What we do Plan Philippines Country Strategic Plan aims to ensure that all children realise their rights.

In the Philippines, poverty deprives millions of children of their rights to safe drinking water, food, sanitation facilities, shelter, health care, education and information. Around a third of school-aged children work as child labourers - 63% are boys and 37% are girls. Child domestic workers are usually girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 17. Girls are trafficked and recruited for factory work, household help and prostitution. Young children are increasingly becoming targets of child trafficking, exposing them to violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection. In times of disasters, emergencies, and armed conflict, children become even more vulnerable to sexual exploitation, neglect, trafficking, and other forms of harm.

Key goals
To address these issues, Plan Philippines has set the following goals: Education Identify children denied access to education. Design interventions to make education accessible.

Link poor households to existing opportunities to improve their economic status. Strengthen the capacity of children and their families to practice a healthy lifestyle. Enhance the performance of health delivery systems. Help families decide on preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care.

Health

Protect Strengthen child protection mechanisms and structures. Build capacity of children, parents and communities.

Build capacity of local government on disaster preparedness plans.

Governance Develop inclusive processes for local and school governance. Establish venues for children to express their views.

Influence the formulation of public policies.

Our progress
Strategy Plan Philippines has made great strides in helping children, their families and their communities realise their rights. Some of our most successful work includes: bringing women and child protection units closer to rural communities and encouraging the reporting of abuse. expanding coverage of early childhood care and development services among children aged 3 and above through supervised neighbourhood play groups.

working with the Department of Health and various local government units to improve family planning practices, the prevention of acute respiratory infections, the control of diarrhoea among children aged 0-3, and increasing immunisation coverage for children and mothers. promoting backyard food growing and the use of low cost and safe farming techniques. creating vocational training opportunities for out-of-school children and youth.

Whos who Country Director, Michael Diamond

Michael became Country Director of Plan Philippines in July 2006, continuing a prolific career working for Plan in countries worldwide.

He first joined Plan in 1985 as Assistant Field Director for the Philippines Office in Bicol region and then moved to Egypt and Malawi to become Field Director, Area Manager and later, Country Director.

Michael then became Regional Director of Plan in the Americas where he managed operations in 6 countries. He returned to Asia as Regional Director in 2001, managing operations in 12 countries and leading the relief effort in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia and India, and the earthquake in Pakistan in 2005.

Michael is an Irish national married to a Filipina doctor. He holds a degree in Philosophy, Anthropology, Arabic and Islam. Before joining Plan, he worked for the Catholic Church for 18 years on the Philippines Mindanao Island. Other members of the country management team Jonathan Dayrit, Information Communications Technology Manager Vonnette Fernandez, Human Resources Manager

Marivic Singco, Finance Manager Christina Rotairo, Administrative Manager Cathy Seco, Sponsorship and Grants Manager Dong Waa, Programme Support Manager Naty Silorio, Area Manager-Luzon Rodel Bontuyan, Area Manager-Visayas

What we do Plan Philippines goal in the next 5 years will be for all children within our influence to enjoy their right to education. To achieve this, we focus on fulfilling 4 fundamental needs:

improved access and quality of childrens education keeping children healthy and well nourished protecting children and enabling them to protect themselves engaging children in all matters that affect them

Education
This programme covers early childhood education, primary and secondary education (formal and non-formal), vocational training and technical education. We target children who are not enrolled in school, children with disabilities including learning difficulties, children who have dropped out of school, working children, children caught in emergencies, and children from poor households and indigenous communities. We help children to acquire life skills.

Health
Plan Philippines works to reduce the incidence of preventable diseases among children. We do this through improving community health practices and health service delivery to effectively respond to the health, nutrition and sanitation hurdles that communities face.

Plan is implementing the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach which educates communities about the importance of sanitation and helps them to construct and maintain their own latrines.

Child protection
This programme helps reduce the incidence of abuse, neglect and exploitation of children in the home, schools and communities. Interventions ensure children are safe, protected and capable of managing risks. Examples of interventions include educating parents on child protection, establishing women and child protection units to manage abuse cases, raising awareness of the importance of birth registration, responding to emergencies and advocating progressive campaigns. Plan Philippines works towards building disaster-resilient communities. Our main focus is disaster risk reduction and preparedness. Initiatives include working with communities to do hazard and vulnerability assessment, mapping and planning. Disaster preparedness and risk reduction are integrated across our programmes.

Children and youth engagement

A great deal of child poverty is a direct result of poor or weak governance. This programme will work towards building the confidence and capacities of children, community-based organisations and governments so they can work together in matters affecting children. This promotes child-friendly leadership and management in villages and municipalities so that childrens voices are heard and their agenda are given priorities in development programmes.
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