Annual report for Plan International Australia for 2009-2010

annual report 2010 Plan International Australia

www.plan.org.au

1

inside 2

Introduction

3 Our vision and mission

4 Report from our Chair

5 Report from our CEO

6 Our year at a glance

8 Our global network

10 About us

14 Our work

16 Impact

32 Influence

38 Identity

40 Income

44 Our organisation

46 An enabling environment

49 Our governance

52 Our Board

54 Our management

56 Our staff

58 Our volunteers

60 Our finances

62 Overview

64 Results

66 Financial statements

Cover: Young children wash their hands at a clean water distribution point built with support from Plan, Aileu district, Timor-Leste.

Photographer: Glenn Daniels Right: A Kenyan mother separates empty maize grains from nutritious ones, as she prepares to make her family a meal. A modest ration of boiled maize and beans is the most common meal in this area of Kenya after years of drought.

This report sets out Plan International Australia’s progress towards our vision and mission between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2010. We have referred to this period as ‘2010’.

Looking forward, the period 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 is referred to as ‘2011’. In this report, the informal name ‘Plan in Australia’ is used to refer to Plan International Australia. The terms ‘Plan’ and ‘Plan International’ refer to the global organisation Plan International. Please see page 8 for further information on our global network.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

our story Founded 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 level in 48 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.

our vision

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

our mission

We strives 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.

www.plan.org.au

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Report from our Chair

Earlier this year when I visited some of our development projects in Kenya and Uganda, I witnessed firsthand how Plan International Australia is having a strong impact in the developing world.

In Uganda I met groups of women, all living in extreme poverty in remote rural areas, who have begun to experience the benefits of having control over their livelihoods. With the help of Plan they have started microfinance enterprises such as raising chickens and goats, producing peanut butter and honey and growing bananas. These enterprises are not only raising much needed funds for their community, but are enabling local children orphaned by HIV/ AIDS to continue their schooling, are educating young people on issues associated with HIV/ AIDS, and most importantly, are teaching these inspirational women financial and commercial skills, giving them confidence in their ability and a strong sense of purpose and self esteem.

While the challenges are still great, one can see the difference made by supporting these communities to become more sustainable and self-reliant – they are examples of Plan becoming a stronger organisation in both the raising of funds and providing program development guidance and expertise.

This supports the strategic direction that Plan in Australia embarked on two years ago – investing to increase the size of our organisation and investing in scaling up our development capacity.

This investment has given us the recognition of governments, donors and supporters and has allowed us to deepen our impact as a stronger development agency in transforming the lives of children in the countries in which we work around the world.

Despite significant global financial challenges, in 2010 our supporter involvement grew substantially to reach our highest ever level of child sponsorships. This is a tremendous achievement made possible by our many loyal supporters – individuals, community groups,

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

institutions and businesses – and we are extremely grateful for their continuing support.

In addition, our investment in gender and the needs of girls continued both through our active engagement with AusAID and our highly successful advocacy campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’, which was timely as the report focused on the role of girls in the global economy. It highlighted how women and girls’ work is ‘invisible’ – their contributions to the economy

those who, by being given this small investment and opportunity early in their life, were able to break out of the poverty cycle.

In shaping the new strategic direction at an international level, Plan is focussing on how it can become more recognised for its rights-based development approach for children, empowering communities to have a stronger voice and having a greater impact on the lives of children and young people. In addition, there is a strong focus

Of note are the compelling stories of high profile men and women who were once Plan-sponsored children from mainland China. go uncounted and unrecognised. This ‘blindness’ is stopping girls from fulfilling their potential and contributing to the economies of their communities, their countries and the world.

Great results like this aren’t possible without great people – the strength of our organisation today must be credited to the leadership and vision provided by our Chief Executive Officer, Ian Wishart and the Senior Management Team.

The dedicated, committed and extremely loyal staff throughout the organisation must also be congratulated for the outstanding achievements made this past year.

Plan in Australia continued to support the Plan Hong Kong National Office which has seen significant results this past year, including: a strong governance structure with now a predominantly Hong Kong-based board of directors, growth of individual and corporate supporters and an increased profile. Of note are the compelling stories of high profile men and women who were once Plan-sponsored children from mainland China. These people talk about how indebted they are for the education, support and assistance Plan gave them for a better start in life. There is no greater testimonial to the work of Plan than the personal stories of

on growing our supporter base across the world with new fundraising opportunities.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow board directors for their valuable contribution to Plan over the past year. They have willingly and enthusiastically given their time to guide the organisation to the strong position it is in today. During this last year we welcomed new board director Brian Babington and with his expertise as a child and community advocate we will be positioned to strengthen our development programs and continue to make a significant impact to children in the developing world.

I’m appreciative of the continued support of our many sponsors, supporters and volunteers this past year – your ongoing commitment has enabled us to do more for children. Plan International Australia has become a stronger organisation as a result of that support over many years. By working together we are building a better world for all children.

Anne Skipper, AM Chair, Plan International Australia

Report from our CEO

On a recent trip to Timor-Leste I reflected on the current situation for young people in that country. Timor-Leste is experiencing a youth bulge, with more than 50% of the population aged under 25. Many of these young people do not get the chance to complete formal education, and even if they get a basic education there are very few jobs on offer. This enormous need is right on our doorstep, and it highlights how vital our work is around the world in finding ways to help children achieve their potential.

In Timor-Leste I met young people who Plan is assisting to create viable self employment opportunities. If they were given skills in business, these young people could potentially have a better future. Yet the challenges are great. It remains complex to scale up programs in Timor-Leste and the Plan Timor-Leste team rely heavily on their partnership with Plan in Australia. It reminds me again how important it is for us here to be able to offer not just financial assistance but also program guidance and support and why our current strategic focus has been on building our development capacity.

The 2010 financial year has been a pivotal period in the life of Plan International Australia.

both realising this strategic intent and having it recognised by others.

and AusAID revenue which we believe is the foundation for even further growth in 2011.

Our investment in a strong Programs team that can identify, plan and deliver many more innovative programs for children has certainly been recognised. As we moved into 2010, Plan International Australia was awarded the highest level NGO partnership status with AusAID. Consequently we saw a 93% increase in our AusAID grant income from $4.4 million to $8.5 million.

Apart from increased programming, our intention is also to show greater impact. To this end during 2010 we completed the installation of a program effectiveness unit which is now in the process of producing our first ever Effectiveness Report to be released in 2011. This report will publicly demonstrate the effectiveness of Plan in Australia’s programs on the lives of children, families and communities in the developing world.

As part of this partnership we have also been invited to participate in ongoing policy dialogue with AusAID and to develop a stronger community education and engagement program.

As a result we have seen a surge in our policy and research work. We have actively engaged with AusAID in relation to gender issues and the importance of adequate focus on the needs of girls. We have also brought attention to the needs of children in the early childhood phase when nutrition, healthcare and education are critical to realising their potential. We have commenced a consultation process with our supporters to design enhanced education and engagement opportunities and will see these roll out in 2011.

child sponsorship experienced a dramatic 20% increase rising to 49,678 sponsorships, our highest ever level.

In many ways it has been the culmination of ten years of strategic endeavour. Throughout the early 2000’s we concentrated on growing the organisation to reach a critical size. This was very much a renewal phase for Plan in Australia.

In the later part of the 2000’s we concentrated on transforming the organisation so that it had stronger practices and systems. This involved in particular scaling up our Programs team. We reported on this transformation in 2009 and how its aim was to strengthen us as an organisation so that we are able to deliver a broader program and stronger impact for children. In 2010 we are

In addition to this new work our traditional method of supporter involvement through child sponsorship experienced a dramatic 20% increase rising to 49,678 sponsorships, our highest ever level. Other forms of community giving also increased such that overall public revenue rose from $20.8 million to $25.0 million.

Total revenue for the organisation was a healthy $38.0 million against $39.3 million in 2009. The small negative variance in total revenue was due wholly to a reduced World Food Programme food aid contribution and should not mask the underlying strong performance from public

It was also pleasing to be recognised during the year as a top-performing customer service organisation in Australia in relation to the way we deal with our supporters. This is testimony to the hard work of our staff in going the extra mile in being helpful and professional in all their interactions.

Despite all the progress I am also conscious of where we still have work to do to perform better. We urgently need to upgrade our ageing customer database system in order to handle the volume of traffic and the new forms of digital communication. There is more we can and should do for children particularly in regard to policy change. We must also get better at urban work because 2010 marks the first time that more children have lived in cities than rural areas. All these challenges must be taken up in 2011.

In conclusion though, I would like to thank all those who have made this year such a stunning success. To the supporters who continue to choose Plan as their means of helping children.

To the staff and volunteers who tirelessly committed themselves to the cause. To the Board who helped navigate us through the GFC and ensured we emerged stronger on the other side.

We all know how much more needs to be done for child rights and can be pleased that Plan in Australia is so well positioned to fill this role.

Ian Wishart, CEO, Plan International Australia www.plan.org.au

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our year at a glance

2009–2010

After a period of

growth,

our national office moved to larger premises at Southbank

6

Compared to the previous year (2009) we received over

90% increase in funding from AusAID

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

We increased our capacity and focus on

disaster response,

with the recruitment of a DRM Manager and the development of a plan global DRM strategy

$22,642,138 was raised through Australian supporters sponsoring 49,677 children

We secured $15 million in grant funding for allocation to projects across six program themes in fourteen countries in Africa and Asia

We became involved in the shadow reporting for the Convention on the

Rights of the Child

we shared the third instalment in Plan International’s Because I am a Girl report series through

A formal launch

with the GovernorGeneral at Government House in Canberra

Our financial support from public and corporate donors increased by approximately

20%

The partnership between ChildFund, Save the Children and Plan was reignited to present

to AusAID

on child rights-based approaches to development

A girl pumps water from a well that was built with the support of Plan, Burkina Faso.

www.plan.org.au

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our gLobal network Plan in Australia is a part of Plan International – one of the world’s largest community development organisations. Plan’s work in over 48 developing countries is supported by national organisations in 18 donor countries like Australia.

Plan’s offices in developed countries are well-placed to carry the major responsibility for raising funds. They provide financial and technical resources to communities and serve as links between sponsors, donors and the children, families and communities Plan works with. Plan’s offices in developing countries are responsible for delivering development programs that benefit children.

Plan’s headquarters is in the UK. It has responsibility for guiding the overall efforts for children and overseeing the transfer of resources.

CANADA

UNITED STATES

Plan in Australia supports the global Plan network in three ways: 1) We contribute to globally funded projects in communities in developing countries through Child Sponsorship and exercise influence and control on the directions and delivery of these programs through inputs at the global strategy level.

HAITI GUATEMALA EL SALVADOR

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

HONDURAS NICARAGUA

G

COLOMBIA

2) We design and implement our own development projects when specific programs in Africa and Asia match our expertise, experience and funding capacity. We call them Priority Projects and they are designed to achieve program outcomes that we have identified as priorities for Australian funding support. We fund these projects through government grants, donations and from our Children First! members.

3) We contribute to disaster risk reduction, disaster management and emergency response through funding, staff deployment, technical assistance and awareness raising.

Being part of this global network allows Plan in Australia to share resources and knowledge about the best ways in which we can work together to enable children to reach their full potential.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

ECUADOR

PERU

BRAZIL

BOLIVIA PARAGUAY

Americas No. of children sponsored by Plan supporters worldwide

360,039

No. of children sponsored by Australian Plan supporters

West Africa

Eastern & Southern Africa

Asia

No. of children sponsored by Plan supporters worldwide

No. of children sponsored by Plan supporters worldwide

287,015

No. of children sponsored by Plan supporters worldwide

328,494

No. of children sponsored by Australian Plan supporters

13,909

No. of children sponsored by Australian Plan supporters

18,380

No. of children sponsored by Australian Plan supporters

8942

252,401

8447

Plan in Australia projects 0

Plan in Australia projects 1

Plan in Australia projects 11

Plan in Australia projects 7

No. of emergencies Plan responded to

No. of emergencies Plan responded to

No. of emergencies Plan responded to

No. of emergencies Plan responded to

6

6

NORWAY SWEDEN UNITED KINGDOM IRELAND

3

7

FINLAND

DENMARK NETHERLANDS BELGIUM GERMANY FRANCE SWITZERLAND

SPAIN SOUTH KOREA

JAPAN

CHINA

PAKISTAN

NEPAL

EGYPT INDIA NIGER

SENEGAL BURKINA FASO

GUINEA SIERRA LEONE LIBERIA

HONG KONG

LAOS

MALI

GUINEA-BISSAU

BANGLADESH

VIETNAM SUDAN

GHANA BENIN

CAMBODIA ETHIOPIA

PHILIPPINES

THAILAND SRI LANKA

TOGO CAMEROON

KENYA UGANDA RWANDA INDONESIA

TANZANIA

MALAWI ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

MOZAMBIQUE

National Offices

TIMOR-LESTE

Program Countries Program Countries with Priority Projects funded by Plan in Australia

AUSTRALIA

National Offices Australia Belgium Canada Denmark Finland France Germany Hong Kong Ireland Japan Korea Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom United States Program Countries Bangladesh Benin Bolivia Brazil Burkina Faso Cambodia Cameroon China Colombia Dominican Republic Timor Leste Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Ethiopia Ghana Guatemala Guinea Guinea Bissau Haiti Honduras India Indonesia Kenya Laos Liberia Malawi Mali Mozambique Nepal Nicaragua Niger Pakistan Paraguay Peru Philippines Rwanda Senegal Sierra Leone Southern Sudan Sri Lanka Sudan Tanzania Thailand Togo Uganda Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe

www.plan.org.au

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About us Our history Plan was founded in 1937 by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge.

Originally named ‘Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain’, the aim was to provide food, accommodation and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the Spanish Civil War. Langdon-Davies conceived the idea of a personal relationship between a child and a sponsor – a model that puts the child at the centre, and today remains the core of what we do.

Since that time, our approach to humanitarian assistance has evolved from wartime relief activities, to postwar support, to long-term community development and emergency assistance that helps children, their families and their communities in developing countries.

Plan has operated in Australia for decades, first setting up in 1971. Plan globally has been working with children, families and communities for over 70 years, and has established a long-standing reputation of being a highly ethical, effective and committed global development agency.

Our approach Plan is committed to quality programming through our Child-Centred Community Development (CCCD) approach. CCCD is a rights-based approach to development where communities are supported to develop the structures and skills they need to provide a safe and healthy environment in which children are able to reach their full potential.

Plan recognises that children’s wellbeing is fundamentally connected to the community, and that children’s lives will improve only when their family and community situation improves as well.

Children from Ha Giang province read a Plan publication to learn more about Plan’s work in Vietnam.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

We encourage communities, families, youth and children to be active participants in community development to ensure that their interests and needs are met.

CCCD enhances a community’s ability and opportunity to address both the immediate and structural causes of poverty. Immediate causes of poverty are usually addressed by improving basic needs, such as water or food. Structural causes of poverty are addressed by studying the root causes of poverty – especially the imbalances in power. Only by resolving both these issues will any future improvements be sustainable.

Our rights-based approach is primarily guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This articulates civil rights and freedoms, family environment, basic health and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities and special protection measures for children. It is based on four core principles: non-discrimination; actions taken in the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and

A child and her teacher at a Plan-supported Early Childhood Care and Development centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Children play an outdoor game with Plan staff at preschool in Pha Oudom District, Laos.

respect for the views of the child in accordance with age and maturity.

people are protected and that their immediate and long-term needs are met.

We help to promote and protect child rights by raising awareness among children, youth, families, communities, the government and others about the rights of every child, and by working to build their commitment and ability to uphold these rights.

In addition to disaster relief, Plan has an ongoing partnership with the UN World Food Programme to provide food relief to communities across the developing world.

By applying CCCD we can focus on long-term, sustainable, positive changes rather than just short-term interventions. This means we will not only have a great impact on today’s children but also the children of the future.

Our strategy Plan in Australia’s Corporate Strategy for FY2009–2011, titled It Matters to Children was developed by the Senior Management Team (SMT) in consultation with the Leadership Team and other staff. It is

strategically focused on four key directions: Impact: facilitate high quality child rights-based programs by working in close partnership with our implementation partners Influence: work with children, communities, media and other NGOs to influence key thought leaders and government on the issues that affect children Identity: enable our supporters to understand, engage and identify with our cause Income: increase income for our program work by adopting approaches that achieve cost efficient growth

What we do Long-term community development Our grassroots community development projects address specific problems and issues that contribute to ongoing poverty and affect children’s rights. Our work is designed to bring long-term, sustainable, positive change to communities.

Campaigning and advocacy Campaigning and advocacy at Plan is about collective action to improve the lives of children.

It’s about raising awareness and support for people who are often disregarded or who have difficulty having their opinions heard.

Disaster and humanitarian response When Plan responds to emergencies, we work with governments, agencies and local communities to ensure children and young Health worker Meaza Legesse performs a health check-up on a baby at the health station in Dogetoba, Ethiopia www.plan.org.au

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Boys enjoy splashing water on their school garden, Cambodia.

Girls learning computer skills at school, Ghana.

These strategic directions are supported by four critical internal enablers: Culture: build a stronger values-driven organisation culture that inform and supports our direction Learning: grow a learning organisation that builds knowledge and collaboration that informs our practice Accountability: achieve a new standard in accountability that encourages transparency, learning and dialogue with our stakeholders Systems: enhance systems and processes that enable new levels of service, learning and efficiency Over the year the Senior Management Team (SMT) held quarterly review sessions with the Leadership Team to examine our performance against the four strategic directions and review learnings and challenges. The SMT also reported against the strategy to the Board of Directors every two months and provided financial reports to the Board every month.

Reports for the year show that in this second-last year of the strategy, we are tracking strongly against the majority of indicators linked to our strategic directions. We have received strong support from public and government for our work and are developing traction for our 12

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

advocacy through increased media and brand awareness and dialogue with duty bearers such as AusAID.

and well supported in meeting their protection responsibilities.

Planning and development for the next strategy (FY2012–2016) has now begun. The strategy will be completed prior to the commencement of the 2012 financial year.

In addition, Plan has Child Protection Advisors and Officers appointed at national, regional and international levels – all of whom make up Plan’s Child Protection Advisory Committee that is part of international and cross-organisational alliances such as the Keeping Children Safe Coalition.

Our accountability

Our financial accountability

Plan seeks to honour its position of trust as a facilitator of this movement for children through a high level of accountability.

Plan in Australia operates on a public and

Our accountability to children Plan considers child abuse unacceptable in all circumstances and is committed to ensuring that all possible and necessary steps are taken to acknowledge the rights and protection of all children (a person under the age of 18 years) that we work with.

We recognise that by the nature of our work, we are at risk of being targeted by those wanting to exploit or harm children. Therefore we have put in place clear policies, procedures and guidelines to ensure children are respected, protected, empowered and active in their own protection; and staff are confident, competent

A family receives counselling services in their home as part of Plan’s Empowering Families project, Cambodia.

Girls learning in a temporary classroom set up after January’s earthquake in Jacmel, Haiti.

government funding platform. The majority of our funds are sourced from child sponsorship and public donations, as well as grants offered by the Australian Government’s overseas aid program, AusAID. We endeavour to achieve the maximum impact and efficiency of these funds, directing them to overseas projects while minimising our overhead costs.

For more details please see the section ‘Our Finances’ on page 60.

Our stakeholders

Feedback and complaints

We recognise that a large number of people have an interest in our work. We therefore seek to be accountable in multiple ways to our many stakeholders, including children, families and communities overseas, host governments, Plan International, corporate members, our Board, ACFID, ASIC, the ATO, our sponsors, donors and partners, and children in Australia.

More details can be found on our website: plan.org.au/whoweare/accountability.

Plan in Australia has formal processes for addressing feedback and complaints. The ‘Send us a Message’ page on our website provides a convenient way for supporters to provide any comments or lodge complaints. We also receive feedback by mail and directly through our call centre. In each case, feedback is directed to the relevant staff or department for consideration and resolution.

Performance reports are generated monthly and reviewed by management to determine the type of feedback/complaint and the way it was resolved. Trends are identified and actions taken accordingly to resolve issues.

Over the coming year we will be revising and updating our feedback/complaints procedures to provide enhanced customer service and issue resolution.

Children let off balloons at the launch of the ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign in Cartagena, Colombia. www.plan.org.au

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our work

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

We work to bring long-term, sustainable, positive change to communities through community development programs, advocacy and engagement, and emergency preparedness and response. Our activities are focused on four key strategic directions

IMPACT

facilitate high quality child rights-based programs by working in close partnership with our implementation partners

Å see pages 16–31

INFLUENCE

work with children, communities, media and other NGOs to influence key thought leaders and government on the issues that affect children

IDENTITY

enable our supporters to understand, engage and identify with our cause

Å

see pages 38–39

INCOME

increase income for our program work by adopting approaches that achieve cost efficient growth

Å see pages 40–43

Å see pages 32–37

Children eat lunch at a Plan-supported Early Childhood Care and Development centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

www.plan.org.au

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IMPACT

education The Challenge Many children and youth are not at school or in vocational training, and even if they are, they are not learning. Unsafe school environments, inappropriate curricula and bad teaching practices lead to poor quality education affecting many children and youth. This has an even greater impact on certain groups, particularly girls and those from minorities. Education is often underfinanced and school governance mechanisms are absent or unresponsive to the views of school children and parents.

The Goal: Children and youth will realise their right to quality education.

Our Approach Plan’s rights-based approach acknowledges that everyone has a right to an education that enables them to build a foundation for further study, employment and a dignified life.

Education also provides a pathway toward the realisation of other rights through the acquisition of knowledge and literacy.

appropriate curriculum for people in remote tribal communities of Occidental Mindoro. These communities have identified education as an important tool to become more competent farmers and traders and to help them to maintain their right to land which is being encroached by mining and logging companies.

This exciting work has included translating and illustrating 29 basic learning modules into 7 tribal languages to make them accessible to people who have never had any formal learning.

During the year 48 teachers were trained for the project and they will return to their own

tribal groups to assist with piloting the learning modules in 18 communities. Multi-age classes will promote learning through traditional activities such as dance, stories and even farming activities. This project is providing Mangyan teachers with a dignified career and providing communities with the knowledge they want to be more successful farmers and traders and to claim their rights to the land they inhabit.

Bangladesh: Community learning action project A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

Children from rural communities in Bangladesh often struggle at school, where classrooms are overcrowded and corporal punishment is commonplace. Through Plan’s Community Learning Action project, these children are improving their grades and helping to make their schools safe and inspiring places to learn.

The project supports rural communities to provide early childhood care and learning and formal education opportunities for their children.

Children and their teachers benefit from friendly classrooms where children succeed so Plan works with families, the wider community and local and national education authorities to improve learning environments for children.

We develop and demonstrate successful, childfriendly learning models that are low cost and can be adopted widely. This requires an approach that builds trust and good relationships with education providers.

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Philippines: Alternative learning systems A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

In the Philippines, Plan has been working with the Ministry of Education’s Alternative Learning Systems Department to develop 16

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Children enjoy a maths activity at a Plan Early Childhood Care and Development centre in Dhaka.

Transform the world so children can learn

Families are being linked to early childhood services, early learning spaces have been set up for young children and older children are receiving tuition at out-of-school sessions or learning camps.

In 2010 the project achieved almost full coverage of the Upazilla of Sreepur, enabling thousands of children in the region to attend learning camps that provide play and learning with trained tutors. More than 16,000 children participated directly in activities along with over 1000 tutors and teachers from government schools and the communities. Close to 2000 members of school and community committees contributed their time to ensure that the project was well supported.

The support these children receive in the learning camps enables them to do well in their mainstream classes. In fact, these children from the poorest families often come top of the class.

Almost 100 per cent of them stay in primary school and many go on to high school.

This project is complemented by Plan’s work with school authorities, school management committees and families, which has resulted in punishment-free schools, better teachers and more supportive families – all important factors that help children to learn. This successful learning model is being promoted to the national government to demonstrate that it is effective and can be scaled up to much bigger areas.

Lessons learnt Rights-based approaches require that we work with communities to ensure that their basic rights are met. This focus on rights has required a greater emphasis on education quality and the need to work with service providers such as governments to ensure that the education children receive is appropriate, child friendly and enriching. Working with government partners can be challenging, especially in education settings that are highly bureaucratic and centralised. The work needs to be mutually rewarding. For example, Plan’s work in the Philippines is a collaboration with the Ministry

of Education, whereby Plan is developing curriculum content with communities that have been too remote to access government services. This content is culturally appropriate and meaningful and will meet the requirements for equivalency in the Philippines education system. The Mangyan teachers being trained

for the project will eventually be registered with the Education Ministry and receive a salary from them. In this way the government will gradually take over responsibility for the activities that are being established by Plan and the communities will benefit.

Hope for a better future A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

Plan is training Mangyan teachers so that they can teach Mangyan children in tribal communities.

Rosita Montajes is a Mangyan teacher in the Phillipines and the president of the Alternative Learning System for Indigenous Peoples Teachers’ Association.

Growing up in Mindoro Island as a member of the Buhid Tribe, Rosita supported herself while completing a bachelor’s degree in education. Understanding the difficulties that indigenous communities face when they are not able to study in their first language, Rosita was determined to finish her studies and become a teacher. However, after completing her studies she found it difficult to find permanent employment, so she worked as a mobile teacher – a poorly paid position that made it difficult for her to support her family.

When she heard that Plan was looking for Mangyans who had studied education to participate in the education project for Mangyans she knew she wanted to be a part of the project. She is now involved in the development of learning modules for Mangyans – a program that aims to involve Mangyan-speaking members of the community in the translation of content, so that learning modules are appropriate and easy to understand for students.

In addition to helping with the translation of the modules to the Mangyan language, Rosita will also be part of the team that will pilot the learning modules in the Mangyan communities. She will be assigned to a Mangyan village that is a community of the Buhid tribe.

Members of indigenous communities having the opportunity to learn in their native language is very important and something Rosita is passionate about. She sees a clear future for members of Mangyan communities, where the dream of educating all Mangyans is achieved.

“This will be a legacy that we will leave behind,” she says. “We are lucky that Plan is supporting this.”

www.plan.org.au

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IMPACT

Health & Early Development outside the groups to support the ECCD centres and are linked with other services so that parents can access additional support.

The Challenge The first eight years of life are the most critical in children’s development and determine the cognitive, physical, social and emotional potential of children. Future child wellbeing and productive participation in life finds its foundations in these early years. Insufficient child health, nutrition provision and poor stimulation can have severe consequences. But even child survival is not guaranteed: millions of children under the age of five die each year and maternal mortality continues to be high. Public health facilities and services available to the poor are under-resourced, of poor quality, inadequate or non-existent.

The Goal: Children and youth will realise their right to a healthy life.

Our Approach Plan supports a range of efforts that reduce child and maternal mortality, increase child survival, and support the holistic healthy development of children to adulthood. We promote and support protective and nurturing environments for young children through integrated Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), improving access to quality primary health care and social and educational services for children and youth.

Plan in Australia’s ECCD projects prepare children for school and for life by supporting culturally relevant and age-appropriate early childhood activities in centres or in homes, facilitating

Children learning at an Early Childhood Care and Development centre in Uganda.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

programs for parents so that they can gain skills to effectively support their child’s development, training caregivers and supporting transition to primary school activities. We also work with different levels of government to build support for ECCD in policy, legislation and budgetary terms and seek to influence ECCD provision through demonstrating models of low-cost, community managed early learning programs.

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Uganda: Community Led Action for Children A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

The goal of this project is to ensure that all children aged birth to 8 years in targeted communities develop and learn to their full potential through effective ECCD supports that include 1) effective parenting; 2) quality early learning programs; and 3) smooth transition to primary school for children aged 6–8 years.

In the past year, eight ECCD centres have been established and there has been an emphasis on local materials development, training of caregivers and parenting group activities.

Parenting groups have participated in sessions on child health, the prevention and management of childhood illness, food preparation and handling so as to improve nutrition, and production of low-cost play and learning materials. The parenting groups have also been instrumental in mobilising families within and

A challenge for the project has been the tendency for caregivers to fall back on traditional didactic teaching methods with chalk and a blackboard rather than using child-centred and play-based approaches to learning. To address this, additional training will be made available and work will be done on supporting the production of instructional aides and toolkits which will help caregivers bring the content of the ECCD curriculum to life.

One important activity for the next year is a mapping exercise of pilot communities to identify all children with special needs and other vulnerable children who may miss out on ECCD. This information will be used to plan for support of these children and to monitor their enrolment and participation in the ECCD program.

It is also important to note that in Uganda, the development of a model for community managed ECCD is a common approach implemented across both sponsorship and grant-funded programs in every Plan Uganda program unit.

China: Ensuring rural children have the right opportunities A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

This project aims to ensure that children in rural China are raised in a nurturing and stimulating environment, and that they are healthy and prepared for school. The key activity supported

by Plan in Australia this year was a full project evaluation which was undertaken by academics at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, with assistance from a locally based Chinese consultant. The evaluation explored how the project outcomes were experienced by children, families, teachers and government officials and examined the extent to which project activities had influenced the provision of ECCD at township and village level.

The evaluation found that training and community engagement activities were successful in improving the quality of care

Transform the world so children can fully develop

provided by parents and grandparents in the home, and reduced pressure on teachers to introduce children to Chinese character writing at a very young age. The project was also highly effective in promoting early childhood care and development to the Shaanxi Ministry of Education, and knowledge of the project has even filtered upwards to the National Bureau of Education. Areas for improvement include training quality, because although training was a strength of the project in terms of improved outcomes around knowledge and understanding of the importance of ECCD, there was still a limited understanding overall about the importance of play-based programs for children, how to set up free and guided play in the kindergarten environment, and how to link these to important learning outcomes for children.

Other activities this year included mentoring of rural kindergarten teachers by their urban counterparts, including on-the-spot training and demonstration classes and distribution in communities of information materials on parenting and ECCD. In the coming year, emphasis will be on materials development, including improved training programs, the development of sets of training cards for parents and caregivers that have information about how everyday child rearing practices promote important learning and production of a DVD that shows a range of free play and guided play programs in action and how they promote child development.

Lessons learnt Across the Plan in Australia ECCD project portfolio, we are attempting to develop a low cost, community managed model of ECCD while allowing for cultural, social and geographical differences in country programs. The challenge is to address and change the way ECCD is done in many settings, where there has been an emphasis on school construction and instructional teaching of young children in a environment akin to school rather than through early learning programs that are characterised by active, engaging, experiential, cognitive and democratic

experiences that provide a strong basis for later school and life success. The lessons from our projects is that to build a successful model for ECCD, we must engage people across sectors including health, livelihoods and child protection, we must include government stakeholders to

ensure their support for a new approach, and we must build early childhood leadership in communities and a sustainable skills base among parents and caregivers so they can support and manage child health, learning and protection activities in the community.

Development in the early years can make a big difference

A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia Masani and her Grade 1 teacher.

When Masani started attending her local ECCD centre, she was shy, quiet and clung to her mother. For the first month, she cried every day, was withdrawn and did not actively participate in games with other children.

Masani did not respond when called by name and rarely used any words to express herself. The centre’s caregiver, Nakalungi, recalls that in those initial stages, dealing with Masani was difficult.

But as time went by, Nakalungi noticed small changes in Masani. She liked to play with blocks, she started shaking her head to a favourite tune the other children sang and she started to make sounds and mumbles. After several months of encouragement and support from Nakalungi, Masani began to speak in complete sentences, learned how to read simple words, made friends with other children and increasingly participated in the daily routine of the centre.

Activities around maths and literacy, indoor and outdoor play, the encouragement of children’s imagination, socialising with other children, songs, stories and games all helped Masani to develop socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically and meant she was much better prepared for school.

The value of Masani’s participation in ECCD is recognised by her Grade 1 teacher, Ms Namirimu who said, “Masani, like all other children who go through ECCD centres are different from those who do not. They know how to read and write, they can count, and they associate well with their peers.” That Masani was able to enrol in Grade 1 and is doing well is testament to the good start she got through participation in play-based early learning activities at an ECCD centre in her community, and to the encouragement and support she received from caregivers trained to understand child development. Masani’s mother is amazed at the change in her daughter, and attributes Masani’s success to her participation in ECCD activities from an early age.

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IMPACT

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene borne diseases, hand washing with soap, waste disposal and water treatment.

The Challenge Access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation are vital for the survival and development of children and youth, as well as for the economic wellbeing of their families and communities.

In spite of decades of effort, nearly a billion people still lack access to potable water, and 2.6 billion lack access to sanitation. Safe, reliable and affordable potable water supplies and improved environmental sanitation services are vital for healthy development of children.

Without them, millions of children are at risk of disease and death. When access to water is difficult or schools are without toilets, many children (especially girls) face increased burdens on their time and risks to their safety and education.

The Goal: Children and youth will realise their right to safe, reliable and affordable drinking water supplies, hygienic sanitation, and to live in a clean environment.

Our Approach In 2010 Plan continued to push for a rightsbased approach to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programming. This meant moving away from a subsidy approach in sanitation programming, generating local demand for WASH and the adoption of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), along with greater engagement and lobbying of duty bearers and the nurturing of community leadership and capacity to manage WASH facilities. Plan has also supported significant hygiene behaviour change communication campaigns which seek to provide individuals with the opportunity, ability and motivation to change. Each of Plan in Australia’s grant-funded WASH programs are at a different stage in their journey towards using a rights-based approach, but 2010 has certainly seen considerable progress in terms of reducing subsidies, engaging duty bearers and empowering communities to maintain and repair their WASH facilities to ensure long-term sustainability.

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Vietnam: Sanitation, Water and Hygiene Improvement Project (SWHIP) A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

The Vietnam SHWIP project has reached all of its targets with 12,128 households investing in WASH improvements, including 10,779 households building latrines and hygieneenabling facilities. In this year alone, there were more than 4600 improvements including 2747 toilets. The year also saw the construction of 21 preschool WASH facilities coupled with hygiene education in schools which focused on water-

Girls wash their hands in clean water, Vietnam.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

As the Vietnam SHWIP project approaches its end after four and a half years, activities have also been focused on sustaining project achievements beyond the project life. There have been substantive efforts to strengthen partner capacity through workshops, training and participation in all levels of the project. As a result, the project has seen partners take on greater leadership roles and greater ownership for project outcomes.

A comparative analysis of gender and behaviour change was also undertaken to compare against the baseline assessment (2007) of women’s involvement in household and community decision making, women’s burden in water and sanitation management, and household investment in water and sanitation. The study found that a number of highly significant changes have occurred between the period of 2007 to 2010. Of note, considerable success has been achieved with a substantive number of women participating in household training on the technical models of WASH facilities.

Other successes include increased women’s involvement in household decision making, a reduction in the number of households where women are solely responsible for the collection of water (from 74% of households to 12%), a

Transform the world so children are healthy

reduction in the time women spend collecting water in the dry season (from 45 minutes to 4 minutes), and more men and girls assisting in household waste management.

Tanzania: Kisarawe Water, Sanitation & Hygiene – Phase 2 A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

A significant amount of time in 2010 was dedicated to planning, consultation, community identification, training and baseline data collection, in preparation for scale-up and intensive construction next year. As part of this planning process Plan Tanzania signed Memorandums of Understanding, which outline the roles and responsibilities of all major stakeholders, with the District Government, the Kisarawe Town Council, all 12 project schools, and all 9 project villages where water supply infrastructure is being developed.

This year project staff and district government health teams triggered CLTS in 15 project villages. Triggering events resulted in the identification of natural leaders who are now implementing village action plans to eliminate open defecation. Two villages are awaiting ‘Open Defecation Free’ certification. Plan Tanzania and district health government staff also delivered child-to-child health and hygiene training to 600 students in all 12 project schools.

Trained students formed health clubs and they now continue to actively promote improved hygiene behaviour among their peers and family members at home. Follow-up surveys in project schools and communities indicate an increase in improved hygiene behaviour among peers and family members as a result of student activities.

Lessons learnt Achieving a rights-based approach to WASH has required an attitudinal change at all levels of program work, from staff and government partners to local communities. The previous practice of subsidising the cost of latrines has embedded community expectations that Plan will pay for a particular latrine of their liking.

Changing community and government attitudes to accept a zero-subsidy approach, and a program logic which requires communities to take control of their sanitation and hygiene environment so that they collectively seek to

become open-defecation free represents a change that sometimes takes time for people to accept, but once accepted, this approach can unleash real ownership and sustainable solutions to local problems.

Youth lead the way for better WASH practices A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

Children learn about the importance of hand washing.

In the small rural village of Leubraudo in Aileu District, a group of youth joined together to motivate their community to change their defecation practices – to become Open Defecation Free (ODF) and stay that way. The ‘Group of Change’ was formed in response to a Plan-supported CLTS triggering exercise in their village. Initially nine households came forward and committed to building their own toilets by the end of the month. The group used a community map to monitor progress and provide further motivation.

Joana de Araujo from the group recalls: “Every month we walked to each household to update their status. For the households that had completed toilets we marked this up on the map. If the household had not yet built a toilet we marked this also. The map was displayed to show all community members and children the progress of each household. This monitoring process gave great motivation to the community”.

The group met with households that were slow to build toilets to discuss what the issues were.

As Filipe Borges from the group describes, “three of the households in the community are headed by older widows. These households did not have the resources or strength to build their own toilet, so we got together to support them to build their own toilet”. Grazilda Pintu also said that “for stubborn householders we reminded them that open defecation was affecting the whole community and that we wanted to hold a big ODF celebration where the government and surrounding communities would come visit us”.

The project worked. According to the groups monitoring data, all the households in the community had built a toilet and were using it by the end of March 2010. An ODF celebration was then held on the 15 April and was attended by local leaders, national government representatives and neighbouring community members. The celebration included a drama and song performance by the community children, speeches, singing and a big lunch. The day finished with a community youth-organised disco. Hermen Gildo, the group leader proudly stated: “We used to defecate outside, because we didn’t have toilets. It caused our community to be affected by diseases but now, since we have toilets, the disease is reduced”.

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IMPACT

economic security resources; better access to infrastructure and service provision; and improved access to savings and credit and other financial resources.

The Challenge Poor households that lack sufficient resources to meet basic needs such as food, water, shelter or education put children at risk. When already vulnerable households experience ‘shocks’ – sudden price fluctuations, natural disasters, illness, or death – it causes further setbacks and exacerbates risks for children. Struggling for economic security, households and individuals may be forced to deploy strategies that have negative implications for children, like involvement in hazardous work. With limited opportunities available to the one billion youth entering adulthood, special emphasis is necessary to support the transition from school into productive livelihoods.

The Goal: Children and youth will realise their right to an adequate standard of living.

Our Approach Plan is working towards economic security programming that is based on a people-centred analysis approach and based on the assumption

that people require a range of assets to achieve positive economic outcomes. Our project strategies typically include: improving access of households to appropriate information, training and technologies to make choices and utilise existing assets effectively; facilitating a more supportive and inclusive social environment, including assistance from groups and community structures as well as external links; more secure access to and better management of natural

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Zambia: Improving Household Food Security A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

In 2010 Plan partnered with community groups and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Chadiza district to implement the Improving Household Food Security pilot project. Project staff and partners delivered training in off-season vegetable gardening to 150 of the most food insecure households, as well as providing basic working tools and seed. Households received trainings and inputs between May and July 2010. In August over half of the households reported improvements at household level in terms of increased food availability and variety, increased household income, improved gardening knowledge and skills, and decreased workload because of access to more efficient working tools. Furthermore, 77% were able to identify and describe specific strategies they had either put in place or planned to put in place to continue to use the training and inputs they had received.

Timor-Leste: Youth Livelihoods and Women’s Vocational Education A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

Children in this family were eating only two meals per day. They are now one of 150 households enjoying increased food security through the project.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

In Timor-Leste, young people in rural areas have limited access to education or vocational training and employment opportunities are also extremely limited. To help combat this problem, Plan developed the Youth Livelihoods project to ensure that young people have access to adequate income and have the opportunity to participate productively in their communities, through the generation of training, employment and self-employment opportunities. In this last year, we provided ongoing support and

Transform the world so children grow up with a basic standard of living

mentoring to ten youth groups in Lautem district, who have established small businesses or taken employment utilising skills gained through the project. We also facilitated the establishment of another 15 groups in each of two districts, Lautem and Aileu. With support, these groups each developed a business plan, participated in vocational training and received a grant to establish their enterprises. The groups’ chosen activities include carpentry, plumbing, furniture production, operating a small restaurant, raising livestock and vegetable production.

Due to the predominance of traditionally male activities, fewer young women than men participated in the training, so we developed the Women’s Vocational Education project to provide training and development opportunities specifically for young women. Through consultation with local leaders, women’s organisations and youth councils, 164 young women in Aileu district and 80 women in Lautem district were selected for training. A number of training providers were identified to ensure that training is appropriate for the skill level and interest of participants. Once completed, participants may either group together to start a new business or take up employment opportunities in their chosen field.

Such factors include the delivery of tangible benefits for participants and the support of local government. Importantly, we learned that target populations must be engaged to ensure active participation throughout the project cycle. We also learned that it is important to

start by analysing people’s livelihoods and how they change over time. These lessons will assist us as we strengthen our future programming to ensure sustainable outcomes in economic security projects.

Income boost for struggling Tanzanians A globally-funded Plan project supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship Thanks to Plan’s savings and loan program in Tanzania, women are able to increase their earnings and improve their household income.

Families living in poverty in Tanzania have increased their income up to ten times thanks to a Plan project which has given them much needed access to financial services.

Catherine had been tying, dyeing and making batiks for years. She knew all the methods, the best types of inks and dyes, the best materials and the most popular patterns.

However, Catherine only earned enough to feed her children one meal a day. No matter how hard she worked, she could not save or borrow enough to expand her business.

This was three years ago.

Lessons learnt

Food on the table

Our approach to economic security programming recognises multiple actors (the private sector, ministries, community-based organisations and international bodies) and builds on people’s perceived strengths and opportunities rather than focusing on their problems and needs. It supports and enhances existing economic security strategies and coping mechanisms of the poor, and acknowledges that people adopt multiple strategies to secure their economic security. Evaluations of our projects undertaken during the year contributed to our knowledge and confirmed that many factors are critical to ensure the sustainability of activities and results in economic security projects, particularly when dealing with food production and families’ main source of income.

Reaching out

Catherine joined a savings and loan program supported by Plan Tanzania and implemented by the Youth Self Employment Foundation, a local microfinance institution, which provided her with pre-loan, technical and business training. She also took out loans to purchase more materials in order to increase her business output and learned to save and repay her loans as quickly as possible. Today, Catherine’s weekly revenue has multiplied by ten. She can now afford to feed her family at least two meals a day and even start a new business selling secondhand clothing. Catherine told us that, at the age of 55, she now feels economically independent and capable of supporting her extended family.

Tanzania is one of many countries where access to credit, savings and loan services – especially for people living in poverty – is extremely limited. Plan’s savings and loan program in Tanzania has so far successfully reached out to over 2500 clients (of which 67% are women), providing them with new technical skills and enhancing their entrepreneurial skills and business acumen in order to help them improve their household income and security. Loans given to program participants have helped to improve household income from an average of 6000 TZS (US$4.50) per week to more than 20,000 TZS (US$15) per week.

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Protection the campaign’s numerous achievements and innovations, including 40 million registrations achieved in just five years.

The Challenge Physical, psychological and emotional violence and harm against children and youth is a fundamental breach of human rights. Children and youth can suffer different forms of physical and mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment and exploitation, including abuse in the home, at school, in the community, during migration and in emergencies. Gender-based violence is a particular challenge, like female genital cutting, forced marriage, as well as trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Violence and harm are complex and deep-rooted problems which stem from poverty, inequality and discrimination.

Comprehensive strategies with a wide range of actors, including children themselves, are needed to tackle them.

The Goal: Children and youth will realise their right to protection from all forms of violence and harm.

Our Approach To pursue this goal, Plan supports prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration efforts to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment and exploitation, in all settings. We encourage and actively enhance the resilience and participation of children and youth in their own protection. We build child protection into all our programs and advocate for child protection throughout statutory and customary law, including building or strengthening national child protection systems.

We lead by example and ensure Plan staff and partners understand the need for prevention against violence, the importance of child protection and have rigorous child protection procedures in place.

Plan is running global campaigns to tackle two issues that are vital for the protection and development of children: lack of birth registration and violence in schools.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Multi-country: Universal Birth Registration campaign A globally-funded Plan campaign supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

Every year millions of children are born without being registered. A birth certificate may be necessary in a range of situations, including accessing medical treatment, enrolling at school and getting a job. A baby who is not registered may face a lifetime of denied opportunities.

Our ‘Universal Birth Registration’ campaign aims to increase birth registration around the world. This year its activity focused on hosting an international conference with two aims: to highlight the challenges faced by children without birth certificates, and to develop practical partnerships and dialogue between development actors.

The conference, held in London in November 2009, was a success, attended by UN agencies, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), policy-makers, researchers, donors and government representatives from embassies around the world. Panelists included key figures at UNICEF, Harvard University, international child protection NGO ECPAT and international police agency INTERPOL. Supporting the event, Plan’s report Count Every Child documented

A key outcome of the conference was that several international NGOs and UNHCR approached Plan, seeking to work with us on a range of related issues. Another benefit has been the growing recognition of our expertise on birth registration. We have been invited to participate in many events promoting birth registration, including a World Bank regional forum on improving vital statistics in Thailand and an Africa-wide ministerial conference in Ethiopia, calling on governments to improve civil registration.

In the longer term, we will be seeking to capitalise on the momentum around the issue and identifying the work still to be done to ensure that all children have a name and legal identity.

Multi-country: Learn Without Fear campaign A globally-funded Plan campaign supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

Cruel and humiliating forms of physical punishment, gender-based violence and bullying are a reality for millions of children every day.

Each year, 150 million girls and 73 million boys around the world are subjected to sexual violence and up to 65 per cent of school children say they are verbally or physically bullied.

In response, Plan initiated ‘Learn Without Fear’ in 2008. This global campaign is now well underway, already running in 44 developing countries. Its aim – to eliminate violence in schools – is looking more and more achievable, thanks to the excellent progress made by our program work with children and other stakeholders.

By the end of its first year, the campaign had made extremely positive progress: • Plan campaigners helped to improve laws in many countries. As a result, more than 390 million children are now better protected from violence.

Transform the world so children know their rights

• The governments of 30 countries invited Plan to work with them to stop school violence.

• In total, more than 597,000 children have been involved in ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaign initiatives and have helped design our interventions, making the program truly child-centred.

• We have trained more than 19,000 teachers in ‘positive discipline’.

• We are collaborating with teachers’ unions in 19 countries to stop violence in schools.

‘Learn Without Fear’ continues to contribute to the global evidence on violence in schools, through a variety of innovative research projects: • We commissioned a global report looking at the economic impact of violence in schools, to assess the financial burden on the family, the community and the nation.

• We worked with Child Helpline International (CHI) to run a pilot study, gathering data from the national helplines of four countries to identify the scale and severity of violence in schools. The results will be used to inform global advocacy work by Plan and CHI. • National opinion-polling research revealed that 94% of Peruvians and 71% of Kenyans believe their governments should outlaw school violence. This gives us a mandate to work with these governments to improve child protection laws.

Lessons learnt Plan’s engagement with primary duty bearers and our policy-focused work is generating tangible development results. The ‘Universal Birth Registration’ and ‘Learn Without Fear’ campaigns have helped to demonstrate our capability as an advocacy actor to a global audience. They also illustrate the role that such campaigns can have at the country program level: helping raise an issue and generating clear articulation of intentions and objectives and (potentially) a clearer framework for results.

Moving forward, a key priority is to balance our holistic understanding of child protection and integrated programmatic responses with a specialist approach to particular issues that

require specific technical expertise and capacity, including seeking out partnerships with specialist agencies rather than attempting to cover the full breadth of issues independently.

Children’s radio group helps to reduce cases of female genital cutting A globally-funded Plan campaign supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

A children’s group in Ethiopia meet to listen and discuss radio show topics.

Changing attitudes to female genital cutting is one of the achievements of a Plan-supported radio listeners group in Shebedino, Ethiopia.

The group of 21 school children came together in June 2009 after Plan and a local partner started supporting community radio broadcasts in Sidama, their local language, and provided them with a radio. Each week the group gets together to listen to the show, discuss the child protection issues raised and see if they can bring about change in their villages. They also help to set the show’s agenda by communicating with the program’s producers to raise issues and ask questions.

The program on female genital cutting struck a chord with the children. “Our community believes that an uncircumcised girl loses her ability to behave in a calm way and that it’s also difficult for her to get a husband. Occasionally girls visit a village circumciser secretly even without the consent of their parents to reduce peer group isolation,” said group member Martha.

After discussing the topic, the children decided to explain the health and emotional impacts of female genital cutting to five members of their community. “One day I learnt that two girls from my neighbourhood planned to visit a village circumciser. I approached them and convinced them not to do it. They took my advice and dropped their plan,” said Fana, a seventh grade group member.

The children are already being recognised for their efforts. One mother said: “Before she taught me about this issue, I got my two daughters circumcised, but now I regret this and will never circumcise my remaining daughters. Now I am changed, thanks to my daughter.”

Through participating in their community, these children are helping to protect their peers and change community attitudes towards child protection issues, helping to protect future generations of children as well.

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IMPACT

Emergency Preparedness & Response The Challenge The number of people affected by disasters is increasing. In the last two years alone, approximately, 366,974,000 people have been affected across 1196 disaster settings in Asia, Africa, Europe, Oceania, and the Americas1. Climate Change and increases in conflict and tensions as a result of such issues as resource scarcity and urbanisation continue to increase the hazard levels and vulnerability of populations. Government services also often constrained, unable to meet the needs and rights of affected populations. It is in these settings that children and young people are among the most vulnerable.

The Goal: Children and youth will grow up safely in resilient communities and realise their rights in emergency situations.

Our Approach Plan’s work in emergency preparedness and response is informed by an understanding of needs and perspectives of children and young people, and analysis of the political, environmental and social context. Our programs have a long-term perspective, as well as meeting immediate lifesaving needs. This includes our work during disaster preparedness as well as post-disaster recovery with child-centered community development approaches reinforcing the participation in, access to and durability of preparedness and recovery programming. In turn these programs reinforce the sustained realisation of rights for children and young people within their communities.

Plan’s ongoing strategy for emergency response is focused on three key areas: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Education in Emergencies and Recovery and Child Protection in Emergencies.

We also look to provide food aid when, for example, children are at risk of starvation or suffering chronic malnutrition. Plan also looks to work across various forms of partnerships including with local NGOs, government agencies, other international NGOs, the United Nations and other networks.

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Highlights of our activities in 2010 South-East Asia/Oceania disasters In late September/early October of 2009 eight countries were affected by large-scale natural disasters including a typhoon, a tsunami and earthquakes. Five of these countries were Plan program countries and Plan was able to mobilise response teams in four of the hardest hit South-East Asian nations: Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Across all the disaster settings Plan provided immediate lifesaving needs including shelter, food and water as well as child protection and education in emergencies programming.

Plan in Australia assisted directly by the deployment of our Disaster Manager to Plan Indonesia during the first few weeks of this response to assist with overall management to the Padang Earthquake. With a noted strength in Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE), we were also formally requested to assist firstly Save the Children and then UNICEF during the response in Western Samoa. Our CPiE specialist was seconded to both organisations to assist with assessment and program design of the Western Samoa Child Protection in Emergencies program – Plan in Australian’s first such secondment to another agency and our first response in the South Pacific.

Haiti Earthquake response On January 12, a 35-second earthquake killed over 200,000 people and displaced over 1.5

million, causing massive damage to already weak infrastructure in the country. As an agency that has been present in Haiti for more than 37 years, Plan was well placed to immediately respond to this disaster across a number of sectors including: Shelter, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Non-Food Items, Health, and Education including Early Childhood Care and Development.

Plan in Australia was able to play an important role in this response, through the secondment of our Program Effectiveness Manager to assist with the development of the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the response program.

We were also able to secure substantial humanitarian funding from AusAID, specifically to undertake a Child Protection in Emergencies program across three key settings of Jacmel and Croix-des-Bouquet. This program has since been expanded to incorporate Port-au-Prince.

Approximately 200 boys and girls are accessing each of the 24 Child Friendly Spaces each day they are open, allowing these children access to child protection education, including health and hygiene promotion. Our Child Protection in Emergencies efforts have also include assisting separated, unaccompanied and orphaned children by supporting the re-unity process of children with their families in cooperation with local partners including the Haitian Government.

Food Aid Plan continues to provide food aid assistance to vulnerable families in Zimbabwe through our Vulnerable Group Feeding program, supported by the World Food Programme. On average, the program in Chiredzi has been providing monthly food distribution to 45,482 beneficiaries through 22 food distribution points. This figure amounts to an achievement rate of 99.95 per cent of the targeted number of beneficiaries.

Plan in Australia has also begun exploring additional partnerships with the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization in food-insecure areas of Southern Sudan and Ethiopia, with a view to formalising programming in the next financial year.

Transform the world so children are safe

Lessons learnt Support for in-country operations through key human resource positions Throughout the year, it has become evident that humanitarian programming is best provided through the provision of direct in-country technical assistance.

Plan in Australia has been directly supporting the development of World Food Programme associated programs development in Ethiopia, through the placement of a Disaster Manager position, in order to strengthen the capacity of the Ethiopian Country Office. This position also fills the dual role of developing and maintaining disaster risk reduction activities in-country.

Additionally, we have supported the placement of a Logistics Specialist in Indonesia, primarily to further develop the humanitarian logistics capacity of the Indonesian Disaster Risk Management team. The work already undertaken by the specialist over the few short months of employment has already been noted

by Plan International Headquarters as one of significantly high standard that other country offices can look to replicate.

Support for in-country training Our staff are the most important resource that we have at our disposal during all phases of emergency preparedness and response. In acknowledgement of this, Plan in Australia has moved to provide generic humanitarian training both for in-country staff in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia as well Australian-based staff. We have also facilitated training for key staff in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam in Climate Change and Environmental Degradation Risk and Adaptation Assessment. Our investment in training is aimed at ensuring that not only our staff understand the current trends in disaster risk management, but that they also feel confident to operate in preparedness, response and recovery settings.

Theatre therapy helps young Haitians

A young Haitian boy taking part in a theatre training workshop.

He came out wearing enormous pink glasses and funny shorts, intensely trying to read a brochure held inches from his face. The crowd burst into laughter.

Sixteen-year-old Jordon is performing one of many skits at the closing ceremony of the theatre workshop that he has been participating in as part of Plan’s psychosocial program following the earthquake in January.

Managing stress

In partnership with the Center for Psychosocial Education and Training (CEFEPS), nearly 500 young people between the ages of 14 and 17 from Jacmel and Croix-des-Bouquets have participated in theatre training workshops as a form of stress management therapy.

“Reconstruction is about so much more than physical reconstruction. It is not just about rebuilding houses and schools; it is also about rebuilding people psychologically, socially, and emotionally,” explains Julie Grier, Plan’s Senior Psychosocial Manager in Haiti.

The workshops help identify emotional reactions to difficult situations and facilitate learning to express them appropriately. The activities also foster a sense of community among the children by encouraging them to share sensitive experiences and feelings with each other, thereby helping them realise that they are not alone.

Breaking chains of violence

Not only does it help children through the healing process, theatre also serves as a unique vehicle through which to share important messages on child rights, rights of people with special needs, environmental protection and so on.

One of the groups of young actors dealt with a very serious issue that plagues many of their communities: violence against children and women. In a sombre skit, the youth used the metaphor of slavery chains (something that most Haitians easily identify with) to demonstrate what domestic violence does to a community.

Travelling troupes

Plan and CEFEPS will continue working with these young people with the goal to form theatre troupes in areas where Plan works, with a focus on earthquake affected areas. The volunteer troupes will travel throughout these areas, performing message-oriented skits and plays to key audiences.

1 http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/pubs/disasters/ wdr2010/WDR2010-full.pdf

www.plan.org.au

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IMPACT

participation The Challenge Children and youth’s participation in decisions that affect their lives is limited or non-existent, due in part to the lack of adult understanding of the added value of children and young people’s views. Children and youth have restricted access to information and opportunities to participate, even more so in the case of girls and young women. As a result, their capacities, skills and confidence are not nurtured in the home, in their communities or at school, which leads to many of them feeling alienated from decision makers. Issues affecting children and youth remain poorly reflected in local development planning and government service delivery.

and fulfill their responsibilities towards those with less power. At the same time, children and women need to know their rights and be able to claim and access their rights.

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Bangladesh and Australia: Global Connections A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

The Goal: Children and youth realise their rights to participate as citizens Our Approach Despite constituting a major potential force of economic and social power, children’s voices in many parts of the world continue to go unheard.

Cultural or religious norms, power dynamics, weak legislative and accountability frameworks, and gender norms means that their participation – in families, communities, political forums and governance mechanisms – is often curtailed. In many societies, socio-cultural perceptions persist that children have little of value to contribute.

Promoting participation in decisions, focusing on strengthening equality and inclusion, and

reducing discrimination are all key parts of a process that leads to changes in people’s lives – in policy and practice, in access to services and redress, and in participation and empowerment.

As such, promotion of participation underpins all Plan’s work on children’s rights. Participation underlies sustainability, ownership, understanding and long-term planning of projects and programs.

It is a pre-requisite for maximising social and economic development and for improving civil society and governance.

Plan promotes a rights-based approach to development using a wide range of methods and works with multiple groups and stakeholders to achieve sustainable changes for people and their rights. Governments and other duty bearers are responsible for ensuring that the rights and participation of all people are equally respected and protected, and Plan works to ensure that people and institutions in power are accountable

When young people in developing countries communicate with young people in developed countries like Australia, they can inspire each other to act as global citizens. Plan’s Global Connections project is giving young people the opportunity to work together to make the world a better place.

Plan’s approach to global learning is not to just teach young people about global issues, but to connect them with other young people who are actually experiencing those very things.

As a result, it is intended that young people will undergo a more transformative learning experience than if they were passive recipients of information. Through this youth-led learning approach, young people gain an understanding of the issues faced by young people in another country, inspiring them to develop joint solutions to create positive change within their communities.

The project links secondary school students in Australia with young people living in poverty in Bangladesh so that they can share their interests and experiences of implementing change in their communities. Two Bangladeshi youth groups (from the capital Dhaka, and Dinajpur in the north) are currently connecting with two youth groups in Melbourne via an online social networking platform. During the project, Plan will actively engage with and listen to the young people involved, learning more about their ideas, visions and needs, and then integrating them into our work.

Young women at a Dhaka Youth Forum planning meeting.

28

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

The project is a one year pilot, and as such has taken some time in the design phase. The

Transform the world so children can be involved

two youth groups in Dhaka and Dinajpur have been selected through community consultation processes with Plan Bangladesh. The two youth groups in Melbourne were pre-selected by local youth councils, having undergone an application and selection process. The lessons learned from this pilot will feed into the process for a larger youth engagement network planned for design in 2011.

Timor-Leste: Youth participation A Priority Project designed, developed and monitored by Plan in Australia

The Youth Participation project in Timor-Leste facilitates young people to more effectively participate in their own development. Limited opportunities for youth in rural areas, not just in employment and training but also in positive recreational activities, leaves them vulnerable to the lure of gangs and martial arts groups. The cultural, social and economic barriers to active participation in society are even greater for young women. Through the Youth Participation project, youth in Lautem and Aileu districts can access training on peace-building, human rights, gender, sexual and reproductive rights and traditional culture. Recreational, creative and civic activities enable engage youth to engage in their communities in a positive way. The project focuses on sporting and media activities that both young women and men can be involved in.

Lessons learnt Participation is an essential component of all Plan’s work, and this presents a number of challenges, most particularly being able to ensure consistency across different cultural environments and types of projects. What Plan has learnt from the variety of approaches is that the most important factor to the sustainability of projects is the sense of ownership by participants, and specific participation approaches need to have this as an outcome.

We have also learnt that participation needs to be complemented by activities to build group cohesion and cooperation, which becomes a key resource in community development and the protection of rights at community level. The

strength of supportive groups and networks may be particularly important for the poor and vulnerable in compensating for a lack of

other types of resources, as well as acting as an informal safety net and providing a buffer that helps cope with shocks.

Young people’s voices to be heard in Haiti’s reconstruction A globally-funded Plan project supported by Plan in Australia through appeal funds

Haitian girls participate in Plan’s Post Disaster Needs Assessment workshop.

The devastating Haiti earthquake on 12 January killed more than 200,000 people and displaced more than 1.5 million. In the months following the disaster, children are one of the most vulnerable groups, with their survival, protection and development increasingly at risk. With half of Haiti’s population being under the age of 18, it is vital that the redevelopment of Haiti ensures an approach that provides a positive transformation to their lives.

Plan, in partnership with UNICEF, recently led a consultation with Haitian children to ensure that their voices are heard in the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) process. We spoke to approximately 1000 children across Haiti through children friendly focus groups. The groups ranged in age and focused on issues such as gender, disability, vulnerability, education, access to services and disaster risk reduction. Children were encouraged to discuss their hopes and dreams for their futures and the future of their country.

Our research found that what young Haitian people want the most right now is to get back to school. “I want rights of children to be respected and all children to know what their rights are. I also want everyone to have access to education,” says quake survivor Daphmika, 15, in Port-auPrince.

Roger Yates, Director of Disaster Risk Management at Plan International knows that children are critical to the reconstruction process. “The children of Haiti need the international community to commit generously towards the costs of reconstruction. If the money is available, this will be the best opportunity for the next generation to improve the country’s situation and reduce the underlying vulnerability that caused such a serious crisis. The reconstruction process needs to address the priorities voiced by children if it is to realise long-term benefits,” he says.

Fifteen year-old Yvenie Pierre sees opportunity for Haiti: “I wish now that this will be the moment of change for Haiti. We need to create jobs for the youth, to rebuild all our schools. I wish to live in a better Haiti where the government takes responsibility for children and youth, because they are the future of the country. I wish that schools will start again where there will be good education, where children learn in safety and can study without fear,” she says.

www.plan.org.au

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IMPACT

sexual health, including HIV The Challenge The problems of sexual and reproductive health of children and youth, such as teenage pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), are a consequence of the non-realisation of sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to exercise a healthy and safe sexuality.

Entrenched beliefs about sexuality perpetuate the unequal distribution of power of boys and men over girls and women. Tens of millions of people are living with HIV and there are 2.5 million new cases every year, half of which are under the age of 25 who contracted HIV through unprotected sexual intercourse. Around the world, the stigmatisation and discrimination of children living with or affected by HIV undermines their basic rights.

The Goal: Children and youth realise their rights to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV prevention, care and treatment.

Our Approach To pursue this goal, Plan supports quality reproductive and sexual health education and services for children and youth, as well as challenging beliefs and attitudes which maintain unequal power relations between the sexes.

Plan advocates for more effective policies and actions to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children and youth living in a world with HIV by focusing on children rather than on the virus or

on the epidemic. This is done by addressing the rights of children and youth to protection from HIV; the rights of children and youth to live with their family; the rights of families affected by HIV to social protection; and the rights of children affected by HIV to care and support.

Highlights of our activities in 2010 Peru: Health services and advocacy for adolescents A globally-funded Plan project supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

In certain areas of Peru, the percentage of adolescents who have basic knowledge of HIV and STIs is as low as 1.93%, placing many young people at significant risk of contracting

Adolescents participating in a Sexual and Reproductive Health Fair in Lima 30

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

preventable illnesses. Plan is working to improve this situation and empower young people with the knowledge to safeguard themselves. This process has begun by promoting the availability of health services to adolescents. The success of this has been seen by an increase in adolescents who have basic knowledge of HIV and STDs to 36% in the areas where Plan works.

Plan is also working with UNICEF and other agencies for the fifth Latin American Forum of HIV/AIDS and the First Meeting of Adolescents Living with HIV/AIDS. Thanks to collective action, the Ministry of Health has increased the number of health staff trained nationally using the Guide for Promoting Healthy Behaviours in Adolescent Sexual Health, which is considered key material in these activities. All of this has been achieved through a strong working relationship between Plan Peru and the Ministry of Health at both the national and regional levels in 2010.

Thailand: Improving Family and Community Response to HIV/AIDS A globally-funded Plan project supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

Two prominent issues found in Thailand are 1) youth are insufficiently aware of the risks of HIV/AIDS and do not take appropriate preventive measures; and 2) poor families and children affected by HIV often do not have access to adequate health care or other services and experience discrimination. This program aims to respond to these challenges through strengthening the ability of communities to identify needs and to develop and implement activities focused on HIV prevention, care, and support. The project locations are in three districts of Chiang Rai province and Srisaket province, which are among the most HIV-affected provinces in the country.

To address these issues, Plan has piloted the ‘Teenpath’ sex education program in 16 schools covering 3500 students. Meanwhile, 18 educational funds for children living with HIV have been established, managed by People Living With HIV (PLWHIV) groups, and economic

Transform the world so children are treated fairly

Fighting HIV/AIDS through soccer in Ethiopia A globally-funded Plan project supported by Plan in Australia through child sponsorship

A group of boys from a children’s soccer team in Ethiopia.

A soccer team comprised of 51 young boys and girls is helping with the fight against HIV/AIDS through awareness-raising activities in schools and other public events in Addis Ababa. The team was established as part of Plan’s HIV/AIDS Prevention project in Ethiopia, and its members are enthusiastic about disseminating messages about the transmission and prevention of HIV and other issues related to youth reproductive health.

Mariluz is a 13-year-old girl living in north of Lima.

She is one of the 204 adolescents who have been trained by Plan Peru and the Institute of Midwives to advise other teens in various topics related to Sexual and Reproductive Health.

security programs for PLWHIV have been implemented, resulting in resource mobilisation from both government and community sources.

The provincial PLHIV network has been strengthened, and cooperation between HIV and AIDS committees respectively at provincial level has improved.

Lessons learnt While Plan clearly has high levels of engagement with children, families and communities, this is as yet not matched with comprehensive policy engagement at country level. Not having policy commitment from duty bearers, including governments, could undermine sustainability of our programming outcomes. Notwithstanding our efforts and high profile in the international advocacy arena, there is clearly more work to be done in joining up the gap between community, national and international level interventions. In addition, more needs to be done to comprehensively mainstream gender issues across sexual and reproductive health initiatives.

As part of the project, the team was given a series of trainings on youth reproductive health and HIV transmission and prevention. They also participated in different youth forums to enhance their knowledge so that they can increase their capacity to teach others. “In addition to regular refresher trainings I receive from Plan, I have learnt new knowledge and experiences from the youth forums I attended at Young Men Christian Association,” says Biniam, aged 14.

“From this training I have learnt how particularly children are vulnerable to the health and social costs of HIV/AIDS,” says Efreim, aged 12. “After their parents are dead, many children end at street life and girls are forced to start commercial sex life which has the effect of increasing the transmission of the virus.”

Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS patients is a serious problem in Ethiopia. “The major reason people stigmatise HIV-positive is that they are not aware of the transmission and prevention of HIV. They assume HIV/AIDS is contracted by people with bad behaviour. The best way to reduce stigma is to increase their awareness about and keep repeating the message until people start to feel and act in positive manners,” comments Helina, a 17-year-old girl and goal keeper of the team. “As a team we welcome HIV-positive children to our soccer team to play with us. We are trying to cultivate this type of behaviour among children and young people. Since we started working as a team we are observing behavioural changes, particularly among our friends in our school,” adds Helina.

This inspirational team is also involved in promoting messages of HIV prevention for pregnant women, boosting safe sexual practices through promoting use of condoms, and caring for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

www.plan.org.au

31

Influence

effectiveness & learning Program Effectiveness In 2009 Plan in Australia restructured its programs department to better reflect contemporary approaches and to deepen the agency’s capability as an effective development organisation. The result was two interacting and interdependent Program teams: Effectiveness and Implementation. Reflecting a sharpened commitment to effectiveness and accountability, the Program Effectiveness team now includes portfolios of responsibility for Program Quality, Policy and Learning, Community Engagement (including Youth Participation) and Child Protection. The creation of these portfolios under the banner of effectiveness reflects our commitment to the strategic directions of Impact, Influence and Identity.

Central to our mandate is the development of effective systems and the provision of support with their application. In 2010 effectiveness advisors, in collaboration with the wider programs department, began defining and documenting quality practice standards (see ‘Innovation and Learning’ for examples of this). Importantly, Plan’s Program Effectiveness Platform was agreed in September and provides a framework against which we will progress the effectiveness agenda. By documenting the objectives, priorities and principles of effectiveness, the platform directly promotes the strategic enablers of ‘Culture’, ‘Learning’, ‘Accountability’ and ‘Systems’ across our program work.

The team also acts as a conduit between Plan in Australia and the wider development community, both within and outside Plan. Effectiveness team members, both directly and through various committees, made significant contributions to many initiatives this year, including advice to AusAID on a range of sector issues (Civil Society Framework, Civil Society Evaluation, NGO Monitoring and Evaluation), informing the ACFID Code of Conduct review and advising the ACFID Voice and Choice report on social accountability.

In keeping with Plan’s explicit focus on the Child Rights agenda, 2010 also saw contributions to the ACFID practice note Human rights-based 32

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

approaches to development, the Human Rights Taskforce and Rights in Sight report and the ‘Rights Awareness’ Day with Federal MPs. See ‘Community Engagement’ on page 34 and ‘Policy Engagement’ on page 36 for other examples of progress in this area in 2010.

evaluation. This work is consistent with Plan in Australia’s commitment to become an agile and effective organisation within the global development arena. Specifically, the new M&E Framework affirms the importance of:

Bringing global lessons into Plan in Australia, taking our lessons out to stakeholders and contributing to the global effectiveness discourse is a critical function of the effectiveness team.

The Annual Program Review produced in November this year is evidence of the movement towards more effective programming, offering a deeper public reflection on our approach, our outcomes and the lessons we are learning along the way. In 2011 this journey will continue with the first Effectiveness Report for Plan in Australia.

• reflection, learning and an emerging focus on outcome and impact level change

Innovation and Learning

The Reflective Annual Process (RAP) is a second initiative emerging from the last year that offers a key example of innovative practice within our organisation. The RAP provides an opportunity for reflection upon the work of the agency and, perhaps even more importantly, reflection on the way in which this work has contributed to good quality development outcomes. During the year program staff at Plan in Australia explored and agreed methods undertaking this complicated but important process. The process included a reflection on the types of change outcomes brought about through Plan in Australia’s work and, in turn, the development of some key questions to guide an examination of our practice in the next financial year. The RAP represents a positive step towards understanding and tracking our program effectiveness and will be central to learning for future programming.

The effectiveness agenda at Plan in Australia demands a commitment to learning and continuous improvement across the program portfolio. This is directly related to our strategic enabler and programming priority of ‘Learning’.

While examples of innovation and learning can be found in each thematic area of our work, two specific examples from the Program Effectiveness team offer guidance to our progress over the last year.

Firstly, in 2010 Plan in Australia developed a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework and commenced work on a multi-year M&E strategy. The approach seeks to deepen the capability of both Plan staff and partners and in doing so to strengthen our programming, accountability and organisational learning. With the support of dedicated staff and external expertise, and informed by several participatory planning and development events during the course of the year, we were able to reflect on M&E priorities, map current practice and undertake an analysis of the levels of M&E requiring guidance.

The result embraces contemporary aid effectiveness practices with a dual focus on strengthening existing practice and shifting towards outcomes-based monitoring and

• accountability to children and communities

• incrementally building M&E skills and capability • Plan in Australia’s role in M&E across the wider Plan community The next financial year will see finalisation of the strategy and the development of the resources and tools required to support and consolidate its successful implementation.

All program teams, both thematic and crosscutting, are increasingly focused on the principle of innovation and learning. Along with the RAP and the M&E package, various other changes brought about in 2010 (appointment of a research advisor, new relationships with universities, dedicated resources for knowledge management and innovative projects) set the scene for even more progress in 2011. A burgeoning role as influencers and thought leaders among Australian NGOs seems assured.

Transform the world so the best interests of children are always considered

“We have a clear commitment to accountability and effectiveness, demonstrated in 2010 by our investment to expand effectiveness staffing and consolidate systems.�

Dave Husy, CCCD Director

Children take part in activities at a Plan-supported Early Childhood Care and Development centre in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

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Influence

community engagement and youth participation During the year we laid foundations for a broader and deeper focus on Australian Community Engagement, so that Plan in Australia can better facilitate opportunities for children, families and communities to be connected as global citizens. Central to this commitment has been the creation of a new Community Engagement team and the development of a new role, Community Engagement Senior Advisor, to work with the existing Youth Participation Advisor. These two roles are dedicated resources to take forward one of the Effectiveness team’s four objectives: To deepen the connection between the Australian community and global development issues, with a particular focus on children and young people. In turn, this objective contributes to Plan in Australia’s four directions of Influence, Impact, Identity and Income.

Building new partnerships was a focus in 2010 and Plan in Australia looked to connect with other organisations engaging Australians in issues of global poverty. Working with the Global Poverty Project, we created a child rights focus to their presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons, with the ongoing partnership aiming to reach tens of thousands of young people over the coming years. Another key collaboration came with The Breakthrough Summit, leading to The Asia Pacific Women, Faith and Development Alliance. The summit, held in December 2009, was designed to convene women’s, faith and development organisations in Australia, the Pacific and Asia. It sought to galvanise collective efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals 3 and 5: to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and improve maternal health. Plan in Australia played important roles in both the Steering Committee directing the event, and also through the Programming Committee, taking a lead role on youth outreach.

We led and facilitated three Breakthrough Workshops with young people attending the Foundation for Young Australians 2009 Youth Action Conference, with 500 students from Years 7–12 attending the workshops. We also took the lead in organising and hosting ten young women who attended the conference as youth 34

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

As part of the Global Connections program, Bangladeshi youth group members discuss the issues facing young people.

delegates, facilitating their feedback of their experience during a public event after the first day of the conference.

was the last year of the project so consolidation and the capture of lessons became particularly important.

In 2011, an increased resource commitment to Australian Community Engagement will enable Plan to capitalise on the lessons learnt from previous programming, as well as the strengths of relationships with existing and new partners, to scale up opportunities to connect Australians of all ages with global development issues.

Global Connections has informed and been informed by the Australian Research Council grant-funded research partnership Youth Led Learning: Local Connections and Global Citizenship. The research team includes Plan in Australia, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the Australian Youth Research Centre (AYRC) at the University of Melbourne. In 2010 a strong focus on relationship building and programmatic learning has sought to maximise lessons for future programming. This learning informs an anticipated expansion and scale-up of youth connections projects into 2011 and beyond.

Alongside this research, Plan developed a pilot online connection project between two groups of young people in Melbourne, and one rural and one urban youth group in Bangladesh. Plan is supporting an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development placement in Bangladesh to assist with the implementation and evaluation of this pilot in 2011.

In addition to building new relationships and planning the development of the Community Engagement Strategy, this year has been a time for review and consolidation of existing projects with a view to scaling up the strongest.

The primary example is Global Connections, a project connecting Year 9 and 10 students in Melbourne with participants in Plan Indonesia’s Children In Need of Special Protection program.

Over the five years that the Global Connections project was implemented, some 300 young people were connected, sharing the issues that concern them and taking positive social action in their communities to address these issues. This

Transform the world so children can have their voices heard

“We will continue to grow and embed a strong community engagement focus so that all Australians will see themselves as citizens of the global village of the 21st century.�

Ian Wishart, CEO

Plan Laos helped secondary school students form a drama group. The group tours Pha Oudom District performing funny plays and spreading child rights & health messages.

www.plan.org.au

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Influence

policy engagement Policy engagement has continued to strengthen at Plan in Australia over the course of the year, with the growth of the policy team and the deepening of partnerships with other childfocused organisations. A clear drive to ensuring policy engagement is evidence-based has led to an increased focus on research and a more explicit link to our programming strengths.

A Research Advisor has been appointed who will guide the organisation to better link our research, policy and program quality as well as better disseminate the research we carry out within our programs. This more strategic focus on research will not only be used to increase internal learning opportunities and improve our practices, but will also be used to engage the Australian Government, the development sector and the wider Plan community.

Plan in Australia has provided leadership to the ACFID Child Rights Working Group (CRWG), which aims to increase the profile of child rights within the development sector and with the Australian Government. The five-year strategy designed by the group aims to use research opportunities, relationship building with the government and existing forums to spread the important message of child rights. Early in 2010 the partnership between ChildFund, Save the Children and Plan in Australia was reignited to present to AusAID on child rights-based approaches to development. This built on last year’s budget submission on the same topic and has become the basis for the CRWG’s strategy, as well as a new connection between CEOs of child-focused agencies, which have agreed to come together in support of the CRWG’s aims.

During 2010 Plan in Australia also became involved in the shadow reporting for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While many Plan offices around the world are involved in similar processes, this represents a first for Plan in Australia. In line with the strategic direction of Influence, Plan has taken the opportunity to support the Child Rights Task Force (a domestic alliance of child rights advocates) in its shadow reporting processes.

This process will continue into 2011 where we will specifically contribute on issues related to 36

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Quentin Bryce, Governor-General of Australia, at the formal launch of the third Because I am a Girl report, September 2009.

Transform the world so all children are treated equally

Because I am a girl

The front cover of Plan’s 2009 Because I am a Girl report.

Australia’s role in aid and development. This presents an excellent opportunity for Plan in Australia to engage with a wider audience on the importance of including child rights in our development activities and enables us to work with both internationally focused and domestically focused specialists in child rights.

The year 2010 also saw Plan in Australia’s engagement in a range of thematic and crosscutting policy arenas including Water and Sanitation, Education, Humanitarian Affairs and Development Effectiveness. We contributed expertise and thought leadership to these areas through the Development Practice Committee, the Advocacy and Public Policy Committee and numerous ACFID working groups. Building on these successes, we are broadening our knowledge and evidence base on key issues with a view to deeper policy engagement in 2011 and beyond. The emphasis on sectoral relationships and increased engagement with the Australian Government is explicit and should see Plan have a greater voice for children’s rights in the Australian sector over many years to come.

Plan in Australia shared the third instalment in the Because I am a Girl report series through a formal launch with the Governor-General at Government House in Canberra last September. This was our mechanism to connect the Australian development sector with this important work, alongside the broader public relations and media campaign at that time. Further promotion of the study and its calls to action took place through a range of posters and presentations late in 2009 including the Breakthrough Summit in Melbourne, the MDGs conference at Latrobe University and the ACFID Council Meeting in Canberra. The report drew greater attention than ever before in development circles, with references, citations and quotes littered throughout development circles well into 2010.

In anticipation of the 2011 report a sophisticated sector strategy has been developed, leveraging the profile of this initiative to focus attention on education throughout the lifecycle of girls. We propose that efforts towards the Millennium Development Goals be considerably boosted with an increased focus on Early Childhood Care and Development as well as increased access to and quality of secondary school education and vocational training for girls. Importantly, this focus aims to gain support across the sector for a more meaningful consideration of how we support girls in the pursuit of their rights to education.

As such Plan in Australia has initiated an ACFID working group on education that is bringing together several agencies, all aiming to engage with the Australian Government to boost the quality of our joint education programming. While the strategy is in its infancy it will be an exciting time to engage on these issues as the world looks to 2015, knowing we are behind on the goals for women and girls and with a renewed desire not to fail them.

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Identity

Our brand ENHANCING OUR BRAND Plan in Australia’s brand is among our most valuable assets. It isn’t just about our words and imagery – it’s about defining the truth behind why our organisation exists and communicating it every time someone comes into contact with us. Over the past year we have undertaken a brand refresh – a process that has involved re-orientating ourselves within our values and reason for being.

Our brand now clearly identifies the reason for our existence and our need in society.

Our purpose is clearly defined in our efforts to ‘transform the world for children’ and our response is a Child-Centred Community Development Approach (CCCD) for delivering programs.

We have an obligation to ensure all our communication is transparent and a reflection of our work on the ground with children and local communities. Our current Brand Strategy provides the direction for Plan in Australia to position ourselves honestly and openly, with a clear child rights orientation that is unique in Australia. This is also strategically aligned to the vision, mission and values of the global organisation.

Our values underpin both the philosophy and operations of our organisation. Our brand demonstrates that children are at the heart of everything we do, and in telling their story we are honest, transparent and accountable with children’s rights upheld at all times.

Underpinning all our communication, whether it be words, images or design, is the driver of portraying positive impact. Our desire is to connect Australians to what is possible due to their support.

Media and publicity The media play a pivotal role in helping to deliver key messages from international development agencies and raise vital funding needed to carry out our work. We are grateful to the Australian media who support our work 38

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Our new Brand & Style Guidelines defines a clear, consistent and cohesive identity for Plan in Australia.

and help influence key decision makers, who in turn enable us to do more for the developing communities in which we work.

Mention of Plan in the media has increased over the past year, resulting in raised awareness in Australia. This can be attributed to two main areas – our thought leadership campaign ‘Because I am a Girl’, which launched nationally in September 2009, and our rapid response to major humanitarian disasters, primarily the Haiti earthquake in January 2010.

‘Because I am a Girl’, a global Plan campaign based on a series of reports to be published from 2007–2015, was timely this year as the focus was ‘girls and the global financial crisis’. This topic generated extensive print and electronic media interest. National daily newspapers, talkback radio and TV news ran stories on the report, highlighting the role of girls and women in the global economy. This in turn helped raise awareness for the need for future investment in girls and the fact that six of the eight Millennium Development Goals are unlikely to be achieved unless there is greater international commitment to the fight against gender discrimination.

On 12 January 2010, Haiti was cast into the international spotlight as a result of the devastating earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and displaced more than one million. Media attention was high, and having worked in Haiti for 37 years Plan was well placed to respond to the disaster, with a particular focus on children who were among the most vulnerable. In the days and weeks that followed, local staff and international Plan staff deployed

to the country were able to assist with interviews and regular updates which helped in raising in excess of A$40 million globally. In Australia, Plan raised over $550,000.

Getting the supporter experience right The quality of service and depth of experience we provide to our supporters determines how connected and engaged they are to the work that we do with children and communities.

Over the past year we have developed ways to enhance this experience for supporters.

Key to our commitment to supporters is our customer service. In 2010 our high level of phone service was verified through an independent benchmarking study showing Plan in Australia as one of the country’s top ten customer service organisations in Australia. Also, even though in December 2009 we experienced delays in delivery of welcome packs to new child sponsors due to high volume of new supporters, we were able to remedy the situation and return to 2–5 day deliveries by mid-January.

Communication to supporters through the mail is another key area of improvement in 2010. In July, all supporters received an improved tax receipt that outlined how money was spent across the Plan world and highlighted stories of change. In January, all child sponsors received a progress report on the country where their sponsored child resides. These improvements were made in addition to the standard reporting and information updates received annually by child sponsors and biannually for Children First! members.

We have working closely with our Country Offices to improve the speed at which important documents such as child profiles, welcome letters and child and community updates are created and delivered. Our feedback to Country Offices, combined with some innovations here in Australia, now sees new child sponsorships handled within 24 hours and the number of child and community updates received from the field at a new high.

Transform the world so children can play

“We want to ensure supporters receive great service whenever they contact us and that they get all the information they need about how they are helping to make change in the lives of children in the developing world.�

Aimee Suchard-Lowe, Marketing & Communication Director

Children catching water from water pump in Sierra Leone.

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Income

support for our work Support from government and institutions

20%

increase in communiity support

90%

increase in AusAID grants

73%

reduction in WFP food aid

A major highlight of the year was securing an AusAID Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Fund award worth $4.79 million. This award will support our sanitation and water programs in seven countries: Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh.

We were also awarded $1.6 million from the Zimbabwe Food and Water Initiative for a livelihoods recovery program in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe, as well as $400,000 to support Plan International’s Haiti emergency response program.

Over the course of the year we strengthened our grant management capability through the appointment of a Grant Management Senior Advisor, and with the drafting of bid management procedures based on strong evidence and technical design. We also introduced more detailed revenue planning, and our international program support costs in Australia were fully recovered from grant income.

With a growing grant base, we learnt a number of important lessons during this year. The first was that competing for grants requires strong technical investment in design and 40

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

25.2 m

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9.1 m

13.3 m

3.6 m

$

$

$

$

$

In 2010 we entered the first year of a four-year ANCP Partnership Agreement. The first year of this agreement allocated over $3 million for Plan in Australia’s programs across four partnership objectives: enhanced community impact; enhanced policy engagement; enhanced learning and innovation; and enhanced Australian community engagement. This allocation supported 18 projects in thirteen countries in Asia and Africa.

20.9 m

Plan in Australia competed for a number of grant awards in the year to enhance programs for children and their communities. This strategy has achieved considerable success, with the highlights from the year including a number of grants from AusAID.

$

Grant acquisition

2009

2009

2009

2010

2010

2010

evidential planning. This has led to a number of research activities prior to, and part of program development. Another learning has been the need for increasing sophistication of program designs – requiring significant degree of collaboration across program teams.

In 2010 Plan in Australia raised $15 million in funding for allocation to projects across six program themes, and fourteen countries in Africa and Asia.

World Food Programme In 2010, Plan partnered with the World Food Programme in Zimbabwe to deliver 3486 metric tonnes of food assistance to 45,482 vulnerable people in the Chiredzi district. The value of the food distributed through this program was $3.6 million.

Support from the public A welcome boost in child sponsorship Over the past year Plan in Australia experienced a strong increase in support from new and

existing donors. Significant growth across our face-to-face network contributed to over 8000 new sponsorships, and more than 1000 existing sponsors decided to sponsor an additional child, bringing the total number of children sponsored

by Australians to 49,677 and the funds raised through sponsorship to over $22 million.

Generosity in appeal donations Many thousands of people supported our appeals in 2010, enabling us to almost double our appeal income from the previous year.

The generosity from donors during the Haiti earthquake crisis was truly commendable.

Plan raised more than $550,000 from the public in a short amount of time. Funds were quickly directed to Haiti to alleviate chronic shortages of food, shelter, clean water and psychosocial support, especially for families and children.

Our biannual appeals raised over $660,000 which this year was allocated to support our livelihoods and education projects.

Transform the world so children can grow

“2010 was a wonderful year of growth in both community and government support, enabling us to continue to transform the world for children.�

Ian Wishart, CEO

Children playing with educational toys at a Plan-supported day care centre in Udaipur, India.

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Income

A big thank you goes out to all our community fundraisers for the money they raised in 2010 and their tremendous passion in supporting and promoting Plan to their friends, family and colleagues.

Support from Trusts and Foundations Plan supporters at the 2010 City2Surf.

Plan supporter Georgina, after participating in the Run Melbourne event.

Community fundraising

The year was also one of increased personal philanthropy, with an increasing number of supporters looking for different, more personal ways to support our work. One such person was Fleur Pitman, who celebrated her 40th birthday in December last year by raising funds for Plan in Australia in lieu of gifts. In one day, Fleur was able to raise over $5000 for our Quality Education project in rural Bangladesh.

Community fundraising continued to grow over the year, with $82,000 raised through the efforts of Plan sponsors and supporters.

During Plan’s Haiti Earthquake Appeal, 26 committed Plan supporters got on board and created their own ‘Everyday Hero’ appeal pages through Plan in Australia’s website, with heartfelt messages for the earthquake survivors and motivating messages for those who wanted to contribute. Between them they raised more than $10,000 of essential funds for our Haiti Earthquake appeal.

We continued to receive great support from the physical challengers, who joined millions of Australians in partaking in national fun runs like Run Melbourne and the increasingly popular City2Surf. Plan in Australia was represented by over 30 runners who collectively raised $13,000.

Friends of Plan groups continue to contribute to community fundraising through their varied and fun events throughout the year. Friends of Plan Canberra held a concert that enjoyed significant publicity in local media, while their annual Art and Crafts Show and raffles raised over $6500 for Plan’s work in Asia and Africa. In Adelaide, the Women’s Group continued to support the Empowering Families project in Cambodia by raising over $13,000.

The year 2010 saw significant growth and diversity in funding for our Priority Projects, underpinned by strong relationships with private Trusts and Foundations. Our strong commitment to accountability, together with the growth of our Program Effectiveness team has enabled us to keep our donors informed of the impact of their support as well as facilitate learning opportunities on issues in the developing world.

We are particularly grateful for the continued support of Greenlight Foundation who generously provided funding towards a five-year project in the Philippines that aims to provide Mangyan children with the opportunity to access quality basic education through an alternative intervention system that is effective and efficient as well as culturally responsive.

The Pratt Foundation continued to provide valued support to our work in providing development education to school-age children and encouraging them to discover their role as global citizens who are socially responsible.

We are also grateful to ACME Foundation for their substantial support of our work in Laos

Friends of Plan Canberra’s annual Art and Crafts show raised over $6500 for Plan-supported communities in Africa and Asia.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Transform the world so children can be children

and Timor-Leste. ACME’s funding supports our work in introducing a community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approach aimed at mobilising communities to collectively improve their water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) situation. Our Youth Livelihoods project in Timor-Leste aims to provide opportunities for young people, including women, to gain skills and earn an income through the establishment of small business activities projects.

Plan’s rebuilding efforts in Haiti received a boost from the Melbourne Community Foundation who also provided funding for our water and sanitation project in Laos.

In 2010 Sangora Education Foundation also continued to fund the expansion of our Global Connections project in Bangladesh. This youthled project connects students in Australia with their peers in Bangladesh, allowing them to learn from each other to create positive change within their communities.

We thank these organisations for working with us to provide opportunities for children to reach their full potential.

Support from business After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Plan in Australia witnessed businesses pulling their resources together to raise vital funds. Notably The Arts Centre in Melbourne raised nearly $20,000 after they approached patrons to make a contribution to Plan in Australia after watching a performance. After researching various charities, Henry Davis York selected Plan in Australia and donated $20,000. Peregrine and Gecko’s Adventures auctioned two trips to the Galapagos Islands, raising close to $10,000.

SchoolAid, a national schools-based philanthropy network empowering kids to help kids in crisis, connected with thousands of primary schools to raise $71,700 in total, with half donated to Plan in Australia.

Rotary District 9520 fully funded the material costs for Plan’s Improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project in four communities in TimorLeste. In April two Rotarians visited the project

The cream of Canberra’s music scene gathered for a night of live music to support children’s education in Bangladesh.

and witnessed how Plan is improving the health of children, their families and their communities by delivering sustainable community-managed water and sanitation services.

As a global education company sourcing the majority of its business internationally, Study Group recognises the disparity in educational provision across the world and seeks to make a difference through its ‘Building Futures’ program. This year – thanks to committees in Australia, the UK and USA – two school projects were fully financed in China and Vietnam.

Accor continued its strong support of Plan in Australia, launching a campaign where staff and hotels that sponsored a child went into a draw to win the opportunity to meet their sponsored child. The winning hotel, the Mercure Melbourne Spring Street, chose Executive Housekeeper Carla Rodas to represent them as a reward for her 18 years service. She will be visiting 12-yearold Catylen, in her community in the Philippines next year. In lieu of Christmas gifts, Accor also

donated $21,700 to Plan’s Early Childhood Care and Development project in India.

There are many silent emergencies that don’t receive sufficient media coverage. One such emergency was the floods in Cusco, Peru. Intrepid Travel, having offices in Cusco, were strongly aware of the impact the floods were having on communities. Not only did Intrepid make a donation to Plan in Australia for our response to the floods, it called upon its large database of supporters to donate and incentivised them by matching the donations, raising $40,000 in total.

To further support our work, Intrepid Foundation donated $42,167 to build a school in Bihar, India in memory of their colleague Allan Watt. This was in addition to their annual Priority Project donation of $10,000.

Thank you to all the businesses that have supported Plan this year. We look forward to working with you in the future to transform the world for children! www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

44

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Our organisation is made up of a diverse group of committed and passionate individuals, teams and committees, all working together to transform the world for children.

Children from a Hmong ethnic village in Laos collecting water.

www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

an enabling environment As discussed earlier in this report, our organisational strategy defines four key directions for the growth and development of Plan in Australia, supported by four key enablers.

If the directions of our strategy describe ‘where we want to go’, the enablers show us ‘how to get there’. Our four key enablers are: Culture: build a stronger values-driven organisation culture that informs and supports our direction Learning: grow a learning organisation that builds knowledge and collaboration that informs our practice Accountability: achieve a new standard in accountability that encourages transparency, learning and dialogue with our stakeholders Systems: enhance systems and processes that enable new levels of service, learning and efficiency These enablers are an integral part of our growth and development. Their functionality determines the internal personality of our organisation and our strength as a united group of people working towards a common vision.

As such, our enablers are the ‘machinery’ of our work, and we are constantly striving to strengthen and enhance them.

In 2010, we achieved this through a number of initiatives, activities and policies.

Our working environment In June 2010 Plan in Australia moved to newly refurbished offices in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne after outgrowing our previous offices in the CBD. Our working environment is now open plan, with more meeting rooms, better technology functionality, and a lunch room with cafe style seating, a lounge and a fully equipped kitchen. Our commitment to promoting child rights and the importance of our brand identity are demonstrated through the decoration of the offices in brand colours and child rights statements. The building also has a strong environmental rating and lots of natural 46

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Staff at our Melbourne head office.

light. All of these things contribute to a positive and productive working environment for Plan in Australia staff and volunteers.

Workplace initiatives Plan in Australia has a number of staff-led workplace initiatives; the most significant of which are the Green Committee and the Wellbeing Committee.

Green Committee Planet Green is a group of Plan in Australia employees from across the different levels of the organisation who have come together to increase awareness of environmental issues among staff and to implement practical steps to help reduce our environmental impact in Australia. Planet Green works to improve the overall sustainability of our office environment and our work as an international development agency.

In September, the Board of Plan in Australia approved an Environmental Policy Statement, which was put together by Planet Green with the support of the Senior Management Team. This Statement recognises the importance of environmental sustainability in the lives of children and commits Plan to act in accordance with child-focused environmental sustainability and to consider the impact of our actions on the environment.

In the context of our recent office relocation, Planet Green provided advice on points to consider when selecting new premises and put together a checklist of best practices for sustainability covering the key areas of materials, lighting and energy, waste, and information and communication technology. This information was utilised by the relocation team during the office selection and refurbishment.

The committee also started work with Eco-Buy and Global Sustainability at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), both experts in the field of ethical and sustainable purchasing and carbon offsets, to help Plan in Australia develop environmental and ethical procurement procedures as a further demonstration of our commitment to sustainability. These procurement procedures will be finalised and introduced during the coming year and will cover purchasing areas like merchandise, catering, travel, office consumables and stationery, and guidelines for general services contracts.

Wellbeing Committee The Wellbeing Committee (WBC) was established to understand the wellbeing needs of our staff and to cultivate the best possible office environment for staff. It has been shown that organisations with an excellent office culture, a social environment and a free exchange of ideas

““The last 10 years has seen Plan grow and professionalise – during this time we’ve successfully managed to balance the improvements to our work environment with the need to maintain cost efficiency.”

Gerard Dell’Oste, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

Our new office is decorated with images of our work and motivating statements around the attainment of rights for all children.

www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

and information are also the most productive.

The committee is voluntary and draws on staff from across the organisation who are passionate about creating a working environment that enhances the wellbeing of all staff.

The committee has been charged with looking at a number of ways to better the office life for staff – from health and fitness to social outings, philanthropy for causes close to our hearts, staff reward and recognition and formal events as part of the yearly calendar.

Some of the WBC initiatives from the past year include: • a ‘Walk to Timor-Leste’ fundraiser with a healthy bent that saw 22 staff walk a combined total of 3788km over four weeks and raise $2160 for our Work and Life Skills for Youth project in Timor-Leste.

• free health checks for all staff, which assessed a number of key health indicators and provided feedback for each individual.

• the 2009 Christmas Party, where we braved the crippling heat in late December to celebrate another year of hard work and great achievements over lawn bowls, games and a Christmas lunch.

Support for families As a child rights organisation, Plan in Australia prides itself on being family friendly and has a number of benefits for staff who are parents.

These include a strong parental leave policy, flexible work arrangements and family friendly social events. Also, with research showing that an increasing number of women return to work within the first year of their babies’ lives (25% within the first six months and 44% within twelve months) we are committed to providing the right support so that breastfeeding mothers can successfully combine breastfeeding and paid work. At our new premises we have a breastfeeding room located on site and we are currently working towards an accreditation as a ‘Breastfeeding Friendly Organisation’.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Occupational Health and Safety Plan in Australia is committed to conducting its operations in compliance with occupational health and safety regulations and providing a safe and healthy workplace. We aim to achieve this through the elimination of health and safety risks, or through the reducing those risks in so far as practicable. Our policies are applicable to all those in our workplace including staff, volunteers, contractors, visitors and members of the public who may be affected by our work.

Between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2009 Plan in Australia incurred no costs for work cover claims. Our Victorian Workcover Authority insurer recently reported that our insurance premium is 23% better than the average for the industries in which we operated over the last three years. This measure shows a significant saving as a result of our good health and safety practices.

We have six company appointed trained first aid officers and we keep a defibrillator and an epipen on site. Additionally, all programs staff who travel have received training in remote first aid.

Plan holds a membership to International SOS, accessible to all our staff and contractors travelling overseas. This organisation gives Plan travellers access to its alarm centres, clinics, and health and logistics providers. They offer local expertise, preventative advice, and emergency assistance during critical illness, accident, or civil unrest.

Systems Plan in Australia values systems and infrastructure that have strong and innovative technology, allowing staff and volunteers to work at their full potential and positioning the organisation at the forefront of the sector.

During 2010 our IS&T team committed to addressing systems improvements and rolled out initiatives that provided staff and volunteers with a more robust and reliable work environment.

A key achievement was the successful move and upgrade of our ICT infrastructure as part of the office relocation. The relocation also served as an ideal time to undertake major system improvements, including an upgrade of computers and printers to provide staff with modern and reliable equipment; the deployment of a new VOIP telephone system; and providing staff with training on systems and software.

Other key highlights include the implementation of system improvements that reduced the time to create and deliver supporter welcome packs from two weeks to two days during peak periods; and our local Database Administrator receiving recognition from the global organisation for his work and dedication to the ChildData project. We also achieved over 50% compliance with new Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS) with full compliance expected during the next financial year.

Looking ahead, the Plan Systems and Process Improvement Project (PSPI) is the next big task for IS&T team. It is the largest single systems project undertaken by the organisation and will take approximately two years to source and deploy. This project will replace or update some of the organisation’s key internal systems including donor management, web e-commerce and project management. The improved business systems and processes will allow the organisation to respond effectively to the many challenges and opportunities we will face in coming years.

Grievance process Plan in Australia has a formal grievance management policy, which staff are introduced to at the time of their recruitment. Any internal complaints are dealt with via our formal grievance and dispute resolution procedure.

our governance Role and function of the Board Our Board of Directors is responsible for guiding the organisation, and is accountable for our actions and the impact of our activities. In addition to appointing and managing the Chief Executive Officer, the Board’s main areas of governance are:

Mission • define and review the organisation’s mission and key strategic objectives and review programs, purposes, priorities and vision for the future

Finance • approve and monitor an annual budget, appoint independent auditors and control the investment of funds

Program oversight and support • oversee and evaluate programs, ensure Plan is aware and informed of changes in the external environment and be an advocate for the organisation in the community

submitted annually and conform to the Corporations Law and appropriate standards.

• ensure the people and performance of Plan Board, Directors and staff meet the needs of the strategic direction of the organisation

Fundraising • contribute personally and annually, actively participate in fundraising and assist with networking

Board structure The Board of Directors is comprised of between five and twelve Board members. At the end of 2010 there were eleven members of the Board.

It is a requirement that the composition of the Board reflect the experience and expertise needed by the organisation to meet its vision and objectives as stated in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The composition of the Board should reflect a diversity of age, gender and experience, and a range of professional skills and experience in management, governance, legal, child advocacy, overseas aid and development work, finance, risk management, IT, marketing and fundraising.

Recruitment & elections The Board conducts an annual skills and expertise audit of the board membership to ensure there is continuing best practice governance of the organisation and a succession plan in place.

New board directors are recruited through an extensive search process, interviewed against the core skills required from the gap analysis and then recommended for appointment at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the members.

Meetings The Board and sub-committees meet at least five times per year. The AGM is held in November each year.

Performance The Board conducts a board and director performance review on an annual basis. Every three years the review is conducted by an external governance consultant.

The board measures its performance against the key performance indicators that are set following each annual review.

Compliance • ensure that Plan in Australia conforms to the general principles and practices laid down by Plan International for donor countries.

• participate in the formulation of international policies of Plan.

• ensure that the organisation conforms with its Memorandum and Articles of Association, and the requirements of the Corporations Law and other relevant legislation and codes (eg ACFID Code of Conduct).

• establish and appoint Chairs and members of Sub-Committees as appropriate to assist the Board in its deliberations.

• establish taskforces that have a specific focus and are time limited, as required.

• ensure that audited financial reports are

From left to right: Director-General of AusAID, Peter Baxter; Plan in Australia Board Chair, Anne Skipper; Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC; Minister for Human Services and Minister for Social Inclusion, The Honourable Tanya Plibersek MP; and CEO of Plan in Australia, Ian Wishart at the launch of Plan’s Because I am a Girl report in Canberra in October 2009. www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

Recommendations following all reviews – both internal and external – are referred to the Corporate Governance Committee for action.

Remuneration Directors serve on a voluntary basis and are not remunerated. They may be reimbursed for reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with Board activities.

Induction New board members go through a training and induction process that involves one-onone introductory sessions with the Board Chair, the CEO and each member of the Senior Management Team.

Board Members Handbook

Finance & Audit Committee

The Board Members Handbook is distributed to all Board members and contains guidelines and policies regarding terms of membership, conflicts of interest and general responsibilities of all members of the Board.

Sub-Committee of the Board: Russell Gordon (Chair) Suzanne E Bell Thomas JS Kane K Anne Skipper AM

Committees

Program Advisory Committee

Corporate Governance Committee Sub-Committee of the Board: Tim Beresford (Chair) Philip L Endersbee (Chair to November 2009) Thomas JS Kane (to November 2009) K Anne Skipper AM Margaret J Winn

Sub-Committee of the Board: Margaret J Winn (Chair) Emily J Booker (Chair to November 2009) Brian Babington Belinda Lucas (Co-opted) Anne Skipper

Fundraising Committee Sub-Committee of the Board: Claire E Hatton (Chair) Tim DA Beresford (to November 2009) Jeremy DM Ingall Neil R Thompson

International roles and responsibilities The following Directors have roles and responsibilities with Plan International:

Plan International Board K Anne Skipper AM

Plan International Board – Programme Committee K Anne Skipper AM Margaret J Winn

Plan Members’ Assembly Margaret J Winn Neil R Thompson

Plan Members’ Assembly Audit and Compliance Committee K Anne Skipper AM (to November 2009) Board and Senior Management Team members at a 2010 Board meeting.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

“The Board continues to provide strong governance and direction, ensuring Plan in Australia achieves its objectives as set out in the strategy It Matters to Children.�

Anne Skipper, Board Chair

Boys drink water at Plan-supported school in Adwenso, Ghana.

www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

Our board K Anne Skipper AM (Chair)

Philip L Endersbee (Deputy Chair)

Margaret J Winn

Dip Nursing FAICD, FAIM

BBus (Administration)

BA Dip Ed

Elected: July 2003 (elected Chair 2006) Full meeting of Directors attendance: 5/5

Elected: October 2003 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 5/5

Elected: November 1998 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 3/5

Anne is an experienced businesswoman currently consulting in corporate governance. She has a diverse portfolio working in government, the private sector and community based organisations in public health, media, woman’s affairs, leadership, children and young people and more recently corporate governance. She is presenter for the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is currently on the following boards: South Australian Tourism Commission Board (Deputy Chair); Savings & Loans Credit Union (Director); Royal District Nursing Service (Chair); and Qantas Foundation (Director).

Philip is Managing Director and owner of Wilderness Wear Australia. He is also Director of Three Peaks Outdoor Gear, President of Rotary Club of Melbourne, Deputy Chair of East Timor Embassy Building Project, Fellow of Leadership Victoria and Independent Trustee and Director of The John T Reid Charitable Trusts.

Margaret is Plan in Australia’s longest serving sitting Board member. She is also a member of Plan International’s Member’s Assembly and Program Committee. Margaret is a Health and Development Consultant specialising in sexual and reproductive health, water and sanitation and microfinance in Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

Jeremy DM Ingall

Russell Gordon

Claire E Hatton

CA MBA BBus (Acc)

MBA, BSc (Hons)

Elected: February 2002 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 4/5

Elected: July 2008 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 3/5

Russell is a Chartered Accountant. General Manager of Alltruck Bodies Pty Ltd. He was previously a Director at KPMG, specialising in the area of financial advisory services.

Claire is Industry Leader, Travel, Government and Local Australia & New Zealand at Google.

She has over 15 years of experience in marketing and sales having worked in the airline industry, online travel, distribution and travel wholesaling in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

She has extensive digital expertise and is a regular speaker on Online Marketing in the Asia Pacific region.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Elected: July 2005 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 3/5 Jeremy has over twenty years experience in investment banking and investment management in Australia and the United States. He is Executive Chairman of investment banking and investment management firm Andover Group, and board member of MEARS Technologies (Boston) and several other companies. Jeremy studied finance, accounting and economics at the University of NSW.

Suzanne E Bell

Tim DA Beresford

Brian Babington

CA, BCom

BEc (Hons) LLB MPhil (International Relations) ASIA

BA (Hons.), MA, Grad Dipl Management, Grad Dipl Community Counselling

Elected: July 2003 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 5/5

Elected: May 2010 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 1/1

Tim is currently a senior executive in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (PMC). Prior to PMC, Tim advised corporate and government clients on strategic, organisational and operational issues. He worked at Westpac Banking Corporation holding a number of senior roles including General Manager Pacific Bank, State General Manager South Australia and Northern Territory Retail Bank and Head of Retail Strategy. Tim worked at McKinsey & Co serving mining, infrastructure and financial services clients in both the London and Sydney offices.

In a career spanning public, private and community sectors, Brian has managed the Australian Government’s aid program in Burma; represented Australia at four UN General Assemblies on humanitarian and environmental issues; run a national firm to encourage sustainable corporate philanthropy; and held leadership positions in numerous international, national and local welfare, community and professional organisations. He is currently CEO of Families Australia.

Elected: July 2008 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 5/5 Suzanne is a partner in KPMG Audit and Assurance practice. She has 18 years of audit and advisory experience, specialising in the audits of large, multi-national listed clients in the consumer and industrial markets industry.

She is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA), Chair of the Future Summit Leadership Awardee program and Former Board member of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Thomas JS Kane

Neil R Thompson

FAICD

BA Hons, Grad studies Beijing University

Elected: April 2004 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 4/5

Elected: February 2007 Full meeting of Directors attendance: 2/5

Thomas is Managing Director and founder of The Grey Group Pty Ltd and Chartered Member of Australian Human Resources Institute.

He has an extensive career in the resources and manufacturing sectors in Australia and overseas. Prior to establishing The Grey Group, Thomas was CEO of an industry association and managing partner of a consulting practice.

He previously sat on the boards of a major superannuation fund, a manufacturing business and a property development company.

Neil is Director of Plan International Hong Kong and an independent CRM/marketing consultant.

He was previously Group General Manager Customer Relationship Marketing for Qantas Airways. Neil has twenty years experience in the aviation and tourism industry and extensive experience in business development in Asia. He is Board Director of the Trust for Indigenous Culture & Health (USA), and former Board Director of Australia China Business Council and Australian Direct Marketing Association. www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

Our Management The Senior Management Team Our Senior Management Team (SMT) is responsible for providing effective leadership to our organisation, developing the strategy and managing day-to-day operations. The team is led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In line with the structure of the organisation, the CEO has three direct reports, heading up the three functional areas of Plan in Australia: ChildCentred Community Development (our Programs department); Marketing and Communications; and Corporate Services.

CEO Ian Wishart

Director, childcentred community development

Director, marketing and communications

Chief financial officer and company secretary

Dave Husy

Aimee Suchard-Lowe

Gerard Dell’Oste

Ian Wishart

Dave Husy

BSc, DipEd, MBA, GAICD

BA (Sociology/Politics), BA (Hons), MA (Development Studies)

As the CEO of Plan in Australia, Ian is instrumental in setting the strategic direction of the organisation as well as being across its day-to-day operations. As a member of Plan International’s Leadership Team, Ian contributes to the direction of the global organisation and represents Plan in Australia on the international stage.

Dave leads Plan in Australia’s Child-Centred Community Development department, comprised of the Program Implementation and Program Effectiveness teams. He is Australia’s representative to the CCCD department at our international headquarters.

Ian has extensive experience in international development. His career has traversed the neediest parts of our world, and often at momentous times, such as the genocide in Rwanda, the rebuilding of Cambodia, and the chaos in Somalia.

Dave joined the organisation in 2008, bringing nine years of experience as a program strategy and review consultant with international development agencies in South and East Africa.

Prior to that, Dave worked for ten years as a senior NGO manager in southern Africa.

Prior to joining Plan in 2001, Ian held senior positions with World Vision including Manager of Strategic Planning and Manager of Emergency Relief in Australia and Country Director in Laos.

He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) which is the peak body for the international aid sector. As a highly experienced development professional and the face of Plan in Australia, he is often called upon in the media to provide his expert opinion and insights.

Aimee Suchard-Lowe

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

BSc. (Psychology/Marketing), MBA (Exec) AGSM Aimee holds much of the fundraising responsibility at Plan through a number of different fundraising channels including sponsorship, direct marketing and corporate sponsorship. Aimee and her team are also responsible for Plan’s brand and communications. She is Australia’s representative to the marketing department at our international headquarters.

Aimee joined Plan in January 2007 bringing an extensive marketing and strategy background predominantly in banking and finance. Her marketing experience is widespread, having developed and implemented marketing strategies in large organisations such as Westpac, BT Financial Group, Royal & SunAlliance (now Promina) and most recently NAB.

Gerard Dell’Oste BBus (Acc), FCPA Gerard is responsible for the Corporate Services of the organisation which comprises Finance, Business & Information Systems, Human Resources and operational administration.

He is Company Secretary and a member of the Finance & Audit Committee and the Corporate Governance Committee. He is Australia’s Finance representative at our International Headquarters.

Gerard joined Plan in Australia in early 2000 bringing 15 years experience from both the corporate and non-profit sectors. He has held financial, commercial and IT roles in different organisations and industries including the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), BHP Co. Ltd. and the ANZ ‘Banking Group’.

Leadership and accountability Each direct report member of the SMT is a leader in their area and responsible for the management of teams within their departments.

The individual managers of these teams form the Leadership Team, and are themselves responsible for line management of staff and reporting back to their SMT member.

The SMT meets once a week and holds offsite meetings twice a year. Over the year SMT holds quarterly review sessions with the Leadership Team to review learnings and challenges and examine team performance against the four directions of our organisational strategy. The SMT also reports against the strategy to the Board of Directors every two months and provides financial reports to the Board every month.

Performance management The performance of SMT direct report members is monitored and assessed by the CEO in a formal performance appraisal each year. Please see page 56 for further details.

Remuneration At Plan in Australia we use the Hay job grading system to grade all our roles, and participate in the Hay Salary Survey annually. We aim to pay at the 20th percentile of all organisations based on the results of Hay’s Salary Survey.

The Senior Management Team’s salaries (including superannuation) as at 30 June 2010 were as follows: Salary and Superannuation Band

$130,000 – $139,999

Number

3

$140,000 – $149,999

CEO

Director, childcentred community development

Director, marketing and communications

Chief financial officer and company secretary

Program implementation manager

Corporate relations manager

Business information systems manager

Program effectiveness manager

donor relations manager

human resource manager

Brand & communications manager

finance

Public & community marketing manager

Supporter service manager

$150,000 – $159,999 $160,000 – $169,999 $170,000 – $179,999

1

The ratio between the highest and lowest paid permanent staff member in Australia (including superannuation) as at 30 June 2010 was 4.8:1. www.plan.org.au

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our organisation

Our staff Staff profile At the end of 2010 there were 47 employees working at Plan in Australia, all located at our Australian office in Melbourne. We also engaged up to 15 contractors at any given time to help us manage peak periods.

In 2010 we experienced a surge in funding for our Priority Projects and child sponsorship, allowing and requiring us to expand the Programs department as well as the Marketing and Communications department.

FULL TIME

PART TIME

Workplace flexibility is an important part of our value proposition to staff. We offer flexible start and finish times and 20% of employees work part time. We also equip some staff with technology to work from home to reduce the time they spend travelling to and from the office.

Recruitment and remuneration We take great care to ensure that the people who join our team are the right fit and are given the greatest chance of success. For this reason, we follow a five-step recruitment process that maximises the potential to hire individuals who are the right fit to the organisation, while balancing the need to be a diverse and inclusive work place.

We advertise all our vacancies online on our website, on the ACFID website and on employment websites. Applicants are assessed against the key competencies of the role, the skill gaps in the team and their interest in the not-forprofit sector. We then conduct a selection process that generally involves two rounds of interviews and aptitude and psychometric testing.

30

15

11

Our recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to the safety and protection of children in our activities. As part of the selection process candidates are required to undergo police checks and working with children checks. Plan in Australia is an equal opportunity employer.

1

FEMALE

FEMALE

MALE

MALE

For details of our remuneration policy please see page 55.

Staff numbers by department executive

CCCD

marketing & communications

Corporate services

Total

2010

2

16

21

8

47

2009

2

12

21

8

43

2008

2

10

18

8

38

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Satisfaction The Plan in Australia Employee Survey was conducted in January 2010, and as a result of the survey a number of initiatives have been implemented. We are currently reviewing methods for measuring and addressing staff satisfaction, with the next survey expected to take place in January 2011.

Retention Turnover at Plan in Australia is typically low, sitting at 5% for this year. Turnover is calculated as follows: Turnover = no. of voluntary terminations

total permanent headcount for the year

Generally speaking, outgoing staff usually leave in order to return to study, to travel, or to pursue their own ventures.

Performance management A formal performance management system is used to manage and measure performance, from the CEO through to all levels of the organisation.

We use an annual performance cycle that starts with goal setting, followed by a mid-year review and concluding with a formal end-of-year review.

To ensure we are all focussing our energy on achieving the same goals, the CEO first has his goals set by the Board, who determine the goals in consultation with him, and with guidance from the strategy and the external environment. Once the CEO has agreed his goals with the Board, he then works with other members of the SMT to set their goals, which will be closely aligned with his. Each SMT member then works with their teams to align their goals to the SMT member’s goals. Through the cascading of goals from the CEO through to every staff member, and formal mid-year and end-of-year checkpoints, we ensure we deliver on our strategy.

Head office staff from Plan International Australia display their ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign t-shirts.

Although a formal performance management process is in place, the focus of performance management at Plan in Australia is very much on regular conversations between line managers and employees and ‘in the moment feedback’.

There should be no surprises at the formal performance appraisal checkpoints.

Learning and development We endeavour to foster a learning environment where every employee receives opportunities to develop. A key part of this is providing each employee with a learning budget to spend as agreed with their line manager. Many employees use this money to fund part of their higher education. Others use it for short courses and training programs. Learning and development plans are formalised with line managers as part of the performance management process.

For the past four years Plan in Australia has successfully supported one participant in the prestigious Asialink program. Asialink is an exciting leadership program designed to build stronger relations and understanding between Australian and Asian business and community. Run by Melbourne University, it builds participants’ leadership skills through access to key business and community leaders and an opportunity to make a tangible

contribution through a workplace project. This year our Corporate Sponsorship Manager is participating in this program.

Other learning and development initiatives include lunchtime presentations by local and visiting international Plan staff and monthly ‘Chalpal’ meetings (see below).

Communication All SMT members hold regular departmental meetings with their staff. Due to the high volume of travel that takes place in the Child-Centred Community Development department, ‘at home’ weeks are held four times a year, where program team staff are required to be in the office rather than travelling. During these times program staff come together for knowledge sharing, learning and development and socialising.

Once a month, a town hall meeting known as ‘Chalpal’ (meaning ‘a discussion’ in Nepalese) is held for all staff. Leadership Team staff emcee the meeting and staff contribute to the agenda by putting forward subjects they would like to discuss. The objective is to learn from each other’s experiences by sharing news, knowledge, opinions and stories. Recent topics include ‘Early Childhood Development in Developing Countries’ and ‘Growing up in Africa’, where two African-born employees cooked traditional Zimbabwean food for staff to sample and talked

about their lives growing up in Africa. Once a quarter, the SMT uses Chalpal as a forum to update all staff on our progress against the strategy.

Other vehicles for communication include an electronic noticeboard on our intranet. Staff are also invited, on a rotating basis, to have a sandwich lunch with the Board after board meetings. Our floor has also been designed to enhance informal communication through informal meeting points at utilities and a cafe style lunch room.

Intern program As part of our commitment to building capacity and talent in the international development sector, in 2010 Plan in Australia developed a pilot intern program, to be fully implemented in 2011. We’re aiming to deliver a robust program of experiences that accelerate the learning and development of a group of future program managers and other key personnel in the organisation, and will look to expand the program over coming years based on the pilot outcomes.

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our organisation

our volunteers Volunteers play a crucial role in both day-today operations and many of the activities we undertake locally and overseas. They bring with them a wealth of experience, passion for our cause and a willingness to do that little bit extra that makes a huge difference to our work.

office volunteers by

office volunteers by

AGE

gender

office volunteers

35.7%

Our office volunteers add to the culture of our Supporter Service team and are an integral part of our working team.

In 2010 there were 14 regular office volunteers working as part of our Supporter Service team.

Each volunteer typically assisted one or two days per week, and as a team they represented 1.8 full-time team members. Most of our office volunteers are retired from full-time work, are long-term Plan supporters, and have been volunteering with us for a number of years.

They bring a vast range of professional skills, knowledge and life experience from their own careers and lives.

Roles Volunteers in our Australian National Office engage with a diverse range of tasks throughout the year. They generally manage the thousands of incoming and outgoing mail items each week, complete data entry, manage our stores of marketing collateral and many other clerical tasks. They also assist with regular duties in our accounts receivable team and play an important role in the smooth processing of supporter contributions each week.

Recruitment Office volunteers are recruited by our Supporter Service team. Opportunities to volunteer with Plan in Australia are advertised through our regular e-zines, and applicants are interviewed and selected according to their suitability and level of interest. Successful applicants are required to undertake police checks.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

6

4

3

1

Profile

64.3%

18-30*

51-65*

FEMALE

31-50*

66+*

MALE

*Estimated age only

Training All office volunteers team receive on-the-job training to become familiar with tasks and processes. The number of training hours depends on the level and type of tasks the volunteer will be undertaking. Volunteers also attend Child Protection training when sessions are held in-house for Plan staff.

Recognition & satisfaction Volunteer recognition and satisfaction are important considerations for our organisation.

We aim to ensure our office volunteers receive encouragement and acknowledgement of their contribution, and that they are socially integrated in the organisation. Each year we recognise the important contribution of our office volunteers by participating in National Volunteer Week. During this week we hold a daily morning tea where our CEO presents our volunteers with Certificates of Appreciation.

Over the coming year we will be working towards better ways to measure and monitor

volunteer satisfaction as part of our existing staff satisfaction processes.

In-kind support Plan in Australia is grateful for in-kind support offered by our corporate and business partners.

In 2010, the following organisations provided pro bono services: Corrs Chambers WestGarth and Landers & Rogers provided legal advice, Protiviti provided risk consulting and the Westpac P&O Risk team provided support in database management. These pro bono services helped Plan in Australia to reduce operating costs and utilise key skills to deliver our core activities.

Some of our corporate partners also volunteered their time and skills through developing volunteer groups at work and raising funds and awareness for Plan. For example, Hobsons organised a staff team for the Run Melbourne half marathon and Westpac P&O Risk organised a trivia night in celebration of the World Cup while raising funds for Plan in Australia.

“We would like to thank all our volunteers who donate their valuable time in the office, who fundraise in their communities, are involved in Friends of Plan groups and raise awareness of Plan in Australia.�

Aimee Suchard-Lowe, Marketing and Communications Director

Plan volunteers, Tom and Bob lend their time at Head Office.

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59

our finances

6060 Plan Plan International International Australia Australia Annual Annual Report Report 2010 2010

As a not-for-profit organisation, we consider our financial accountability as critically important, and always strive to achieve the highest standards of transparency.

Girls learning in class at a Plan-supported school in Battorkorpe, Ghana.

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61

our finances

overview THE YEAR IN REVIEW

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

INVESTMENTS

Plan in Australia consolidated its excellent 2009 result ($39.3 million) with another strong performance in 2010, delivering total income of $38.1 million. While lower World Food Programme income contributed to a 3% decrease in total income, core revenue from Public and Australian Grants increased significantly. Total Expenditure of $13.6 million increased by 57% (2009, $8.7 million) primarily in the areas of sponsorship acquisition and program support. 2010 presented an opportunity for a significant investment in sponsorship acquisition which was successful and delivered 16,966 (2009, 7732) new sponsorships for the year. This resulted in total sponsorships at year end reaching a record level of 49,677.

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2009 presented a challenging environment from both a financial and operational perspective.

Plan in Australia had engaged in specific growth strategies that required investment in both people and resources which were placed at risk by the crisis. The organisation considered the risk and decided to continue to pursue its strategies with a view that the crisis would be short term rather than long term. The decision proved to be sound as the economy emerged from the GFC in 2010, with the organisation in a strong position to take advantage of opportunities in both fundraising and program expansion.

Plan in Australia has a conservative investment strategy comprising of four key components:

The organisation relocated from its premises at 1/533 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne to 18/60 City Road Southbank in late June. The new premises offer a greater floor space of 1,055.4 sqm (previously 556.3 sqm) to meet current organisational requirements and future growth.

A ten year lease was signed with a significant incentive of $0.9 million.

RESERVES Appropriate reserves are maintained to meet current and future responsibilities and obligations. At the end of the financial year our reserves were $3.4 million.

1) Cash based (bank bills, term deposits, government bonds).

2) Individual investments are limited to a maximum of $400K. 3) Exposure to institutions is limited to a maximum of $500K. 4) Institutions must have a minimum Standard & Poors (S&P) Australian rating of no less than A-1 or AAAm for short term investments or no less than A for medium to long-term investments.

In 2010 our investments performed in line with budget.

Risk management Plan in Australia sees the development of a strong risk culture as the overarching component of our risk management framework. Making risk management an integral part of our organisational culture is essential to improving the organisation’s strategic planning and decision making. This involves ensuring that risk management is embedded into business as usual and not seen as distinct from day-today activities.

Our Risk Management policy sets out the way in which risks facing the organisation should be assessed, monitored and reported, and details the responsibilities within the organisation for risk.

LOOKING FORWARD

Children receive relief food from Plan in Quang Tri province, Vietnam, after Typhoon Ketsana caused floods and landslides in Vietnam killing at least 31 people and forcing 170,000 to flee their homes.

Plan in Australia helped to fund the emergency response.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Over the next five years the organisation will seek to consolidate its past growth and strengthen its support structure to ensure the robust platform necessary to provide the framework for additional revenue growth, program delivery and market presence. Key areas will be maintaining and forming new partnerships with grant funders and further engagement with the public.

“Financial stability and strength allow Plan in Australia to deliver on our core values and responsibilities and take advantage of new opportunities to help many more children in the developing world.�

Gerard Dell’Oste, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

A mother carries her young son, who was diagnosed as moderately malnourished and has received therapeutic food packages through a health centre built by Plan

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63

OUR FINANCES

RESULTS INCOME WHERE OUR SUPPORT COMES FROM Plan in Australia raises income support from the community and institutions. Our total revenue was $38.1 million in 2010. Community support is money received from the Australian public and business. Our result of over $25 million can be attributed to strong growth in sponsorships, and donations to appeals including the Haiti emergency. We attained an increase of over 90% on Institutional Grants which are received from the Australian Government and multilateral bodies such as the UN. Plan receives Food Aid support from the World Food Programme (WFP); this is food assistance given through Plan to communities and is mostly in the form of Gift In Kind rather than cash. In 2010 this was 73% lower than the previous year due to changed needs in the field. Other income ($186,940) is money arising from investments, merchandise and other incidentals.

HOW SUPPORT IS TRENDING We have been experiencing strong healthy growth in our support over the last three years.

This has been driven from consistent upward trends in community support and institutional grants and both areas made significant jumps in 2010. Food Aid from WFP has fluctuated from year to year and is based upon global food shortages as assessed by WFP. The full version of Plan’s Financial Statements are available at www.plan.org.au or on request from the Plan office, tel: 13 7526.

OVERALL

SOURCE

SUPPORT (2010)

OF SUPPORT (2010)

$186,940 $3,621,200

9.5%

.5%

$9,070,772 23.8% $25,187,045

66.2%

COMM UN ITY SU PPORT

WF P FOOD AID

INST ITUT IONAL GR ANTS

OTH ER

3-YEAR TREND ON SUPPORT (2008–2010)

2008

2009

2010

$40,000,000

$30,000,000

$20,000,000

$10,000,000

0

COMMUNITY SUPPORT 64

Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS

WFP FOOD AID

OTHER

TOTAL

Expenditure HOW MONEY WAS USED We use the support raised in four main ways. Our primary focus is funding our overseas programs for children. The other components include reinvesting in fundraising to find new donors and thus secure support for future years work with children; educating the community about global poverty and children’s rights; and regular administration of the organisation in Australia. The amount reinvested in fundraising varies from year to year depending on the opportunities that present to grow our supporter base.

This year presented an opportunity to grow the donor base by more than 20% which required a significant investment.

This investment is expected to return significantly increased levels of income over the next three years.

This chart shows where funds from Australia were committed in 2010. In any year, special needs may result in small changes to the distribution due to events like emergencies. This will only occur under strict policy settings established by the Plan International Board.

how the money was used

2008-2010 plus three-year average (expressed as a % of total income) 3 Year average 2010 (%)

Administration

2009 (%) 2008 (%)

fundraising costs

Community education

overseas projects 0%

30%

60%

90%

where the support for our program work was allocated % 8% 12% 35%

45%

Asia

West Africa

Eastern & Southern Africa

the Americas

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65

our finances

income statement for the year ended 30 June 2010 plan international australia ABN 49 004 875 807 2010 $

2009 $

22,642,138 1,204,943 1,200,854 25,047,935 0 139,110

19,284,180 651,024 942,800 20,878,004 0 53,532

Investment Income Other Income Revenue for International Political or Religious Proselytisation programs

8,552,483 258,785 3,621,200 259,504 12,691,972 169,480 17,460 0

4,495,248 231,700 13,281,044 53,877 18,061,869 326,284 14,804 0

Total Revenue

38,065,957

39,334,493

21,451,858 1,313,396 760,000 23,525,254 222,862

31,021,220 932,388 760,000 32,713,608 223,643

Accountability and Administration Non-Monetary Expenditure Total International Aid and Development Programs Expenditure Expenditure for International Political or Religious Proselytisation Programs Domestic Programs Expenditure

9,265,964 21,718 9,287,682 2,020,831 0 35,056,629 0 0

5,018,089 3,587 5,021,676 1,745,906 0 39,704,833 0 0

Total Expenditure

35,056,629

39,704,833

3,009,328

(370,340)

REVENUE Donations and Gifts • Monetary - Child Sponsorship - Appeals - Other Cash Donations • Non-Monetary Legacies and Bequests Grants • AusAID • Other Australian • World Food Program • Other Overseas

EXPENDITURE International Aid and Development Programs Expenditure International Programs • Funds to International Programs • Program Support Costs • Remittances to Burnet Institute Community Education Fundraising Costs • Public • Government, Multilateral and Private

Excess / (Shortfall) of Revenue Over Expenditure

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Balance sheet As at 30 June 2010 plan international australia ABN 49 004 875 807 2010 $

2009 $

ASSETS Current Assets Cash and Cash Equivalents Trade and Other Receivables Inventories Assets Held for Sale Other Financial Assets Total Current Assets

5,338,960 1,136,860 0 0 425,000 6,900,820

2,094,851 217,224 0 0 1,220,000 3,532,075

Non-Current Assets Trade and Other Receivables Other Financial assests Property, Plant & Equipment Investment Property Intangibles Other Non-current Assets Total Non-Current Assets

0 0 972,724 0 46,530 0 1,019,254

0 0 157,911 0 139,046 0 296,957

TOTAL ASSETS

7,920,074

3,829,032

LIABILITIES Current Liabilities Trade and Other Payables Borrowings Current Tax Liabilities Other Financial Liabilities Provisions Other Total Current Liabilities

3,214,297 0 60,026 0 324,827 0 3,599,150

1,005,450 0 0 0 276,783 0 1,282,233

0 0 10,233 923,475 933,708

0 0 20,979 0 20,979

TOTAL LIABILITIES

4,532,858

1,303,212

NET ASSETS

3,387,216

2,525,820

EQUITY Reserves TOTAL EQUITY

3,387,216 3,387,216

2,525,820 2,525,820

Non-Current Liabilities Borrowings Other Financial Liabilities Provisions Other Total Non-Current Liabilities

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67

our finances

Statement of changes in equity for the year ended 30 June 2010 plan international australia ABN 49 004 875 807

Balance at 1 July 2009 Adjustment or changes in equity due to, for example, adoptions of new accounting standards changes in equity, for example from changes in asset fair value transactions Excess of revenue over expenses Other amounts transferred (to) or from reserves: Balance at 30 June 2010

Retained Earnings

Reserves

Total

0 0 0 3,009,328 (3,009,328)

2,525,820 0 0 0 861,396

2,525,820 0 0 3,009,328 (2,147,932)

0

3,387,216

3,387,216

Statement of Cash Movements for Designated Purposes No single appeal, grant or other form of fund raising for a designated purpose generated 10% or more of the organisation’s international aid and development revenue for the financial year.

Plan is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct. The Code requires members to meet high standards of corporate governance, public accountability and financial management. More information about the ACFID Code of Conduct can be obtained from Plan and from ACFID at www.acfid.asn.au or by email on main@acfid.asn.au. Tel: (02) 6285 1816. Fax: (02) 6285 1720.

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Independent audit report to the members of Plan International Australia Report on the financial report We have audited the accompanying summarised financial report of Plan International Australia, comprise the balance sheet as at 30 June 2010, income statement and statement of changes in equity for the year then ended, which was derived from the financial report of Plan International Australia for the year ended 30 June 2010. We expressed an unmodified auditor’s opinion on that financial report in our auditor’s report dated 23 September 2010.

The responsibility of the Directors for the summarised financial report The Directors are responsible for the preparation and presentation of the summarised financial report.

Auditor’s responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the summarised financial report based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards. These Auditing Standards require that we comply with relevant ethical requirements relating to audit engagements.

Auditor’s opinion In our opinion, the information reported in the summarised financial report is consistent, in all material respects, with the financial report from which it was derived. For a better understanding of the scope of our audit, this auditor’s report should be read in conjunction with our audit report on the financial report.

PricewaterhouseCoopers

D. Rosenberg, Partner

Melbourne 23 September 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers ABN 52 780 433 757 Freshwater Place, 2 Southbank Boulevard, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006 Telephone 61 3 8603 100

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010

Children from the Ecole Nationale de Pasquette primary school play in front of partially constructed classroom being built by Plan.

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.

Global Reporting Initiative Plan International Australia is focussed on increased transparency for all our stakeholders through our Annual Report. With this in mind, we are using the Global Reporting Initiative as a guide to our improvements with a view to full participation in this standard in the future.

Our Patron Plan International Australia is honoured to have Her Excellency, Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia as our Patron.

We give special thanks for her support and endorsement of the Because I am a Girl report.

This publication has been printed by an ISO 14001 environmental management system & ISO 9001 quality management system certified printer, which holds Sustainability Victoria Wastewise Gold accreditation and is printed on an ecologically rated printing press using a chemical recirculation system and 100% vegetable based inks. It is printed on ecoStar, a FSC Recycled certified paper made carbon neutral (CN), and manufactured from 100% post consumer recycled paper in a process chlorine free environment and under an ISO 14001 EMS. Production of this publication has been carbon offset retiring 1,308 kgs of CO2. This publication is fully recyclable, please dispose of wisely. www.plan.org.au

71

13 PLAN (13 7526) www.plan.org.au Plan 18/60 City Road Southbank VIC 3006 GPO Box 2818 Melbourne VIC 3001 Tel: 13 7526 Fax: +61 (3) 9670 1130 Email: info@plan.org.au A.B.N. 49 004 875 807

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Plan International Australia Annual Report 2010