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 Million Reasons strategy and a key step in achieving this is the 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 International’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 is supported by three mandatory procedures: 

Each of our Country Offices develops a five-year Country Strategy, and every year Country Offices develop an annual plan and budget, on which they report on a quarterly basis. The plans are implemented through projects. Our projects are based on strong technical evidence, as well as ongoing dialogue with local stakeholders.

• The Country Strategy Cycle procedure outlines the minimum standards for the development and review of high-quality Country Strategies.
• The Annual Cycle procedure outlines the minimum standards for the development and review of high-quality Annual Plans and Budgets.
• The Project Cycle procedure outlines the minimum standards for the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of high-quality Projects.

Our Programme Quality Department

At our International Headquarters, the Programme Quality Management Team supports the implementation and improvement of these management processes across Plan International.