ICI believes stimulating and supporting local, national and regional efforts is the most efficient and effective way to affect change in the long term.

National governments, their ministries and institutions are at the forefront of the fight against child and forced labour in their countries.  By establishing effective policies, passing relevant laws and ensuring development efforts make a positive contribution to the fight against child and forced labour, national governments set the scene for agencies such as the ICI to maximise the impact of its own work.

ICI and its local partners play a role in informing and advocating for effective change and then supporting coordination with the relevant government departments, thereby ensuring our programmes make a real contribution. An important example is in the provision of education. While ICI and its local partners can help stimulate greater demand for education and support children being enrolled in school, the state is the ultimate provider of education services and needs to be engaged if this is to happen on the scale required.