Devex Newswire: How young is too young to be a development advocate?

Is the long-standing practice of using children to advance a cause ethical? Stories are mixed — and sobering.

Also in today’s edition: A young U.S. development agency matures quickly — and hopes to grow even more.

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Development’s poster children

Children touch a special chord in most of us, and the use of child advocates in development to a degree makes sense. After all, they are the ones who will have to live with the decisions we make on their behalf today. It’s only fair to get their perspective.

“Nothing about us without us” is the mantra that comes to mind.

But there’s a dark side to child advocacy.

Kyoka Shodladd, an 18-year-old activist from Thailand, began speaking up publicly about climate justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and democracy at age 11.

“I’ve faced verbal harassment and threats from strangers … simply for holding protest signs or responding to their questions. Initially, I felt terrified, but over time, those feelings of terror turned into numbness as I became accustomed to negativity,” Shodladd tells Devex contributor Rebecca Root.

Former youth advocates talked to Rebecca about how their work came with consequences that NGOs didn’t always appreciate, including online harassment, mental trauma, and even death threats.

“The risks are really very real, and I do wonder if we're asking enough about that,” says Amy Travis, a child safeguarding and protection consultant. For example, a recording of a child’s speech on the internet could lead to misuse of their image; reliving trauma in a public forum could have mental health ramifications; and speaking out on hot-button issues could put them in physical jeopardy.

But that’s not to say child advocacy doesn’t have its place. One former child advocate, Mila Mihajlović — who experienced online abuse — says the advocacy “pays off when you see that you've changed someone's life or when you've changed a policy that affected a certain group of people.”

Read: Harassment, death threats, and burnout — The risks of child advocacy

Safeguarding the youngest ones

So, given the downsides of child advocacy, how can organizations protect these powerful yet vulnerable activists?

Travis, the child safeguarding and protection consultant, says that for starters, NGOs shouldn’t seek out children to work with but rather partner with those who are already outspoken in their communities.

Being frank about the risks involved with the caregivers who give their children permission to advocate is also critical. “There are many caregivers who do not understand the full capacity of how things can be manipulated on the internet,” Travis points out.

Detailed safeguarding plans and risk assessments, as well as comprehensive briefings and training — for both staff and children — are also essential. After all, such practices have long been the norm in industries such as acting. So why should child advocates be treated any differently than child actors, who get regular breaks at events, access to tutors, and work with staff who are subject to extensive background checks?

And don’t condescend the children lending you a hand. All of the youth advocates Rebecca spoke to said they felt tokenized at times. “We tend to be used and forced to say things [and] looked at as volunteers,” says Leah Namugerwa, a climate activist from Uganda. She advised that NGOs stop seeing young people as volunteers but as equal partners “because it's our future that we are planning for.”

Read: How to ethically work with child advocates

The little agency that could

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is somewhat of a neophyte compared to much larger, more established government agencies such as USAID, but it’s a fast learner that’s punching above its weight.

Since coming into being in 2019 with the passage of the BUILD Act, DFC has grown dramatically — with staff members roughly doubling in size from around 300 to 600 today and its original $29 billion lending cap expanding to $60 billion.

And unlike a lot of government agencies that are viewed through a partisan prism, Republicans and Democrats haven’t tussled all that much over DFC, which is generally respected for its work funding private sector development projects abroad.

It’s also earned plaudits abroad, according to Scott Nathan, the head of DFC, who spoke at a Devex event held in Washington, D.C. last week.

“I have really found that when I meet with world leaders … they're looking for diversity in their partnerships,” Nathan said in a thinly veiled reference to China. “They're looking for support that doesn't have strings attached, that's focused on high standards, high-quality projects, [on] support for the private sector.”

It’s a win-win for both the U.S. and the countries DFC serves, added former U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho.

“We want to do what that country needs, for the benefit of that country, not for the benefit of another nation. We want that country to grow and prosper … to where they're not migrating, and it's a safer country for us. So it's really a national security issue too,” he said.

Yoho, who co-authored the original BUILD Act, is confident it will be reauthorized by the U.S. Congress. “I'm optimistic that it will happen. If it doesn't happen this year, it will happen next year,” he said. “It needs to.”

Read: US Development Finance Corporation hopes to BUILD on its future (Pro)

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WHO gets help

That’s how much the World Health Organization is seeking to fund its work over the next four years.

Billions always sounds like a lot, but Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation, puts the numbers into perspective.

Donors spend about $40 billion a year in development assistance on global health. “All of the charitable and government money that goes into health every single year is one-half of 1% of total global health care spending,” Soni pointed out on the latest episode of our This Week in Global Development podcast.

It may be a small amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a life-altering amount nonetheless. “What we must do a better job of convincing the public about is the fact that [health care] is an investment. When you invest early, you spend less over time, and that's both in terms of lives and dollars.”

The investment part is where the WHO Foundation comes in. As my colleague Sara Jerving details in her report, the foundation works to reap money from philanthropic organizations, companies, corporate foundations, and the public for WHO, which Soni calls “the piston in the engine of global health” but which has long struggled with sustainable financing.

Since its launch in 2020, the foundation has funneled $24 million to the United Nations agency. While relatively small compared to WHO’s overall budget, the foundation is creative in its fundraising. It incorporates strategies like big-bet philanthropy and impact investing into the matrix — and teams up with other health organizations like Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, instead of competing with them.

“We need to do more as a community in global health to show our donors that we're not competing for the very same dollar or pound or euro or franc. And one of the ways we can do that is by putting our resources behind showing how the puzzle pieces fit together — to eradicate a disease, to get ahead of a health condition — and show that all of us need to participate.”

Read: The foundation bringing in private sector finance to WHO (Pro)

Listen: A look at WHO Foundation's work, and Gavi’s new replenishment target

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In other news

The International Monetary Fund approved $2.2 billion in budget support for Ukraine and urged continued donor support amid economic decline. [Reuters]

The United Nations confirmed the transfer of stockpiled aid from the offshore U.S.-built pier to Gaza warehouses as Washington weighs resuming paused operations. [AP News]

The Taliban joined a U.N.-led conference in Qatar, seeking sanctions relief and increased Western engagement, while asking to look past the measures they have imposed on Afghan women and girls. [VOA]

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