Many of the countries where Plan UK works are affected by the increase in disasters, destroying lives, homes, livelihoods and entire communities and compromising children’s rights to survival, protection and development.
Where disasters strike, Plan UK, in coordination with the other Plan national organisations, responds in the areas it can serve most effectively.
Protecting childen in disasters
We work to protect the rights of children and young people during emergencies, ensuring their immediate and long-term needs are met. With our extensive relationships and knowledge of communities, local structures and institutions, we are best placed to help children and their families when disaster strikes.
Child protection is central to our work and we provide children with safe spaces, education and emotional support as a priority in our disaster response.
We work directly with community members, children and their families. We collaborate with other humanitarian agencies, government agencies and civil society. In doing so we work to ensure appropriate emergency responses, and address all aspects of child rights, including the rights to survival, protection and development.
Preparing communities for future disasters
We work to strengthen the resilience of at-risk communities, enabling them to better provide for the safety and well-being of their children. Whilst we work with communities to reduce their vulnerability to disasters today and prepare them for future events, we actively integrate our emergency work with our long-term development programmes.
We ensure that, in rebuilding people’s lives when recovering from disasters, vulnerable communities acquire the awareness and skills to better understand the risks they face, and thus take appropriate action to make their communities safer, integrating strategies of disaster risk reduction, good governance, environmental sustainability and conflict sensitivity.
Involving children and young people in rebuilding their communities
Children and young people have proved to be very effective advocates for changes to minimise the impact of disasters and contribute to their safety and that of their communities. Plan works to integrate their participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation process of our emergency work. It works to increase recognition among international and national policy-makers, academia and the media of children’s and young people’s importance in risk reduction and the management of disasters.
Plan adheres to the SPHERE Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, which set quality and accountability standards for organisations involved in humanitarian assistance.
Plan is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief, and has agreed to comply with the ten principles of the Code.