At Plan International, we redefine what it means to support a child. Discover the transformative power of The Plan Effect, a unique and powerful approach to child sponsorship that goes beyond traditional methods to create lasting, community-wide impact.
They support entire communities. And together, they make the rest of our life-changing programs possible. That powerful synergy is something we call The Plan Effect.
The Plan Effect is our unique approach to sponsorship and community-based programs. It creates holistic developments for children and their families, from improvements in health care to increases in girls’ school enrolment and anything in between.
See The Plan Effect
Plan International’s sponsorship programs are launched in partnership with community leaders and children and are tailored to address community-specific challenges. This can include making sure children have birth certificates, training families to manage livestock, growing school gardens or supporting education ̶ and much more!
Plan International builds long-term relationships, trust and credibility by working closely with families, community leaders and local partners. That also helps us understand the unique community context and help create solutions that address the barriers that hold children back.
The way we collaborate helps open the door for even more programs that bring transformational change to the same communities. These programs are funded by grants, institutional partners and other contributors and make big positive changes in areas like health, sanitation and more.
When humanitarian crises strike, Plan International can respond quickly because we already have an established presence in the communities. Whether it’s a food shortage, conflict, or extreme weather events like drought or flooding, we can shift our programs to address the most urgent needs.
The power of sponsorship and grant projects working together brings benefits for sponsored children, their families and all children in the community. Sponsorship is the catalyst that makes it possible to create even more sustainable solutions together, so we can advance children’s rights and equality for girls and drive significant change, in communities and around the world.
The Plan Effect’s approach is unique to Plan International. Its effect is well-tested ̶ and exponential! Here’s an example:
Plan has run sponsorship programs in Bolivia for more than 50 years. In 2018, our partner Global Affairs Canada supported a $10.9 million project in areas of Bolivia where we already had active sponsorship. The Achieving Reproductive Rights for Bolivian Adolescents (ARRIBA) project addressed sensitive issues related to teen pregnancy, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and child, early and forced marriage – topics that are taboo in many of the areas where we work.
We found that families were more interested in having their children participate in the project and explore these topics because they trusted Plan and the sponsorship programs they already knew.
Thanks to this built-in trust – made possible by sponsors like you – we could support more teens and women so they could shape their own futures.
That’s one of the reasons we exceeded our targets for the ARRIBA project by 131%, reaching 64,500 people! Read the full progress report.
Availa has volunteered to help run sponsorship activities for 19 years in her community. She understands the needs and hopes of her neighbours and the challenges in her area. Sixty families trust her for information and guidance on sensitive matters, from sexual health to violence in the home.
“In the training sessions from Plan, we learn how to deal with these issues, and we share that with the people in our communities,” Availa says. “Volunteers are always in contact with families, especially young people,” she adds. Availa and sponsorship volunteers like her ensure strong relationships are built that lead to sustainable changes.
Fifteen-year-old Darline has made the most of the three years she has participated in sponsorship by also joining our youth-network programs. She has acted in the role of a politician for a day and helped create a weekly radio program for teens that has provided a platform for young leaders like her to lobby for change. “We create awareness, like how to avoid unwanted pregnancies. We also reach teachers and leaders who listen to the program,” says Darline.
Part of the ARRIBA project aimed to support women’s self-sufficiency through greenhouse initiatives, which were possible thanks to Gifts of Hope supporters who gave the Plant a Community Garden gift. “We formed an association called Apache,” says Amalia, a mother who started one of 12 greenhouse business groups. “[Plan International Canada] gave us seeds and training.”
Discover why Plan International is a leader in children’s rights and protection, health, education, protection from violence, youth leadership and economic empowerment and humanitarian response and resilience.
Plan International Canada is a member of a global organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. In 2023, 9.3 million people, including 6.2 million children (3.2 million girls), were reached by Plan International Canada’s work.
Millions of children around the world are denied access to basic human rights. Become a sponsor and help children and their communities access their rights to education, health care, safety and more.
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