Konstruktivistlik lähenemine rahvusülese propageerimisvõrgustiku püüdlustele lahendada lapssõduritega seotud humanitaarprobleemi rahvusvahelise normi kehtestamise läbi Child Soldiers International näitel

Abstract

This thesis analyses the advocacy of Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers to stop the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflicts. Since there are organizations that are dedicated to solving the humanitarian issue concerning child soldiers, one could say that the problem is ongoing. In addition to reviewing the actions of the transnational advocacy network the thesis also considers the quality of the additional protocol Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Childen in Armed Conflict that supports the norm. The aim of the thesis is to determine how the norm has developed, how the advocacy network has contributed into the development of the norm and why the norm has not yet been internalized. The analysis revealed that the norm is in cascade phase, having already went through emergence and crossed the so called threshold, because most of the states in the international community have accepted the additional protocol that supports the norm. Furthermore, the analysis of the criteria the norm needs to fulfill to be successful proved that the norm could be considered important to states, norm benefit from being related to other humanitarian norms and the notion of protecting vulnerable groups from har. The only harmful quality of the norm has to do with the wide definitions the additional protocol provides which, in turn, offer states the possibility to interpret child soldiers broadly. One could conclude from the analysis of the different politics transnational advocac network Coalition used, that the network bases it’s advocacy mainly on information politics, because thay are most consentrated on sharing adequate and trustworthy infromation. The least used politics is symbol politics that consists only of pictures in reports. Coalition uses also leverage politics to lobby governements and accountability politics which are directed at governments. Lastly, the success criteria for the network were analysed and it was revealed that Coalition has managed to create the issue and but only partially managed to keep it in the agenda because it is has reduced it’s activity mainly to composing reports and seldom organizing public events. Secondly, it was made clear that Coalition had gained leverage over states’s discoursive positions with the states declaring their support, and procedures when the network was part of the creation of OPAC. Coalition has also been successful in obtaining leverage over politics in those counrties that have ratified the additional protocol because they can use accountability politics to shame them. Finally, it was possible to say that the Coalition has failed to gain leverage over states’ actions, because there are states that have ratified the OPAC but don’t follow it. To conclude, it is possible to say that the norm against the use of children in armed conflict has reached the cascade phase and has still to reach internalization, in which it will no longer be in the international agenda. As for the transnational advocacy network Coalition, it has used most of the politics available to them, altough they could emphasize more symbolism to attract more attention from people. They have concentrated only on lobbying governements and organizations and have failed at drawing attention from ordinary people, which they should put more emphasis on in the future, because this would give them an additional ally in their stand against the use of children in armed conflict.