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Exploring the influence of international governmental organisations on domestic child welfare policy and practice
Abstract
The influence of international governmental organisations (IGOs) on child welfare policy and practice in individual sovereign states is little explored. This article sets out the nature of these bodies’ main work with children. It then considers the mechanisms through which they seek to influence national child welfare policy and practice and the extent to which they can make nation states comply. ‘Soft’ mechanisms, such as awareness-raising, compiling statistical data and demonstration projects are contrasted with ‘hard’ mechanisms, such as making law and financial intervention. The article then reviews the effects of this activity and the factors explaining the varied pattern. It concludes that child welfare policy and practice are increasingly subject to supranational influence and that this has important implications for those seeking to influence this field.1
... As policy makers, practitioners and researchers in individual countries identify and develop responses to the challenges faced by this highly vulnerable group, there is concern to understand and learn from the experiences of others (see for example, INTRAC, Eurochild & SOS websites). This is in keeping with the trend towards global exchange and benchmarking in child welfare heralded and promoted by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Axford & Ross, 2005;Mapp, 2008). However, it is now generally recognised that international comparison is no easy matter. ...
... These offer comments on welcomed developments and progress as well as identifying matters of concern and making recommendations for the reporting government's attention. 2 This policy dialogue between the UNCRC Committee and national governments is central to the way the Convention expresses its 'soft power' in cultivating a global policy climate and fostering consensus within and across national governments (Axford & Ross, 2005). 3 ...
... By definition that domain requires a single set of information addressing institutions and processes outside of national boundaries. Again these cover cultural, political and economic dimensions (Axford & Ross 2005). ...
Thanks to the greatly increased interest in the experiences of young people leaving state care, there is now a much better understanding of how vulnerable this group is when making the transition to adulthood. It is also now clear that there must be interrelated formal and informal support provided to young people when leaving and after leaving care if their life chances are to be significantly improved. This article extends the logic of that systemic thinking to embrace the challenge of globalisation as a necessary aspect of contemporary thinking about care leaving. It recognises the difficulties in developing an international perspective but suggests a model for promoting cross national exchange. An agenda is suggested around which global networking could be built in order to ensure that advances being made for care leavers in any one country are both secured against the negative impact of globalisation and become part of a global resource.
This research essay examines the exploitation of child labour in agriculture, industry and the service sector in Mainland China. Child productivity in China has historically been essential to the survival of the family. However, the globalized environment has drawn emphasis to the reality that children are exploited and subject to dangerous work conditions. The aim of this research is to analyse the international legal framework and human rights conventions safeguarding the rights of the child. This involved the primary analysis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Minimum Age Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention. The Procedure of the Conclusion of Treaties, Minors Protection Law, Provisions on the Prohibition of Using Child Labour, Regulations Banning Child Labour and Compulsory Education Law were critiqued to determine the effectiveness of China’s domestic legislation. The results demonstrated that child labour is currently not prohibited under China’s domestic law, a consequence of ineffective implementation of international treaties. To support this legal analysis, it evaluated academic research exploring the economic and cultural circumstances of China. It was found that globalization, rapid economic growth, a lack of education and social and cultural constructions of ‘child’ and ‘childhood’ further contributed to the existence of child labour. The significance of these findings is that it highlights the difficulty involved in changing legislation when the economic and cultural forces strongly dictate against it. Children are ultimately unable to access justice as effectively as their adult counterparts do within China’s legal framework
In the process of the EU's eastern enlargement, the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) have undergone a major process of external governance. What are the main characteristics of the mode of EU external governance in this region, and under which conditions is it most effective for the transfer of EU rules to the CEECs? The article presents the findings of a collaborative international research project including comparative case studies of EU rule transfer in a great variety of policy areas and CEECs. They show that rule transfer is best explained by an external incentives model of governance; its effectiveness varies with the credibility of EU conditionality and the domestic costs of rule adoption. The impact of these conditions, however, depends on two contexts of conditionality: democratic conditionality and acquis conditionality.
A comprehensive and accessible guide to the key themes, issues and debates in global social policy. This Reader collects together key papers by international leaders in the field that cover the emergence of global social policy as a dynamic and expanding field, the transformation of welfare from a predominantly national to a global field of action, and the impact of globalisation on key welfare discourses and governance mechanisms. The global social policy reader will have broad appeal among undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of social science subjects, including social and public policy, social care and health studies, sociology, politics, economics, international relations and development studies.
Earlier Nordic comparative studies show variation between countries in child welfare practice, reflecting cultural differences, and that case workers share the norms, values and attitudes of their society. Can cultural factors be concretised for discussion? Child welfare workers in Denmark, Iceland and Norway were presented with five child care stories (vignettes) that focused on the ‘threshold’ between preventive measures and out-of-home care (consensual or compulsory). Vignette themes included parental neglect, maternal alcohol misuse and youth problems. Study participants gave written answers to the vignettes and took part in group discussions with colleagues. The results showed significant differences between countries in case workers' responses. Variations in arguments, decisions, use of compulsion and working style reflected national views and priorities. A central dimension was how case workers balanced parental interests with children's needs: in Denmark they were reluctant to intervene with parental rights, whereas the Norwegians were more accepting of compulsory decisions to protect children.
This article gives an account of the cases in which the Children Act 1989 has been interpreted and applied by the highest courts in the UK, the appellate committee of the House of Lords until October 2009 when their jurisdiction was taken over by the new Supreme Court of the UK. It explains the reasoning behind those decisions and how they did, or did not, reflect the thinking of the original framers of the Act. It concludes that, by and large, the Act has stood up well to judicial scrutiny but that the Human Rights Act 1998 has brought new challenges to which it must respond.
This review sets out the legislative amendments that have been made to the Children Act 1989 since it was implemented in 1991. It highlights the most significant changes to the original wording of the Act, with brief summaries of the relevant background and references to comment by leading figures in law and social work. The review follows the structure of the Act, beginning with the welfare principle and covering: private law provisions; local authority duties to children in need; care orders; and child protection. It is concluded that the majority of the amendments have arisen through increased recognition of the impact of domestic violence on children, campaigning by the fathers' rights movements and the economic pressures on local authorities that have prevented the provision of adequate services to children in need.
Many child-focused civil society organisations (CSOs) working in Africa, Asia and South America have shifted from organising their work around children's needs to promoting their rights. The rights-based frameworks they use are informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article explores the value of global rights. Ethnographic studies about the lives of young people and their transition into adulthood point to diversity of ideas about childhood in different parts of the world, raising questions about whether the idea of universal child rights can accommodate such varied worldviews. Yet CSOs have often failed to take account of this diversity in the way they use rights frameworks. Research by anthropologists about children in three situations - at work, on the move and facing violence - is used here to reveal the problems caused if rights frameworks are used without sufficient understanding of context and complexity.
Contrary to prevailing wisdom, international development does not either succeed or fail. It does both. With reference to case study material gleaned from working with both grant-makers and international civil society organisations, this article critiques both the assumptions and organisation of development. Development initiatives create small islands of beneficial change for children but in general suffer from donor-led managerial approaches, the dominance of upward accountability to Northern agencies, poor relationships and the tendency to both generalise and simplify. Globally, governments and civil society are failing to protect millions of vulnerable children and promote their participation in decision-making. But better outcomes for children are possible. This article articulates the problems but also demonstrates how: (1) partnerships could be reoriented so that power relations are continually challenged; (2) planning mechanisms could be more focused and efficient; and (3) innovation, learning and reflective action could be promoted so that practice is appropriate to the context and therefore promotes better outcomes for children.
A review of the theoretical construction of international social work.
Findings: Although social workers are now more frequently engaged in international activities than ever before, they remain divided on a number of critical issues. These include the definition of international social work; the nature and impact of globalization on social work; the proper role of remedial, activist and developmental practice; and finally the place of values, cultural diversity and internationalism as an ideological position. These issues are discussed and clarified, and an attempt is made to formulate proposals that can accommodate and resolve differences.
Applications: The applications of this article concern the theoretical construction of social work, in particular, the development of transnational social work; the construction of curricula for social work education and a reconceptualization of the importance of globalization and regionalism for social work practice.
Social policy in the European Union has developed rapidly in recent years, following the 2000 Lisbon Summit and the subsequent adoption of National Action Plans on Social Inclusion and a set of common social indicators for all Member States. This paper describes European initiatives and examines the role played by social science research in these developments. It refers specifically to the role of theory and conceptual analysis, to the availability and quality of data, and to policy modelling. It draws lessons from the experience of European social policy for the relationship between research and policy formation.
This review seeks to question the marked concentration in the work of both government and non-governmental agencies on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is not part of the law in England, as contrasted with the relative absence of reference to the European Convention on Human Rights, which has, since 2 October 2000, been a part of English law through the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998. The concentration on the UNCRC both in speeches (Hughes) and guidance emanating from government departments and agencies Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, Department for Education and Skills, and non-governmental agencies (UNICEF UK) is noteworthy but raises critical questions as to why equal attention is not focused on the European Convention of Human Rights.
Axford N. Children and global social policy: exploring the impact of international governmental organisations
International governmental organisations (IGOs) seek to influence child welfare policy and practice in individual sovereign states. But do they succeed and, if so, in what way? This article outlines the nature of selected IGOs' work, explores the nature of their impact and seeks to explain the pattern that emerges. It also notes areas for further research.
Since ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, the UK Government has submitted three reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This article explains the reporting process and provides an overview of the most recent recommendations from the Committee.
Despite structural changes made to central government and the development of the Every Child Matters programme in England, compartmentalised child policy proposals are often created for service settings and in response to a specific political imperative. This article provides a rationale for child impact assessment — a systematic process in which proposals for policy and legislation are reviewed and assessed for their potential impact on children and young people — and reviews project work in England involving the National Children's Bureau and the Children's Legal Centre.
The essential objective of this article is to measure and interpret the degree of convergence of social protection benefits in European Union member states as the process of European integration has progressed. In this sense, the article analyses the potential role of per capita income and of the socio-demographic characteristics of the population as explanatory variables for the levels of social protection provision in European countries. The empirical study focuses on the period from 1985 to 1999, and investigates whether differences in welfare provision levels decreased as European integration progressed, in line with the convergence in economic and socio-demographic variables between member states.
This paper argues that globalization, although needing to be recognized as a highly complex phenomenon and a contested concept, should become part of the debate about improving the life chances of young people leaving care. Understanding globalization is essential to developing the effective strategies of engagement and resistance needed to address the social exclusion of these young people. Consideration is given to the considerable difficulties faced in moving from that general recognition to a sufficiently nuanced view of the impact of globalization on care leaving required as the basis for action. Existing approaches to promoting international exchange and understanding are discussed and a conceptual model presented as the means to start the work of identifying how the needs of care leavers are assessed and met in different national contexts. It is suggested that by identifying patterns of cross-national similarities and differences, it will become possible to understand and to engage with the processes and institutions of globalization. An international theoretical and practice agenda are proposed appropriate to the present early stage in ensuring that globalization works for and not against the interests of care leavers.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography has two overall aims: (i) to strengthen international criminalisation and (ii) to provide welfare protection for child victims. This article reviews the context of the Protocol including the work of the Special Rapporteur. It examines reservations and declarations made by states upon ratification and provides a preliminary analysis of country reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It concludes that while the Protocol may have assisted in the process of international criminalisation, its implementation appears to have had a weaker impact on the protection of child victims.
This paper explores whether the Human Rights Act 1998 has influenced the approach a range of professionals, including social workers, managers and children's guardians adopt when they examine and seek to balance the potentially competing rights of parents and children involved in care proceedings. Drawing on findings from an empirical study of the decision-making process that influences the life pathways of very young children in care, it also explores some of the dilemmas professionals face in their day-to-day practice and examines whether parental rights are prioritized over children's rights in certain instances.
This paper focuses on the role of international actors in policy/knowledge transfer processes to suggest that a dynamic for the transnationalisation of policy results. The paper seeks to redress the tendency towards methodological nationalism in much of the early policy transfer literature by bringing to the fore the role of international organisations and non-state actors in transnational transfer networks. Secondly, attention is drawn to 'soft' forms of transfer - such as the spread of norms - as a necessary complement to the hard transfer of policy tools, structures and practices and in which non-state actors play a more prominent role. Thirdly, transnational networks are identified as an important vehicle for the spread of policy and practice not only cross-nationally but in emergent venues of global governance.
On 20 November 1989, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It entered into force on 2 September 1990 and has by now been ratified by 193 States, making the most universally ratified human rights treaty. This overview will present and discuss the impact of this treaty both at the international and the national level, an overview which necessarily has to be limited to some of the developments as a result of the implementation of the CRC. The first part of this paper will be devoted to the impact the CRC had and still has on the setting and development of the international agenda for the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children. Special attention will given to developments, achievements, and remaining challenges at the international level with regard to protection of children in armed conflict; prevention and the protection of children from sexual exploitation; and from all forms of violence. This will include some information on the impact of these international developments and actions at the national level, for example, in the area of legislation. The second part will focus on the impact at the national level. Given the wide scope of the CRC this part will be limited to some of the General Measures of Implementation (law reform, national programmes, and independent monitoring) and the General Principles (non-discrimination, best interest, right to be heard) of the CRC. This will be based on reports of States on the implementation of the CRC submitted to the CRC Committee and the Concluding Observations of this Committee and on a number of studies. The conclusion will provide remarks on poverty as one of the major remaining challenges for the implementation of children's rights.
Adapted from unpublished paper originally prepared for UNICEF
- P Mittler