1998
The International Initiative on Exploitative Child Labor (also known as the International Initiative to End Child Labor) was created and a board of directors formed. The board of directors developed and approved the organization’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. The board voted to incorporate in the District of Columbia and seek Internal Revenue Service designation as a non-governmental 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization.
IIECL board members initiated contact with other organizations and began to develop and establish working relationships with various organizations and agencies with similar interests in the elimination of child labor. Partnerships were established and IIECL became a member of the national Child Labor Coalition in the United States and a partner with the Global March based in India.
Social Mobilization/Education Campaign
IIECL’s executive director, L. Diane Mull, worked with various news media groups to launch nationwide education about child labor in the United States and worldwide through efforts with the Associated Press, as part of a five-part series entitled “Children for Hire,” NBC’s one-hour Dateline show entitled, “Children of the Harvest,” and articles in Marie Clare and Seventeen magazines regarding child labor in agriculture in the United States. Additionally, IIECL’s board president created and led the activities of the Children in the Fields campaign, a project of the Child Labor Coalition that continues today. The Children in the Fields campaign is currently co-chaired by IIECL, the National Consumer’s League and the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs.
US Global March
IIECL staff, L. Diane Mull, served as a co-coordinator of the U.S. Global March and participated as a core marcher. Ms. Mull assisted in the planning and implementation of the Global March that began in Los Angeles, California, traveling throughout the US and ending in Washington, DC before moving to join other global marchers in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Mull’s activities in the march in the United States included chaperoning the international and US youth participating in the US march, making numerous speeches daily, providing press briefings and TV interviews daily, driving the youth van and attending to the health and other needs of international marchers, and organizing the events and accommodations for the southern tour of the march through southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. Ms. Mull attended and participated in the global event taking place in Geneva, Switzerland with the International Labor Organization summit meeting and made a presentation during the briefing before the delegates regarding child labor in agriculture.
Additionally, IIECL’s current Director of Auditing, Martine Combemale, served as a global marcher in the US and as a reporter for a French children’s publication, Milan Presse. Ms. Combemale attended and participated in the global event in Geneva, Switzerland and wrote feature articles on child labor and the global march for Milan Presse and other publications.