Habitat

More than one billion people either have no home, or live in inadequate housing.

Plan views children's habitat both in terms of the physical environment in which they live and the social structures of their communities. The physical environment includes the natural environment and the physical infrastructure of their communities, including water supplies, school building and their homes.

Communities build social structures in order to organise themselves and to interact with the outside world. Plan works with these structures to encourage the participation of children and to raise the awareness of issues they face.

Through our child-centred approach, we have understood that simply building physical infrastructure is not enough to ensure children's rights are secured. If it is to be appropriately used by children, the design of these infrastructures needs to be child-friendly, children need to be educated in their use and involved in their maintenance, and communities and families need to recognise the importance of these things.

For example, small children are more likely to use toilets in schools if they are child-sized and children are more likely to wash their hands if they are aware of the reasons why it is important and are involved in the maintenance of the water supply.

Children and young people often have a very different view from adults of what problems should be addressed in their communities. They are usually much more concerned about relationships and social issues such as violence and substance abuse. The involvement of children and young people in community organisations is essential if these concerns are to be understood and addressed by the adults.

Some projects and case studies