International NGOs Addressing Global South Realities: Hazardous Agricultural Child Labor in Costa Rica
Faculty Mentor
Sarah Moran
Major/Area of Research
Global Studies, Human Rights
Description
The dominant stance in the international discourse on child labor held by international institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Global North argues for its prevention and eradication due its detrimental impact on children’s health and development. In the Global South, there are communities who acknowledge that, while some labor can be hazardous, allowing children to work can also enable wider socialization and a potential to contribute to the family and earn for themselves. Can organizations successfully implement programs in communities with differing perspectives and protect children from tangible harm? Costa Rica is currently leading the charge to get rid of child labor within Latin America; however, there are still 30,000 children in what the government considers to be hazardous labor. This transdisciplinary qualitative case study explores the efforts to combat hazardous child labor within Costa Rica by Defensa de Ninos y Ninas Internacional Costa Rica, an international NGO, and how their projects and methodology account for Costa Rican realities despite their Global North roots. Through a three- month internship with the organization from September to November 2023, field research was conducted via participant observation, interviews, surveys, archival research, and arts-based research regarding their work on agricultural child labor, one of the most hazardous and customary forms of child work. The findings high- light a lack of targeted approaches to combat hazardous labor for children in comparison to adolescents. Despite a stated prioritization of community collaboration, community beliefs that contradict the normative international child labor standards guiding the organization and the country’s policies are disregarded. In addition, there have been no directed efforts to aid the communities most impacted by hazardous child labor in the country, such as Indigenous and Afro-descendant youth. This research suggests discarding the abolitionist approach for more hazard- focused and community-conscious work to maximize child protection efforts.
International NGOs Addressing Global South Realities: Hazardous Agricultural Child Labor in Costa Rica
The dominant stance in the international discourse on child labor held by international institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Global North argues for its prevention and eradication due its detrimental impact on children’s health and development. In the Global South, there are communities who acknowledge that, while some labor can be hazardous, allowing children to work can also enable wider socialization and a potential to contribute to the family and earn for themselves. Can organizations successfully implement programs in communities with differing perspectives and protect children from tangible harm? Costa Rica is currently leading the charge to get rid of child labor within Latin America; however, there are still 30,000 children in what the government considers to be hazardous labor. This transdisciplinary qualitative case study explores the efforts to combat hazardous child labor within Costa Rica by Defensa de Ninos y Ninas Internacional Costa Rica, an international NGO, and how their projects and methodology account for Costa Rican realities despite their Global North roots. Through a three- month internship with the organization from September to November 2023, field research was conducted via participant observation, interviews, surveys, archival research, and arts-based research regarding their work on agricultural child labor, one of the most hazardous and customary forms of child work. The findings high- light a lack of targeted approaches to combat hazardous labor for children in comparison to adolescents. Despite a stated prioritization of community collaboration, community beliefs that contradict the normative international child labor standards guiding the organization and the country’s policies are disregarded. In addition, there have been no directed efforts to aid the communities most impacted by hazardous child labor in the country, such as Indigenous and Afro-descendant youth. This research suggests discarding the abolitionist approach for more hazard- focused and community-conscious work to maximize child protection efforts.