The Early Years of Innocenti, 1988-1996

by James Himes

The two Jims: James Grant and James Himes at Innocenti

The Innocenti Centre’s birth, in 1987–88, was not an easy one. Given the complexities of Italian politics, not to mention UN policies and procedures, combined with a major transformation underway within UNICEF, it is hardly surprising that uncertainties and controversies were part of the context for the creation of what was initially called the UNICEF International Child Development Centre (ICDC).

Following discussions internally and with the Government of Italy and Board members, the initial recommendation to the Executive Board, in February 1987, listed ten specific objectives of the Centre. They were heavily weighted towards strengthening strategic alliances, promoting programme communication and social mobilization, refining advocacy and supporting development education and journalism. There was only limited reference to children’s rights, with the corresponding UN Convention still in the drafting stage and reluctance on the part of some senior UNICEF staff and several Board delegations to bring UNICEF into the contentious realm of human rights.

Working closely with Grant’s Deputy for Programmes, Richard Jolly, we began to shift the focus towards applied research and policy analysis, with a related concern for capacity building and training. This in fact aligned with my own background, having worked for 19 years with the Ford Foundation in policy research and capacity development in Latin America. An important step in this strategic process was the appointment to the Centre’s International Advisory Committee of UNICEF members who had distinguished careers in research or national policy development: Karl Eric Knutsson of Sweden, Nyi Nyi of Myanmar and Mary Racelis of the Philippines. Together with Jolly (who generally stood in for Grant as Chairman of the Committee), this contingent represented, in my view, the best UNICEF had to offer in terms of guiding ICDC along a path towards becoming a centre of excellence in studies relating to disadvantaged children, north and south, and what Grant described in his inaugural speech at the Centre as “the first time UNICEF has had such a facility to strengthen our own capacity and that of our co-operating institutions to achieve much higher priority for children and their families on the political and economic agendas of all nations.”

Four priorities were established:
  • Capacity-building for Child Survival and Development – focussed on sub-Saharan Africa, with support from the Government of Finland – led by Aklilu Lemma
  • Economic Policies and mobilizing resources for children – building on the widely recognized policy analysis of “Adjustment with a Human Face” – led by Giovanni Andrea Cornia
  • Needs of the Urban Child – designed to address specific elements of UNICEF’s longstanding urban basic services agenda – supported by Bill Cousins, John Donohue and Mary Racelis
  • Rights and Protection of the Child – recognizing the importance and the sensitivity of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was about to be approved by the General Assembly – led by Bilge Ogun.
The small teams in each area worked intensively on defined, evolving agendas, taking advantage of the opportunities and flexibility afforded by the Centre’s mandate – through a mix of seminars and workshops, collaboration with NYHQ, country offices, NGOs and academics, and production of a large number of studies and publications. We also cooperated with our host institution, the Istituto degli Innocenti, in various Italy-focused events.

Many UNICEF colleagues contributed valuably to the work programme, and many more participated in trainings, workshops and seminars that were held at the Centre.

Key activities and outcomes in the period up to 1996 included:
  • Country studies on NPA Decentralization, supporting the NPA process and facilitating UNICEF’s engagement at the local level
  • Case studies on the conditions of urban children in Brazil, India, Italy, Kenya and the Philippines
  • Research on children in industrialized countries, particularly on the impact of the transition to the market economy in Central and Eastern Europe – with a major study released in 1991 and the launch of the MONEE Project and series of annual Regional Monitoring Reports (Please see see Andrea Cornia’s account of the TRANSMONEE initiative in the Innocenti 25-year history document.)
  • Studies on structural transformation, poverty and financing of services for children in Africa and other developing regions.
  • Seminars, workshops and studies on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, focusing on Article 3 (the best interests of the child), resource mobilization and implementation issues, child rights monitoring, and child protection topics
  • Training meetings on Early Childhood Development, co-organized with UNICEF NY, that helped to establish the organization’s role in ECD
  • A series of Innocenti Global Seminars, drawing on UNICEF field staff, NGOs and researchers to build capacity of staff, national counterparts, NatComs and other allies on a range of issues.
Two of the four areas achieved strong and enduring impact. The work on economic policies and children, particularly the TRANSMONEE initiative on Central and Eastern Europe, has been influential at national and international levels, with strong recognition by the World Bank. Focus on rights and protection of the child similarly led UNICEF’s engagement in the Convention process and contributed substantively to its implementation. They remained at the heart of Innocenti’s work in later years. In contrast, much less traction was achieved on capacity building in Africa, lacking a good fit with the Centre’s strengths. While useful, the work on children in urban settings was subject to the organization’s overall limited attention to this area at the time.

Across all the areas, progress was made but challenges persisted to effectively meld research with UNICEF’s field-oriented culture. At its best, however, Innocenti’s work demonstrated that UNICEF can become both a more professional user of research results and also serve as an effective bridge between UNICEF-supported work for children in the field and the outside research communities concerned with rights and protection.
 
The essay draws upon Jim Himes previous contributions to the 2015 publication, Children and Research at Innocenti: 25 Years of UNICEF Commitment.

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