Spotlight Interview- Anne-Marie- Plan International

Mental HealthChildrens Mental HealthSingle Parent ChildrenDomestic Abuse

Sep 16

Anne-Marie, Wales Development Manager talks to us about Plan International, a global children’s charity striving for a fairer world, their recent project Champions of Wales building a network of champions of equality in their communities and how they’re tackling gender based violence.

Tell us about Plan International and how it started?

Plan International is a global children’s charity striving for a fairer world. One where every child can reach their full potential and every girl can choose her own future.   

We bring people together to protect children’s rights and keep girls safe, in school and in control of their bodies – even when disaster strikes.  

We won’t stop until we are all equal.

Plan International was founded in 1937 by British journalist and broadcaster John Langdon-Davies to support children orphaned during the Spanish Civil War.

He wanted to provide not only food, shelter and education to the children but also a sense that someone, somewhere, was thinking about them as an individual. This was the beginning of child sponsorship that is still at the core of our work.

Over the decades, we have extended our work to other parts of the world, from Asia and the Pacific to Africa and the Americas. But our focus remains the same – supporting every child to reach their full potential.

What is your vision within the UK and globally?

Poverty, violence and discrimination still hold back millions of children. And in this unequal world, it’s often girls that are most affected. Just for being girls. Denied the chance to go to school. To make decisions about their lives. To achieve their dreams.

It’s not fair, and it’s not right. Our mission is to change this.

Every child should have the opportunity to learn. Education is every child’s right and equips them with knowledge, skills, and confidence for life.
Every girl should live free from violence. From experiencing harassment on the streets to being forced to marry, the threat of violence still follows girls through every stage of their life.
Every girl should have control of her body and her future. Too often girls do not have access to knowledge and services needed to make informed decisions about their bodies.
Every child should be safe, protected and supported when an emergency hits, too. The inequalities children face are often even more devastating in a crisis.

These are just some of the goals that we are tirelessly working towards. We focus our efforts on areas that have the biggest impact on tackling inequality, and where we know we can create lasting change.

Can you tell us more about your UK based work?

We have a big focus on campaigning and influencing for change that will positively affect girls in the UK. We have just released our latest State of Girls Rights UK report which  was the biggest ever exercise in listening to girls’ voices ever conducted by Plan International in the UK. It makes some interesting reading State of Girls Rights | Plan International UK (plan-uk.org).

The #CrimeNotCompliment campaign was launched in partnership with grassroots, youth-led organisation Our Streets Now. Young people have been at the heart of our campaign - they are the real experts on what needs to change and are the ones who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue. Together with youth activists around the country, we’ve succeeded in changing the law that will have direct impact on their lives – we couldn’t, and shouldn’t, have done it without them. Check out some of the girls who have been part of this wave of change. Crime not Compliment | Plan International UK (plan-uk.org)

Supported by Astrazeneca we deliver the Young Health Programme UK which focuses on Greater Manchester and Cambridgeshire and works with partners to deliver activities around youth wellbeing and mental health.

Over the last few years we have also delivered a range of projects & initiatives in Wales which have focussed on gender equality, safety and empowerment.

Can you tell us more about your projects in Wales?

Our work in Wales started with the Champions of Wales which was a three-year programme funded by the Moondance Foundation. Champions of Wales was a girls’ rights programme whose goal was to build young people’s skills and confidence to become champions of equality in their communities and to catalyse systemic change for young people across Wales.

We went on to develop

EDGE (Education developing Gender Equality) which was a programme working in schools to address peer on peer sexual harassment via education on gender stereotypes, healthy relationships & gender based violence.
Young Changemakers programme awarding microgrants directly to young people aged 13-24 empowering them to become agents of social change
The Girls’ Rights Collective (GRC) was established in Wales in 2021 as a pilot and expanded to the UK in 2022 following its success. The GRC fosters a unified approach to address the multifaceted issues facing girls in the UK through four pillars: convening, collaborating, challenging, and celebrating the girls’ rights sector. The Collectives bring together a network of organisations, academics and activists working with girls to accelerate the realisation of girls’ rights.

More recently our work in Wales has been focussed on prevention of gender based violence. Meaningful engagement with boys and young men to reframe healthy and non-violent definitions of masculinity is critical for achieving true gender equality. As well as our campaigning work on public sexual harassment, together, with partners and allies, we raise awareness, highlight the importance of early preventative work and work closely with professionals who support boys and young men – to help promote Healthy Relationships and reduce violence against women and girls.

In autumn 2023, we hosted New Zealand based TEDx speakers and best-selling authors Matt and Sarah Brown from She Is Not Your Rehab to deliver a series of exciting events across Wales with young people and professionals, you can see the impact of some of this work here Our Work in Wales

We are also a partner delivering a pilot of national bystander training which aims to equip people with the skills to challenge potential harmful situations such as sexual harassment in public places. Available with SPW on the 7th October, book here or if you can’t make the 7th Apply for free bystander intervention training | GOV.WALES