Plan in Australia is part of the global Plan International which is one of the largest and leading Children’s development organizations. Being part of the worldwide organization enables Plan International to have a higher impact on children’s development and combat the causes of poverty. Working in more than 50 developing nations around the world, communities are equipped with the necessary tools to overcome poverty. Plan supports the access of children to all their rightful rights to education, safety, and health as well as physical and emotional welleing.
To support our projects, funds are raised sourced from 21 countries through fundraising. These countries include Australia. Plan international Australia then becomes the link between donors and sponsors, and the communities in which the children we work with live. The whole effort to child development worldwide is coordinated from the headquarters in the United Kingdom. Plan in Australia, being an independent member orgnisation, supports the whole network by delivering our own designed projects in the developing nations with our expertise and experience. In cooperation with other member organizations, child sponsorships by Plan’s supporters, help fund community development activities. Emergency situations brought about y the increasing crises in the developing world take a heavy toll on vulnerable communities. Plan in Australia responds as promptly as possible to assist the affected communities and by extension the children. Plan also equips them with skills to manage crises occurring in the future.
Plan in Australia urges willing persons, businesses and other partners in development to get involved by raising the necessary resources to fund poverty alleviating projects in developing nations. This could be through direct fundraisers or other events organized by the charity.
Rights Based Approach
Child poverty is best tackled through Child centreed Community Development. This targeted approach tackles the underlying reasons responsible for child poverty. Power imbalances and cases of injustice are the result of these underlying causes. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the core of all of Plan in Australia’s development projects. We believe that the most effective method of addressing child poverty is by ensuring that they and their families have full access to their rights as humans.
Plan in Australia believe that there are four major principles of child rights. These re the right to non-discrimination in the access of their rights, the right to life with accompanying development and survival, making the child’s interest the primary focus of any program aimed at improving their lives, and that the views and opinions of children should be considered when decisions affecting them are made.
The right to a good start
Many children around the world do not have access to or are denied the right to a good start in life. This includes access to healthcare, education, good nutrition and the right to play. Plan in Australia supports projects in Asia and Africa to empower communities give their children as good a start in life as possible.
Education
About 75 million of the world’s children, most of them girls, are missing out on the rights and benefits of education. While there are many varied situations are many, poverty is the overriding cause of missed or poor education amongst children. Education assists communities to claim their rights which they pass on to their children. This is why education is a key focus for Plan in Australia.
The right to nutritious food
The biggest risk to worldwide health is hunger and the effects of malnutrition. This risk is greater than the effects of Malaria, Ebola, AIDS and tuberculosis. Stunted growth and poor mental development are some of the devastating effects of hunger and malnutrition. The challenge for Plan in Australia is to promote appropriate farming methods, higher yields from farms and to arm communities with skills to cushion them from price hikes of food commodities. With successful projects to overcome these challenges, the well-being and health of children is assured.
Standard of living
In developing countries, earning a living is a major challenge to families. A poor standard of living heavily impacts the development of children in all. A poor crop harvest, a natural calamity or loss of earnings can put a family deeper into poverty. Strengthening the economic security for families and young people is a key goal for Plan in Australia.
The right to protection
It is a right of every child to be protected from harm, but children in excess of 175 million, are badly affected by disasters yearly. Poverty, environmental degradation and climate change are increasingly contributing to disasters and children need to be protected from the harmful effects of such calamities. Plan supports projects worldwide that offer this kind of protection to the world’s children.
Clean Water for All
The right to clean water is a basic one, but many children are unable to access this vital resource. Hygienic sanitation and clean drinking water are important for children’s development and Plan in Australia also focuses on the provision of sustainable sources and safe treatment of drinking water.
Emergencies
The first few days after disaster strikes are when most deaths occur. It then follows that the faster the response, the better the attempt to save lives after a disaster. Plan International responds within 24 hours where possible to provide immediate survival interventions to the families and children in these serious emergencies. Temporary shelters, ready to consume nutritious food, temporary shelters are some of the needs met by Plan International once they reach scenes of disaster. Child-friendly spaces are also established for recovery and play as the situation is assessed and restored.
The role of Plan in Australia is to involve children and families in all aspects of their development. They also assist governments and their agencies to meet this need while at the same time ensuring the rights of the children and their families are respected. It follows that governments and communities must work together to address imbalances like gender inequality.
Plan in Australia enjoys tremendous support from stakeholders who are either offering their assistance and expertise or the recipients of the benefits of Plan’s programs. These include the Australian government and host governments in the developing nations.
