Plan Worldwide Annual Review and Combined Financial ...
Plan Worldwide Annual Review and Combined Financial ...
Plan Worldwide Annual Review and Combined Financial ...
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Chief Executive Officer’s introduction<br />
In the past year, <strong>Plan</strong> International has begun<br />
implementing the 2015 strategy, Rights <strong>and</strong><br />
Opportunities for Every Child, endorsed by our<br />
Members <strong>and</strong> the International Board in June<br />
2011. From my perspective, this period has<br />
involved putting the foundations in place in many<br />
areas, to ensure swifter progress <strong>and</strong> higher<br />
achievement in the future.<br />
This annual review captures the energy <strong>and</strong> variety of our<br />
country programmes. It also shows that the realities of what we<br />
do are beginning to be influenced by the priorities of education,<br />
protection <strong>and</strong> inclusion that we set in the 2015 strategy. It is<br />
uplifting to read how a greater focus on marginalised groups<br />
<strong>and</strong> an emphasis on enabling children <strong>and</strong> young people to<br />
be heard <strong>and</strong> empowered are running, like a thread, through<br />
our programmes.<br />
Our income from institutional donors <strong>and</strong> the private sector has<br />
continued to grow <strong>and</strong>, despite the economic uncertainties, well<br />
over one million sponsors stay loyal to the children they support.<br />
But, like most international non-governmental organisations, <strong>Plan</strong><br />
faces increasingly complex challenges. We are a more ambitious<br />
organisation than we were a decade ago. And with that ambition<br />
comes the challenge of dealing with multiple stakeholders <strong>and</strong><br />
ensuring that we deliver value fairly to each of them.<br />
That is why our Business Operating Model reform programme<br />
will be very important in the coming year. On the one h<strong>and</strong> we<br />
need to invest in programme expertise <strong>and</strong> policy <strong>and</strong> advocacy<br />
development at global <strong>and</strong> regional level. On the other, we<br />
want to ensure that our 50 programme countries have the<br />
resources they need to implement the programmes agreed<br />
with communities at the frontline. We need to balance the<br />
two. We also have to capture the full costs of running complex<br />
programmes, often in dangerous locations with hard-to-reach<br />
communities, <strong>and</strong> ensure that our donors pick up that cost.<br />
One of the priorities in our 2015 strategy is to improve<br />
programme quality – in particular, embedding the underst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
<strong>and</strong> application of the core programme principles that are central<br />
to our child-centred community development approach. Soon,<br />
staff will be able to learn more <strong>and</strong> study best practice through<br />
our newly established <strong>Plan</strong> Academy.<br />
In the past year we have responded to more than 30 individual<br />
emergencies. After a slow start, we reacted well to the impact of<br />
famine <strong>and</strong> drought in the Horn of Africa, <strong>and</strong> our programmes<br />
benefited more than one million children. In the Sahel, it has not<br />
been easy to attract funds or staff with the appropriate skills, <strong>and</strong><br />
this remains a central priority for the year ahead.<br />
Meanwhile, our advocacy <strong>and</strong> policy work has had increasing<br />
impact. We prepared for the launch of the Because I am a<br />
Girl campaign, with its focus on tackling gender injustice <strong>and</strong><br />
improving girls’ education. The impact of our previous campaigns<br />
– Count Every Child <strong>and</strong> Learn Without Fear – has been profound.<br />
Millions more children now have a birth certificate <strong>and</strong> their rights<br />
are protected as a result. In many countries, legal frameworks now<br />
protect children from the worst effects of school violence <strong>and</strong><br />
deter the perpetrators. These were our first global campaigns,<br />
<strong>and</strong> we have every reason to be proud of them.<br />
Our primary focus remains with children under the age of 18, but<br />
as youth unemployment rises up the political agenda we have<br />
begun to develop partnerships with the private sector, to provide<br />
young people in <strong>Plan</strong> communities with the skills to compete for<br />
jobs or set up microenterprises. In Asia, our pilot programmes are<br />
already yielding benefits <strong>and</strong> we plan to scale them up both in<br />
Asia <strong>and</strong> South America.<br />
This year has also been our 75th birthday. It was wonderful to see<br />
communities in all 69 <strong>Plan</strong> countries take time out in March 2012<br />
to celebrate our achievements – in particular our long-running<br />
community-based work in so many parts of the world.<br />
It remains for me to thank all our individual supporters <strong>and</strong><br />
groups, institutional donors <strong>and</strong> private-sector partners who<br />
donated resources <strong>and</strong> expertise to <strong>Plan</strong>, <strong>and</strong> to our many<br />
implementing partners <strong>and</strong> members of civil society organisations<br />
for their support in the past year. It is also humbling to meet our<br />
<strong>Plan</strong> teams who continue to do inspiring work, often in difficult<br />
circumstances. They deserve a huge thank you for their dedication<br />
<strong>and</strong> professionalism.<br />
There is always more to do, but the stories in this review are<br />
clear evidence that our programmes are making a difference<br />
to the lives of the world’s poorest children. We are committed to<br />
ensuring all our programmes reach an even higher st<strong>and</strong>ard in the<br />
years ahead.<br />
Nigel Chapman<br />
Chief Executive Officer<br />
© <strong>Plan</strong> / Steven Wright<br />
CHAIR’S AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S INTRODUCTIONS<br />
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