Implementing international policies is no simple matter for nation-states. Sometimes policies impose contradictory requirements, making it difficult if not impossible to comply. Sometimes policies prompt objections from local entities and individuals who declare them inconsistent with local culture. And sometimes nation-states lack the necessary resources to carry them through. Although the disjuncture between policy and implementation—or what some call "decoupling"—is a constant concern for international activists, relatively little research considers how national actors confront barriers to implementation and/or how these barriers play out for people "on the ground." In this dissertation, I seek to uncover more precisely how policy and outcome become decoupled in one nation-state—Tanzania—and the implications of that decoupling. I identify when policies produce qualitative changes, when they become decoupled from local circumstances, and how, if ever, they are reconciled. In this regard findings reveal that: Economic reforms are better implemented on the ground compared to human right treaties. Also, the local cultural practice of valuing elders is not offsetting the benefits of the Children's Convention for children. However, local culture is changing as well and resources are the major reasons. Finally, there are more children's NGOs than NGOs for elders, and this has a significant impact on resources. In addition, the character of the NGOs is different on their functions and locality.