Saying “No!” to child exploitation

Every 4 years, the FIFA World Cup captivates audiences across the globe. This year, all eyes are on Brazil, which is hosting this year’s World Cup.
While the World Cup is an exciting month-long event, the influx of tourists from around the world can also expose vulnerable children to violence and exploitation. The facts speak for themselves:

• It’s estimated that there are 500,000 children in the sex industry in Brazil
• Sexual violence is the second most reported crime against children in Brazil, with most victims aged 10 to 14.
• Child sexual exploitation during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa increased by 63% and by 87% at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

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Fundraise

Ready to Get Creative for Change?

Have fun, raise money, help children realise their potential: these are the basics of fundraising for Plan. We're here to support you – all we need is your imagination and passion to make the world a better place for children. Thousands of Australians have already rallied to the cause, making an enormous contribution to our work – join us!

Read more here!

An adventure to Nepal and memories to last forever

As a podiatrist based in Canmore, Alberta, Dr. Wotton has been caring for people throughout his entire career. As a professional, he’s helped thousands of Canadians back on their feet, but over the last few years, Dr. Wotton began lending his support outside of Canada, too.

He began sponsoring a young girl through Plan Canada named Sujita from Nepal. They exchanged letters and he received updates from Plan, learning how his child sponsorship was impacting Sujita and her community. Not long after, Dr. Wotton planned a trip to visit Sujita in Nepal.

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The day she met her sponsored child, everything changed

As Anna began her trip down a long dirt road in rural El Salvador, she began getting nervous. She was about to meet her sponsored child, Lisandro, for the first time. Although Anna and Lisandro had been exchanging letters for two years, meeting him face-to-face felt different.

“I knew that he was going to school and loved baseball and soccer, and that his big wish is to have a bike one day,” explained Anna. “His letters are short and sweet, but very special to me.”

What Anna was feeling was normal. What will Lisandro say? Will he be too nervous? Was he happy Anna was coming to visit him? Her adrenaline was racing.

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How you can help get 29 million more children in the classroom

Education can lift communities out of poverty. It helps children reach their full potential, and it can help economies flourish and promote the rights of women and girls. Every girl, boy, woman and man is entitled to an education.

But around the world, 1 in 10 children is denied their right to an education. In fact, 126 million children are currently not in school – 57 million of these children are primary school aged.

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Support our Plan for Girls

Make a one-off donation to GirlsFund

A one-off donation to GirlsFund will help fight gender inequality and champion girls' rights – helping children lead their families and communites out of extreme poverty.

Read more here!

Real life dads share their personal stories of change

There’s something exciting about receiving a letter in the mail. It almost feels foreign in a generation filled with emails, texts and instant messaging. So when we receive letters from the people our work benefits around the world, it’s hard not to get a little sentimental.

This Father’s Day, we wanted to share some of the letters we’ve received from fathers around the world who have benefited from our work in maternal, newborn and child health. How do men benefit? Well, a big part of our work is to engage dads in the health and well-being of their partners and children.

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What do the girls of Ecuador dream about?

All girls have dreams. In Ecuador, not all girls can fulfill these dreams. More than 60 per cent of people live in poverty in Ecuador, including 3 million children. So what do the girls of Ecuador dream about? Their futures.

Plan asked 1,200 girls aged 12–16 to write a letter to the Ecuadorian government listing the barriers they face from reaching their potential and to support them with national policies to fight gender inequality. They were also asked to draw their their hopes for the future.

Here's what the girls of Ecuador dream of growing up to be.

In numbers: Plan’s results in maternal, newborn and child health

Did you know that the risk of a woman dying during childbirth in her lifetime here in Canada is 1 in 5,200? In other parts of the world, the risk is much higher. For example, for women living in Africa, the risk is 1 in 40.

At the same time, millions of children are dying before they reach their 5th birthday, mainly due to preventable causes like pneumonia, measles and diarrhea.

That’s why we’re working in 2,753 remote communities across 7 countries – Ghana, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Mali, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Bolivia – to provide life-saving care to moms, babies and children.

Thanks to the generous support of 25,500 Canadian donors and the Canadian government, our work is saving the lives of thousands, and creating a brighter future for generations to come.

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From Cup to Crop

Nearly one billion people around the world are suffering from hunger. There is enough food to feed the global population, so why does this problem exist?

The 'Hunger Gap' occurs when last season's food crops run out, and the new season's are not yet ready to harvest. Even in countries where rain has broken the drought, and fields look green, families have nothing to eat.

Read more and support here!

India's tobacco girls: "It must stop with me"

Extreme poverty, lack of education and scant livelihood opportunities have for generations forced hundreds of families in the town of Kadiri in India's Andhra Pradesh to rely on beedi rolling as their only means of survival. Slum clusters in Kadiri have become open-air factories of domestic tobacco industry where women and girls as young as five roll tonnes of tobacco into cigarettes with bare hands and sharp knives daily. They live in crammed, unhygienic conditions, work in oppressive heat, inhale harmful tobacco vapours, and absorb large amounts of nicotine through skin contact. Here is one tobacco girl's story: 

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Singing loud and proud for mothers and babies in Zimbabwe

In rural Zimbabwe, there’s a buzz in the air. It’s not the sound of traffic or the hum of cattle. It’s the sound of a choir group singing songs that have everyone on their feet.

The group is made up of volunteer health workers, community volunteers and Plan staff. Their harmonized songs promote the importance of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH). They may sing about prenatal and postnatal health, using a skilled birth attendant, or visiting a health facility.

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Remembering a special person with a meaningful gift

Doing good and making a difference comes naturally to Sharon Woronuk. She’s a community health worker, a trained nurse, a wife and a devoted mother. Sharon was inspired by someone special to do good at a young age.

As a girl from rural Alberta, Sharon remembers visits from her Aunt Anna after she had spent long stretches overseas. Anna had been living in the Congo since 1960, working as a midwife at a nursing station.

“She brought her slides from the work she was doing there, and the photos of the children from the Congo,” said Sharon. “I think seeing her make a difference and hearing her stories was so inspiring.”

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Plan Adventurers

Rise to the challenge!

Dare to be different and register to become a Plan Adventurer today! 

When you become a Plan Adventurer you will get the opportunity to fundraise for Plan International by joining us on unique adventures around the world.  By committing to a personal physical challenge of your own you will directly impact Plan’s work and see the results firsthand.

If you’re ready for this once in a lifetime experience, sign up now to one of our adventures here!

Seeing the results: Our work to help mothers and children

Becoming a mom shouldn’t be a game of risk – it should be the happiest day of your life. But for many mothers, pregnancy and childbirth is an undertaking full of danger. In fact, 358,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth every year.

Plan Canada and other Canadian organizations played an important role in making sure that maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) was a top priority for the Canadian government at the G8 Summit in 2010. As a result, the Muskoka initiative was born. The initiative was formed to address the significant gaps in the health of mothers, newborns and children in developing countries.

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Plan and Clowns Without Borders show the power of laughter on Network Ten's The Project

Did you catch us on Network Ten's The Project on Friday night? As part of our recovery work following the devastating Typhoon Haiyan Plan is working with Clowns Without Borders to entertain affected children and bring a little light to their lives. Plan Australia CEO Ian Wishart and professional clown Briar Seyb-Hayden explained that entertaining children goes further than a few giggles – it speeds up the healing process. 

“One man said, this is exactly what we needed – it’s brought hope back into the community. You can see that the children are healing,” said Ian Wishart to The Project’s panel.

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Plan International Condemns Widespread Sexual Violence Against Women and Children

In light of the recent spate of reports from India detailing yet another story of a horrific rape case, Plan International condemns widespread sexual violence against women and children.

Two weeks ago, two teenage cousins were gang raped and hanged from a tree in the Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, India, while another young woman was gang raped, strangled, and then had acid poured on her face.

These incidents from India are unfortunately not isolated and reveal the harrowing realities young women and children face on a daily basis in all parts of the World.

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Breaking the Barriers to Girls' Education!

Over 75 million girls are not going to school

One in every three girls around the world is denied an education. Every day, young girls are taken out of school, forced into marriage and subjected to emotional, physical and psychological abuse. Together, we can ensure millions more girls get the education they are entitled to.

Read more here!

Bread and books, not bullets: giving South Sudan a chance

The lives of almost half the population in South Sudan are at stake. We are talking about close to five million people. People at risk of a potential famine, many of them women and children – they are hungry, malnourished and homeless.

During a recent visit to South Sudan to support Plan International’s relief efforts, I met two young girls aged 9 and 4. With fear in her eyes, the elder sister recounted her horrifying tale – how she and her tiny sister witnessed the execution of their own parents by armed men.

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Through Technology, Rural Ghanaian Students Gain Access to the World

Perched on a lush green hill overlooking a valley of palm trees, the Samsam Odumase M/A Junior High School (JHS) boasts a new, state-of-the-art classroom located within its plaster walls. In a rural community in the Ga West District of Ghana, not far from the capital of Accra, the school just received a new computer lab and library.

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Gymnasium deler 43 fadderbørn

Elever og lærere på Borupgaard Gymnasium er gået sammen for at dele fadderskaber for 43 børn i Kenya. Syv elever og en lærer rejste for nyligt på fadderbesøg.

 

"Det er den største oplevelse nogensinde", fortæller syv elever og deres lærer fra Borupgaard Gymnasium, der for nyligt rejste fra Ballerup til Bondo i Kenya for at besøge seks af gymnasiets i alt 43 fadderbørn.

 

Skolens elever og lærere giver hver 10 kroner om måneden for at støtte de unge i Kenya. Et projekt der skaber engagement blandt skolens elever.

 

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Child Development Appeal

Why you are needed...

90% of a child’s development happens before they are 5 years old. In India, too many children miss out on the essentials they need during these critical early years. This can affect a child forever – their IQ may be lower, they may be physically smaller, and they can lack social skills. 

Read more and support here!

Thousands of Syrian refugees in Egypt to receive support from a new aid program launched by Plan

It’s been three years since the bloody conflict in Syria erupted. More than 100,000 have died and millions of women and children are still pouring into neighbouring countries seeking aid, protection and shelter. “Violence has left devastating marks on children’s lives,” says Unni Krishnan, Head of Disaster Preparedness and Response at Plan International.

“We can’t continue to fail them. What is at stake is the lives and future of a whole generation of Syrian children – both refugees in Egypt and children who are displaced within Syria,” he adds.
An estimated 333,000 Syrian refugees are in Egypt, with around 35,000 in the coastal city of Alexandria. Around half of them are children.

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Child sponsorship: A new school of thought

If kids like Leandre rule the world one day, we feel pretty good about the future. Leandre’s a high school senior from North Bay, Ontario, and she’s bringing her passion for change to all students at her school.

She’s making it happen through child sponsorship. Leandre wanted to make a difference and get her classmates involved. So she pitched the idea of sponsoring a child with Plan to her principal.

“I think that this is a good way for high school students to get involved because it makes a difference on a grand scale,” explained Leandre. “It’s not a difficult process to begin and it engages all students in all grades.”

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Meet 3 moms benefiting from our work in maternal health

Every year, 358,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth. That’s over 800 women every day. 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries and the majority of them are preventable. But access to quality health care can save the lives of thousands of mothers and babies every year.

Plan’s work to improve the health of mothers and their babies has impacted thousands of women in hard-to-reach communities across 7 countries – Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Bolivia. Projects in maternal and newborn health include:

• Training health care workers
• Improving health care services offered to mothers before and after childbirth
• Helping mothers access health care
• Ensuring mothers and babies have access to nutritious food
• Providing crucial vaccinations, medication and appropriate treatment.

See it in action! Meet some of the women benefiting from our Work.

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Stop the Hunger

It’s an unlikely place to find a celebrity television chef in a part of the world where 18 million people don't have enough to eat but when reports came out in June that more than 1.5 million children under the age of five across West Africa were without food, celebrity chef and father Manu Feildel boarded a plane to Niger with Plan International Australia, to learn firsthand about the urgent food and nutrition crisis affecting the area and to find out what Australians could do to help.

Watch and read more here!

Børn hjælper børn - Legekæden og Plan Danmark indgår samarbejde

Alle børn elsker at lege! Også syvårige Jackson i det østlige Zambia, som er at af de mange børn, der får glæde af et nyt samarbejde mellem Legekæden og Plan Danmark. Bøger og skolematerialer til udsatte børn i Afrika er nemlig noget af det, Legekædens indsamling går til.

Legekæden, der har i alt 45 lokalt ejede butikker over hele landet, vil årligt donere et fast beløb til Plans arbejde og kunderne kan også donere i en indsamlingsbøsse ved kassen.

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Plan International Supports Healthy Minds and Bodies for Mothers and Children in Sri Lanka

Plan International is fighting malnutrition and supporting health and well-being in Sri Lanka.

 

Mothers in Sri Lanka who said they were worried about child malnutrition are learning new ways to improve their lives and health, as well as those of their children.

Plan is working with the Foundation for Health Promotion and Rajarata University to train local health officials on how to best work with villagers to create an environment where they feel comfortable raising concerns and coming up with their own solutions.

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Plan International Helps Reunite Homeless Teen With Family

A family was brought back together thanks to a Plan-supported Drop-in Center.

 

As a child in Bangladesh, Ashraful knows how fortunate he is to be with his family.

“I have a father who cares for me and a mother who loves me unconditionally,” he said. “I have siblings who hug me when I feel low. I feel protected. I feel happy. But, every child who has lived on the streets is not so lucky. Many of them do not know or remember where their families are.”

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Plan Australia

Throughout the last year the focus of each month has been different covering all of Plan International's core areas and campaigns: education, health, water and sanitation, protection, economic security, emergencies, child participation and sexual health, including HIV, Because I am a Girl, Count Every Child and Learn Without Fear.

Over the next six months, until the end of June, the focus will change to specific Plan foundraising countries and what they do.

The focus of June is Plan Australia.