Plan UK

Plan is a global children’s charity. They work with children in the world’s poorest countries to help them build a better future. For over 75 years they've been taking action and standing up for every child’s right to fulfil their potential by: giving children a healthy start in life, including access to safe drinking water securing the education of girls and boys working with communities to prepare for and survive disasters inspiring children to take a lead in decisions that affect their lives enabling families to earn a living and plan for their children’s future   What They Do Plan works for children and their communities to help realise children’s rights. They work across a range of sectors, including education, health, child protection, child participation, economic security and water and sanitation. Plan pioneered child sponsorship 75 years ago, and today over 100,000 people in the UK sponsor a child through Plan. Plan UK’s current focus is on the promotion of the rights of adolescent girls and responding to and preparing for disasters worldwide.   Disaster Relief Work: Plan’s disaster risk management work promotes an innovative and effective humanitarian approach to tackling the escalation of disasters affecting today’s children, their families and future generations.  Our programmes have been funded by the UK Government (DFID), the European Union (ECHO) and the generosity of the British public. Last year, Plan carried out disaster response and recovery work in 22 countries   Building skills for life: We help marginalised young people to thrive in a changing world by building their ‘skills for life’: their ability to protect and look after themselves, make a living and make informed life choices. Plan UK’s focus is on adolescents aged 10 to 18, and on girls in particular. There are 500 million adolescent girls in the developing world.   Our global programme: Plan UK prioritises the rights of adolescent girls and responding to and preparing for disasters, and we also contribute to Plan’s global work, including health, sexual and reproductive health, education, water and sanitation, economic security, child protection and child participation.   Children's voices:  Children represent about a third of the world's population. Providing opportunities for children and young people to articulate their views and access information is integral to Plan's work, including children's involvement with media projects.   Campaigning for change: Our campaigns mobilise people to put pressure on decision makers to take action to benefit girls and boys living in poverty - from changing laws and spending choices to transforming practice and behaviour. Our campaigning involves mass public action, research, lobbying, communications and events.   Advocacy: We are committed to ensuring that boys, girls and adults in the communities in which Plan works have a say in decision making, whether by local councils, national governments or international aid donors such as DFID. We gather evidence, share lessons learned and enable young people to address policy makers directly. We also raise awareness of development issues among the general public and encourage them to urge their representatives to champion the rights of children and young people in developing countries.   Build partnerships: Partnerships with businesses, trusts, private donors, and charitable organisations make a vital contribution to Plan’s work. With the support of our partners, and our experience and expertise in development, we achieve lasting change for children and families around the world.     Budget Plan UK budget for the financial year ended 30 June 2010 was a little over GBP 49 million.