Improving cooperation and coordination between international organisations in the fight against child labour
Abstract
The purpose of this research study is to investigate how globalisation has changed the role of
international institutions regarding governance at a global level. The focal point has been to
study the demand for cooperation among the international institutions on a human issue that
needs global action and cooperation. For a long time focus has been on single-purpose
organisations, and there has been a lack of cooperation across the organisations. This study aims
to study a cooperation model of governance, where there is both horizontal and vertical
management. A combination of these two ways of management is required to improve
cooperation. I address the fight against child labour as the issue that I want to attack. Further, I
investigate the main organisations that address this issue and cooperate, namely ILO, UNICEF
and the World Bank. They use various methods to tackle the issue of child labour, based upon
their mandates and institutional missions. The methodological tool I use is a literature review
and a qualitative method through a case study of an interagency cooperation between ILO,
UNICEF and the World Bank. The programme I study is the Understanding Children’s Work
(UCW) programme. This programme was established after recognition of the need for
cooperation among the agencies that work with combating child labour. UNICEF, WB and ILO
were all attending these conferences (UCW accessed 2011-05-31). I have conducted research on
how they cooperate and I address the advantages and hindrances in their cooperation. This thesis
asks: How does the Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) programme help promote
cooperation and coordination between the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank in the fight
against child labour at the global level? The core findings in this thesis are that the cooperation model clearly has advantages in
promoting cooperation and coordination, and that the UCW has been successful in many areas. It
has brought international organisations closer to a common approach to fight child labour, and
this is crucial to a reduction of child labour. It has also revealed that trust, personal relationships
and flexibility are key words to establish good cooperation among agencies. It suggests that in
future work on a shared culture between the actors needs to be carried out to reach their common
goal. This must be built into the process of joined action (Considine and Lewis 2003, 132). The
thesis suggests that because of the different mission statements of the actors that are involved,
different organisational views need to be taken into account. Personal relationships and
institutional mandates have an impact that demands that more attention be paid to these issues to
ensure that the cooperation becomes even more successful.
Description
Master in International Social Welfare and Health Policy