Plan International USA

Plan International USA is a girls’ rights organization. As part of the Plan International family, we are committed to advancing equality for girls and children’s rights. We see clear links between achieving gender equality and ending poverty. Every girl and boy has the right to be healthy, educated, protected, valued and respected in their own community and beyond. We work together with girls, young people, their families and our supporters and partners to:
— Provide girls, young people and their communities with the tools to tackle the root causes of discrimination against girls.
— Drive change in practice and policy at local, national and global levels through our experience, influence, data and knowledge of the realities children face.
— Partner with and support girls and their communities to prepare for and respond to crises, overcoming adversity.
— Support the safe and successful progression of children from birth to adulthood.

Girls have the power to change the world. Our ambition is to collaborate with them and ensure they are in charge of their own lives. Together we are taking actions so 100 million girls learn, lead, decide and thrive.
— Learn: Improve access to quality education and skills for work.
— Lead: Empower children and youth to act on issues that matter to them.
— Decide: Give girls control over their lives and bodies.
— Thrive: Protect children from harm and ensure they grow up well cared for.

We ensure that girls and boys know their rights and have the skills, knowledge and confidence to fulfill them. A rights-based approach provides the access, tool and skills children and communities need to create long-lasting change.

Our global advocacy not only focuses on international policy but also ensures national governments can meaningfully implement and uphold laws that advance gender equality and children’s rights at the community level. This includes reshaping unequal power relations; ending harmful practices such as child marriage and trafficking; and removing the barriers preventing girls and boys from reaching their full potential.

Plan’s global strategy of reaching 100 million girls and boys through our Learn, Lead, Decide and Thrive model established specific targets linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To improve monitoring and human development outcomes, Plan has joined with a number of leading organizations to create Equal Measures 2030, a partnership that envisions a world where no girl or woman is invisible. This means making sure girls' and women's movements, advocates and decision-makers have easy-to-use data and evidence to guide efforts. While our primary goal is addressing SDG 5 on gender equality, we know reaching this goal requires a holistic approach. Therefore, Plan’s work touches on several related SDGs.

Plan's global strategy aims to reach 100 million girls through our Learn, Lead, Decide and Thrive model. Plan USA’s contribution to this strategy is 10 million girls and is built on two pillars: (1) programs; and (2) public engagement, advocacy and influence.

The program pillar focuses on five impact areas.
1. Gender & Youth Equality: Plan strives to remove harmful barriers like child marriage and human trafficking. We stand up for the rights of young people and ensure that girls can take charge of their futures.
2. Education: Approximately 131 million girls around the world are out of school. Plan provides equal access to quality, uninterrupted education, so that girls, boys and young people can grow into their full potential.
3. Skills & Work: Girls and young women have big goals for their futures, but often, they don’t have the resources, networks, agency and access to pursue them. Plan provides girls and young women with programming that prepares them for professional careers of their choosing.
4. Maternal & Child Health: Too many girls and young women lack access to quality healthcare. Plan is committed to health equity, promoting healthy behaviors and environments, and enabling strong healthcare systems with sexual and reproductive health services so girls and their communities can thrive.
5. Humanitarian Response: Girls in conflict are some of the most vulnerable. We partner with girls and other community members before, during and after emergencies, ensuring their safety, ability to pursue their rights and achieve resilience.

Plan's approach is distinctive, cost-effective and sustainable. Plan's programs emphasize community empowerment and engagement with government actors, creating local ownership of development initiatives and solutions that improve well-being and self-sufficiency. Through more than 240 offices around the world, Plan implements programs with expert staff members and local volunteers, who together bring a deep understanding of local languages, cultures and norms.

Plan’s work with communities actively engages girls. Plan believes that girls should not be seen as beneficiaries, but rather as the drivers of every facet of programming. Our comprehensive, inclusive, girl-centered approach, GirlEngage, amplifies the voices of girls by including them in all stages of the project cycle, from setting goals to program evaluation.

The public engagement, advocacy and influence pillar engages the general public, youth and U.S. policymakers to advance girls’ rights in the U.S. and around the world. This includes deepening Plan’s network of young people through online and in-person events and activations. Plan is using research and insights about gender to increase brand awareness in the U.S., attract supporters and drive policy change. Plan collaborates with coalitions and alliances to support policies that further gender equality, as well as programming that tackles the root causes of poverty.

Plan USA co-designs and implements community-led solutions, leverages longstanding relationships and technical and operational expertise to make a difference in the lives of girls and their communities.

Globally, Plan is a $1 billion organization that partners with over 35,000 organizations in 78 countries across Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, through community-based programs that directly impact millions of people. Plan's advocacy efforts help create, improve and enforce government policies that support girls and their families.

With just over 11,000 employees worldwide, Plan collaborates with girls, children, young people and communities around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality. Our programs are designed and implemented by an innovative, engaged and dedicated workforce, informed by girls themselves, ready to develop solutions for a wide array of challenges.

In 2021, Plan allocated $746 million for community-level, community-led programs. We have worked with girls, young people and communities for 85 years and are committed to making a lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable and excluded children by championing their rights and gender equality.

We aim not only to improve the daily lives of girls, in all of their diversity, but also to advance their position and value in society, while actively engaging with boys and young men to support gender equality. Achieving equality will take all genders working together.

We believe in advancing children’s rights in all contexts, including during conflict and emergencies, where girls face additional dangers. Our programs deliver lasting change against discriminatory norms, policies and laws. We listen to the voices of children in the community, especially girls whose views and needs are frequently overlooked, to ensure that our efforts are relevant and effective. We strengthen the abilities of governments and encourage them to meet their obligations towards child protection and fulfilling children’s rights. We form effective partnerships to address the systemic and structural causes of child rights violations and inequality, and support other humanitarian groups in order to extend our reach beyond the communities we work in. We embolden and equip young people to become active drivers of change by educating them on their rights, creating space for their active participation and providing the tools they need to be successful.

Our programs are gender transformative, rights-based, active in all contexts and at all levels — from local to global — and are achieved in collaboration with other groups, accountable to girls and communities where we work, and to our partners; and informed by girls.

Plan's operating budget is built on a diverse funding base: we partner with individuals and corporate donors, as well as major multilateral and bilateral donors, such as the U.S government, foundations and private organizations.

The following are a few of Plan's accomplishments in FY21, thanks to the support of generous donors around the world.
— More than 50 million children were touched by Plan International’s work, including over 26 million girls.
— More than 66,000 people signed an open letter written by girls calling social media platforms to act on online violence in response to our #FreeToBeOnline research.
– Plan responded to 136 disasters, which included localized responses, as well as large-scale national and regional emergencies.
— More than 5.7 million girls received improved sexual and reproductive health services.
— Access to early childhood development and inclusive education was provided to 6.3 million girls.
— 1.35 million children assisted by investments in the country and community through child sponsorship
— At least 115 laws, policies, regulations or guidelines in areas like protection against violence and access to education, progressed or changed to benefit girls and their families.

Plan has been hard at work for decades providing the tools for girls and their families to live in a world where they are safe, educated, economically stable and are able to play an active role in determining their own future. While we have seen progress on lowering poverty and hunger rates, COVID-19 has set back this progress. Plan is supporting health services through PPE, spreading key messages and advocating for vaccine equity. We are supporting education through radios and digital platforms, and working to change gender norms that are preventing adolescent girls from returning to the classroom. We are supporting those who are responding to disasters to also work alongside health experts to address dual crises, and so working to find solutions to the many ways the pandemic has disturbed the work force and economic security of families. As COVID-19 continues to impact the world, Plan is dedicated to partnering with girls and their communities to support her next step — her next step to whatever life she chooses.