Role of UNICEF and the International Labour Organization in the Working

Introduction This paper deals with the role of transnational actors like UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the working children’s movement. It examines the role of development communication in empowering working children, and its impact on the movement. The paper begins with a brief introduction to development, linking it with issues concerning working children. It then goes into a brief overview of UNICEF and the ILO, and talks about the role of each in the international working children’s movement. It evaluates one program executed by each of the organizations in dealing with a development situation, in terms of intent and purpose, policies and procedures, obstacles faced, and the outcome of each effort. I then present my critique of strategies followed by both actors and my conclusion from this comparative analysis regarding the effectiveness of each actor. As this is a topic that has been of concern to me for a while, this analysis might appear to be a bit subjective to the reader, but I have tried to bear in mind objectivity, and did extensive research on both organizations to make sure that I was looking at a wide enough body of work. The research consists mainly of information I found on both websites as well as a few books and journal articles. It also comes from the first hand experience of a non-profit organization that works with issues concerning working children, who have worked closely with the ILO and the United Nations. A transnational actor can be defined as a person, business or organization that operates across borders and has some impact on world societies and environments. It became apparent to me as I was doing my research that transnational actors often have admirable... ...tion to make sure the projects are meeting their goals. There needs to be constant monitoring of each new venture undertaken. Detailed evaluations of current projects and research for new strategies in place of older unsuccessful ones are essential, to make plans better cater to the needs of the children. Lastly I think there needs to be increased government and non-profit participation, and involvement of the children, to bring about the best kind of development. From a development communication standpoint, I think the ILO manages to utilize the most optimum model to bring about progress and change the status quo, wehreas this is largely lacking in UNICEF’s approach. BIBLIOGRAPHY Moemeka, Andrew. Development Communication in Action. University Press of America, 2000. www.unic.org.in/devsup13may.htm www.unicef.org www.ilo.org