2012).

Save the Children International

In 2012, the not for profit organization Save the Children was listed as 18th largest global NGO. The company serves of humanitarian ground since almost a century after it was established by Eglantyne Jebb who worked at Oxford. The purpose of Save of Children was to support 'children of the enemy' during World War I. The company claims to have helped around 100 million people that were suffering and it operates in about 120 countries making lives better. The current Save the Children International was formed when 29 separate organizations entered alliance. These companies, to pursue efficiency, combined their assets and expertise.

Vision

Save the Children International has the vision to improve lives of children by offering them shelter, food, protection, education, health, child rights governance, and recovery.

Mission Statement

The mission of the company is to have a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

History

The company was initially formed to help the children of the enemies but today it operates in over hundred countries believing that c child in need should be assisted despite his orientation. The company serves children and families during and after floods, earth quakes, and draughts. The recent ventures of the company include flood relief in Pakistan, reconstruction after earthquake in Haiti and serving in Niger for providing food security. The company is highly focused on reducing rates of infant mortality especially in the poor economies. The company operates for children through educational and economic programs. The organization was basically formed to fight miseries in war hit areas and its operations today help children seek opportunities for development too. Today, there are millions of children getting education because of efforts of the company and its projects.

Programs of Save the Children International

Save the Children operates several different projects. The company is working in sectors of protection, survival, education, health, HIV and AIDs, social development and rehabilitation. These programs are briefly introduced below:

Protecting Children:

Save the Children is committed to offer children protection from abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect. The company offers child protection in all the regions of the world. The employees of company find about most vulnerable children. The company seeks cooperation of state, international establishments, and local public partners to improve child protection. The company proudly claims to have helped 3.4 million children in the year 2012.

Survival:

The survival of child and infant is main concern of the company. Save the Children acknowledges that a child cannot survive without elder's support. There is a child surviving to live every second and to company makes efforts to maintain child survival through public awareness. Children survival is achieved through controlling factors leading to child death, minimizing newborn complications, diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, and malnutrition.

Education:

The company offers literacy boost programs through which the children are helped to learn through informal methods. The company believes that a child can follow his potential only through education. The education is worth nothing if there is no quality education. The organization does not only focus on child education but also through teacher training. It trains parents so that they can understand the educational needs of a child. The programs of organization educated total 9 million children by 2012.

Emergency

The company is vigilant in responding to emergency situations in the world. Since it is not known when and which area can be struck by natural disaster, yet it is a common understanding that child suffering is high during such catastrophes. The children are not only helped to recover the trauma of disaster but also to start a normal life once again. The services company offers during calamity are food, shelter, safety, health and comfort.

HIV / AIDS

Reports say that millions of people are suffering from AIDS and about 3.4 million of them are children. The organization works to spread awareness among parents and offers child protection programs against HIV / AIDS. The company says that reducing child abuse and violence would result into reduction and control in HOV/AIDS in children.

Hunger and Livelihoods

Hunger in poor countries is a very critical issue. The company is serving areas affected by hunger and starvation issues. Its projects in rural Guatemala assist and feed undernourished preschoolers. The organization offers support to families so that they can offer them health and education. It improves farming facilities so that malnutrition can be fought.

Locations

While the company has served millions of people round the world since its inception, the number of countries is no less than 120 countries. The names of these countries include USA, Europe, Sudan, Uganda, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Haiti, Guatemala etc. The organization does not take time to reach areas hit by war, poverty or disaster. It is among the first organizations to reach the areas where children population is facing health or protection issues. The company serves in African countries too where the poverty is so high that education comes far after health since the child survival is at stake.

Challenges

The company is working to offer health and education facilities. The company faces the challenges of cultural compliance in the countries it operates. While it is easy to be accepted in poverty hit areas, the company faces challenges in war hit areas. The company is blamed that since it operates in more than half the countries in world, CIA operatives also work in undercover of organization. The company has been working in Pakistan to fight poverty and polio. However, its employees have been alleged to be involved in carrying out CIA operations in the country risking the solidarity of company. Other ethical issues the company has faced are using inappropriate images of the children that violate child's integrity. Fighting children and poor people images hurts the feelings of those deprived from privileges of modern society.

Ethical Considerations

In January 2013, the Deans of twelve top U.S. schools of public health sent a letter to President Obama protesting the entanglement of intelligence operations in public health campaigns. In the letter it was mentioned that resistance in poor countries against polio and other vaccinations has increased after CIA and Save the Children's hunt for Osama bin Laden in 2011. The public mistrust on vaccines has intensified. The John Hopkins School discourages that disguising NGOs for intelligence is a loss of public image in the host countries. The University of Minnesota's Dean also wrote to Obama for discouraging NGOs from serving political objectives in foreign lands.

Legal Considerations

When the code of conduct is not set by organizations themselves or not followed properly, it provides opportunity for the outer environment to regulate them by law (Fremont-Smith, 2004). The involvement of NGOs in politics and intelligence activities is a threat for any country they operate in. The involvement of NGO employees in anti-state activities generates problems for other companies in the country too. The NGOs are more tightly regulated and their activities are limited by law. The Security and Exchange Commission OF Pakistan suggests legally ensuring and registering these NGOs and to track the funding's of Foreign NGOs operating in the country. The country plans to discuss in the Economic Coordination Committee that funds of Save the Children and other NGOs will be registered and the company will inform about assistance and donations it receives and SECP will know about disbursement of money.

Recommendations

Save the children is operating since 90 years and in Pakistan since last 30 years. The aim of the company is to serve the children and provide them with education and health o that they can use their potentials. The company needs to increase accountability in the organization. All the employees should be screened for their background. The campaigns should not try to expand organizational operations by exploiting images of poverty hit regions.

The company should make its public image better by serving local needs of poor people rather than the political objectives because it does not only hurt its own operations rather the image of all the not for profit health care and educational organizations. Thus, the decade's long history of the organization should be saved by staying apart from world politics and working purely for the humanistic cause of health and education.