For our work to make the greatest possible contribution to the advancement of children’s rights and gender equality, the programmes we deliver must be of the highest quality. They must be based on solid evidence, adhere to global policies and standards, and be subject to thorough measurement.
Delivering high quality programmes depends on staff and partners using robust processes to manage every aspect of our programme work. These include processes that determine how we work as well as what we do.
Four components of quality
Improving programme quality is a core element of our One Plan One Goal strategy, and a key step in achieving this is the development of our new Programme Quality Policy. It sets out our commitment to achieving high levels of programme quality in all our work, and describes our four components of quality:
1. Child-centred community development (CCCD)
CCCD is Plan’s rights-based approach, in which children, families and communities are active and leading participants in their own development. It is applied in all our programme work. Click here to find out more about CCCD.
2. Achieving outcomes
All of our projects focus on achieving specific, measurable outcomes that lead directly to long-term social change that brings about improvements in the realisation of children’s rights. Outcomes should be timely, particularly for disaster responses. Wherever appropriate, they should be aligned with: national government and donor agendas, international and national standards, and good practice and technical expertise that is relevant to the local context.
3. Value for money
At Plan International, we value the resources we receive from donors and supporters, and place high importance on spending these funds wisely. Achieving value for money in our delivery of high quality programmes means making the greatest possible contribution to the realisation of children’s rights with the resources available.
4. Continual improvement
We are constantly striving to achieve even higher levels of quality in the work we do and the way in which we do it. We believe monitoring and evaluation is a critical component of high quality programme delivery, and use our learning to inform design and development of future programmes.
The Programme Quality Policy also sets out twelve requirements to achieve quality.
For example, each of our country offices develops a five year Country Strategic Plan. The plans are implemented through projects, and each project is managed through a structured cycle to ensure quality at every stage. Our projects are based on strong technical evidence, as well as ongoing dialogue with local stakeholders.
Our Programme Quality Department
At our International Headquarters, the Programme Quality Department supports the implementation and improvement of these management processes across Plan International. The department is made up of three teams:
- The Programme Quality Management Team, which is responsible for the processes staff use to manage programmes.
- The Global Advisors Team, which provides leadership in areas of technical content.
- The Plan Academy, which helps staff build the competencies needed to achieve quality.