Champion FoRChild RiGhTSPlan InternatIonal australIastrategIc Plan 2012–2016

Transform the world for children.

ouR ViSionOur vision is of a world in which all children realise their full potential in societies which respect people’s rights and dignity.

ouR miSSionWe strive to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of deprived children in developing countries through a process that unites people across cultures and adds meaning and value to their lives by:

> enabling deprived children, their families and their communities to meet their basic needs and to increase their ability to participate in and benefit from their societies

> fostering relationships to increase understanding and unity among peoples of different cultures and countries

> promoting the rights and interests of the world’s children.

ouR SToRYFounded more than 70 years ago, Plan is one of the oldest and largest children’s development organisations in the world and has no political or religious agenda.

We work at the grassroots in 50 developing countries to empower communities to overcome poverty so that children have the opportunity to reach their full potential – and we encourage children to be actively involved in the process.

We unite, empower and inspire people around the globe to champion every child’s right to survive, develop to the fullest, be protected and participate fully in family, cultural and social life. Together with our supporters we can transform the world for children.

Cover: In Bokeo province in Laos, 80% of the population is from ethnic groups, and girls from ethnic groups are least likely to attend school. Plan is working in Laos to increase all girls’ opportunities to access their right to education.

This page: Students from La Paz National High School in the Philippines take part in a disaster risk reduction exercise in the grounds of their new school, which was relocated with Plan’s assistance due to mudslide risks.

Over the past ten years, our approach to addressing the needs of children has changed. Originally grounded in child sponsorship, Plan’s work is now based on a child rights framework. This enables us to tackle the very causes of poverty and injustice through a full spectrum of interventions, ranging from long-term development assistance and disaster relief for children and their communities, through to public advocacy and global campaigning.

This five year strategy outlines our potential for further and sustained growth, emphasising quality impact and influence to benefit children, while recognising that growth in income and organisational identity are essential to achieve this.

Child rights sits at the centre of this strategy. It will continue to form the basis of our programming efforts. It will also be the theme of our engagement with the general public, donors and other institutions, enabling Plan to educate the public on the importance of child rights, and be recognised as the leading child rights agency in Australia.

This will involve change for us as an organisation. We must continue to grow in scale and reach but also strengthen our public voice on child rights issues, while at the same time enabling children to have a say in determining their futures. We will need the income and internal capabilities to achieve our goals. There must also be a heightened focus on capacity building, and investing in program partners as they join us on this journey.

The positive impact that we have on children’s lives around the world will be the fundamental driver for this next strategic phase, and will also provide a benchmark for reviewing this organisational strategy as we bring it to life.

ouR FuTuREGlobally, the focus of plan’s work is on children, their families and communities living in the most difficult contexts and situations.

ouR aSpiRaTionIt is an unacceptable injustice that hundreds of millions of children still have their basic rights either abused or totally denied. By more actively embracing a child rights approach, Plan International Australia hopes to move closer towards our global vision where all children can realise their potential because their basic rights are respected.

Our aspiration is to be a champion for child rights. We aim to achieve this by ensuring all our work is guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and by advocating the importance of child rights to our Australian stakeholders – the government, the sector, and the public. Only by doing this can we hope to achieve real and sustainable changes for children and their communities.

We will ensure that child rights is at the centre of all our development projects

We will educate and engage the public about child rights

We will develop the child rights knowledge of all plan staff and partners

Champion FoR Child RiGhTS

Girls from a Plan-supported female soccer team in Codó, northern Brazil, practice their game. All children have the right to play – it’s essential for developing language, social, emotional and physical skills.

ouR STRaTEGYour 2012–2016 strategic Framework is comprised of a set of organisational goals and enablers.

aSpiRaTion: the aspiration crystallises our work around the central idea of being a champion for child rights. this aspiration inspires each level and initiative within the overall strategy.

hiGh lEVEl GoalS: the high level goals set targets for the most important outcomes of our work: increasing our impact and influence.

SuppoRTinG GoalS: the supporting goals set targets for the delivery areas (identity and income) that enable the higher level goals to be achieved.

aSpiRaTion

hiGh lEVEl GoalS

SuppoRTinG GoalS

EnaBlERSEnaBlERS: the enablers establish the environment that makes achievement of the goals possible. the structure of goals and enablers is based on a modified Balanced score card approach for not for Profits.

Children in Myanmar at their temporary school built by Plan immediately after Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Plan erected temporary schools so that children could continue their education while new permanent schools were constructed nearby.

ouR hiGh lEVEl GoalS 2: inFluEnCE

plan will have a tangible influence on the perceptions, policies and practices that uphold child rights.this will require us to:

> Improve the understanding of development issues and child rights among our constituents

> Heighten our engagement with policy processes that influence the realisation of child rights

> Promote institutional change in favour of child rights among domestic and international program partners

> Strengthen dialogue and influence within Plan International in the furtherance of a child rights agenda

1: impaCT

plan will have a significant and lasting impact on the fulfilment of child rights for more children around the world.In order to achieve this, we will:

> Increase the scale and reach of our programming

> Deepen the quality of interaction with children, families, communities and program partners

> Increase the extent of social inclusion and a focus on vulnerability in our programming and practice

> Achieve our work through increasing the number and capacity of partners to provide sustained support for children and their rights

A mother in Indonesia cooking nutritious food for her son. This family is taking part in Plan’s Community Managed Nutrition project, which is designed to reduce the number of undernourished children aged under five – a significant problem in eastern Indonesia.

4: idEnTiTY

plan will establish a strong identity as the leading child rights agency in australia. In order to achieve this, we will:.

> Improve internal knowledge and ownership of child rights issues

> Increase our public profile on child rights issues

> Increase the number of constituents, as well as the spectrum and quality of the activities they are engaged in

> Grow our brand equity (what we are known and valued for) among constituents and the general public

ouR SuppoRTinG

GoalS3: inComE

plan will strengthen our income portfolio to support our expanded child rights programming for children.In order to achieve this, we will:

> Grow our income significantly to support our expanding program portfolio

> Diversify our income streams, products and sources to manage risk

> Expand non-child sponsorship public revenue to meet emerging program needs

> Optimise the funds available for programs over the life of the strategy

A boy answers a question in his school classroom in Rwanda, where Plan is working to ensure that all children access their right to education.

ouR EnaBlERS

A farming family from El Pollo community in Ecuador, bundle beans together before sending them off to the market. Plan is helping families in Ecuador with sustainable livelihoods activities that improve their income and nutritional health.

1: pEoplE and CulTuRE

Empowered people delivering high performance within a strong values-based culture. Key objectives within the ‘people and culture’ enabler include:

> Build our employee brand and Employee Value Proposition (EVP) both internally and externally so that we become an employer of choice

> Develop leadership and management for the future needs of the organisation

> Ensurie our diversity and inclusion practices match our positioning as a rights-based organisation

2: innoVaTion and lEaRninG

an environment of innovation and learningKey objectives within the enabler of ‘innovation and learning’ include:

> Identify and explore opportunities to innovate within the NGO sector

> Promote and support reflective learning processes

> Create the organisational space for innovation and learning and identify the bottlenecks to change

3: aCCounTaBiliTY and TRanSpaREnCY

Emphasise practices of information sharing and dialogue with our stakeholders that deliver accountability the key objectives within this enabler are:

> Implement new systems and standards in information disclosure and feedback

> Amplify children’s voices in our practice

> Strengthen our practices of social accountability within programming

4: pRoCESSES and SYSTEmS

Emphasise processes and systems that deliver superior experiences and efficiencies the key objectives within this enabler are:

> Deliver a digital strategy guided by a new digital vision

> Complete our corporate balanced scorecard to measure progress across all our goals and enablers

> Create superior process and system experiences, and efficiencies, for our stakeholders

Hand-washing is a key activity in Plan’s Water, Sanitation & Hygiene program in Uganda. Here, Ugandan school children wash their hands with a simple ‘tippy tap’ that is easily and cheaply constructed with local materials.

18/60 City Road Southbank VIC 3006 GPO Box 2818 Melbourne VIC 3001 Tel: +61 (3) 9672 3600 Fax +61 (3) 9670 1130 Email: info@plan.org.auABN: 49 004 875 807

accreditation

Plan is currently fully accredited and a trusted recipient of funds from AusAID, the Australian Government’s Agency for International Development responsible for managing the Australian Government’s official overseas aid program.

acFID

Plan International Australia is a member of its professional peak body the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID). We are a signatory to its code of conduct that covers the presentation of annual reports.

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