Plan Dominican Republic helps children to realise their rights through the following core programmes:

• early childhood care and development
• education
• child protection
• community health
• economic development and microfinance
• child and youth participation
• disaster risk reduction.

Early childhood care and development

This includes sustainable strategies to improve child-raising practices for children under 5 through family orientation and community-run day care centres.

These centres prepare children for school using a playful approach. They monitor physical and motor skills and provide early stimulation.

Education

This programme works to raise the educational level of children by improving the quality of our educational systems. Actions include reinforcing classroom processes, training for teachers, supporting tutorial centres, literacy, and vocational education.

Interest groups formed by school teachers and parents teach children to read and write.

Child protection

To prevent domestic violence and child abuse, Plan works on prevention, attention and advocacy in order to reduce risk factors and improve safety of children. 

Through the programme ’Prevention of violence against women and child abuse’ children learn about self protection, children’s rights and self-esteem.

Community health

This includes promoting preventive health and strengthening community influence on institutional health services, including integral attention to diseases that prevail in children less than 5 years of age.

The ’Step by step’ project teaches youth groups how to prevent HIV infection, pregnancies in adolescents and sexually transmitted diseases.

Economic development and microfinance 

We work to strengthen the economic capacity of families through activities with savings and loan groups, children’s savings clubs and the creation of formal microfinance institutions strongly linked to communities.  The programme offers business education and technical support to people capable of developing independent business initiatives.

70 savings and loans groups benefit over 2,100 families. 85% of the group members are women.

Child and youth participation

Children have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. We work with children and their communities to identify problems and implement solutions.

We support children and youths so that they can debate with local government institutions over environment protection, education and health issues. 
 
Producing media, such as radio or theatre, through our child media project helps over 1,000 children gain self-confidence, make their voice heard and communicate with each other. 

Disaster risk reduction

We work to raise awareness of the risks of natural disasters and help to organise community emergency committees to discuss the issues and implement action plans.

The project ’Strengthening local capacity in emergency response’ has improved infrastructures to serve as temporary shelters and set up emergency escape routes.