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Insights
August 25, 2021

The Children’s Place and Plan partner to provide child care for apparel factory workers in Ethiopia

SECAUCUS, N.J. / WARWICK, R.I., Aug. 25, 2021 — The Children’s Place, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCE), the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America, and Plan International USA, a children’s rights and girls’ equality organization, announce a new partnership to establish an early childhood development (ECD) center at the Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia, the largest industrial park in Africa. The partnership is designed to advance gender equity in the apparel industry and to provide safe, dependable child care.

With women making up the vast majority of Hawassa Industrial Park’s workforce, there is a pressing need for quality child care services. Lack of child care options makes it difficult, sometimes impossible, for women to fully participate in the workforce. The Children’s Place and Plan International USA believe that in order to achieve gender diversity and equity in the workplace, improved access to child care is essential.

As a large importer of apparel from Ethiopia, The Children’s Place works with many suppliers and vendors based in Hawassa, and its funding of the Early Childhood Development Center is an investment in helping to promote worker well-being in the region. Plan International has operated in Ethiopia since 1995 and brings years of experience in education, having established 51 ECD centers in the country. This project builds on Plan’s strategic efforts around worker wellness and gender equity at the Hawassa Industrial Park since 2019. The funding provided by The Children’s Place will be used to provide the Hawassa Industrial Park workforce with much-needed child care services. The project will kick off in August 2021, with the goal of reaching over 1,000 children and adults when the center is operating at full capacity. At its core, the center is designed to provide a safe space for children, ages 0-6, of employees at the Hawassa Industrial Park to learn and grow in an inclusive and holistic way.

In addition to providing an essential service, the center will create job and skill development opportunities. The center will recruit staff from surrounding communities who will participate in a training program led by Plan International Ethiopia and receive certification in ECD. The center will also work to ensure workers’ needs are prioritized — for example, by offering staggered hours for early, midday or evening shifts. The center will not only work to provide a safe space for children to learn and grow, it will also help to remove barriers for the largely female workforce, increasing gender equality, improving access to higher paying jobs and enabling more women to achieve economic independence. The Children’s Place and Plan International USA are also excited about what this shared-value partnership can do to help prepare children for success later in life in a formal school setting.

“This early childhood development center initiative will help to improve the lives and well-being of apparel factory workers and their children,” Jane Elfers, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Children’s Place, said. “We are honored to be part of something that can have such a profound impact on women and children. We know that access to safe, dependable child care and early education opportunities are critical to transforming the lives of children and contribute to gender equality and economic independence for women. We are proud to partner with Plan International in this first of its kind early childhood development center in the Hawassa Industrial Park.”

“We are thrilled to bring The Children’s Place on board as our latest partner in support of girls’ rights and gender equality,” Shanna Marzilli, Chief Marketing Officer of Plan International USA, said. “Our partnership holds great promise for breaking down barriers for women, who represent the majority of the global apparel industry workforce, and their children, to achieve their full potential. Through this investment in early childhood development and care, we hope to inspire other businesses to think strategically about how best to support worker well-being and gender equality around the world.”

About The Children’s Place

The Children’s Place is the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America. The company designs, contracts to manufacture, sells at retail and wholesale, and licenses to sell fashionable, high-quality merchandise predominantly at value prices, primarily under the proprietary “The Children’s Place,” “Place,” “Baby Place” and “Gymboree” brand names. As of July 31, 2021, the Company had 708 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, online stores at www.childrensplace.com and www.gymboree.com, and the company’s eight international franchise partners had 208 international points of distribution in 17 countries.

Contact: Investor Relations at 201-558-2400 extension 14500

About Plan International USA

Powered by supporters, Plan International USA partners with adolescent girls, young women and children around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality, providing the support and resources that are unique to their needs and the needs of their communities, ensuring they achieve their full potential with dignity, opportunity and safety. Founded in 1937, Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that is active in more than 80 countries. For more information, visit planusa.org.

Contact: Brit Rocourt, Vice President of Philanthropy and Partnerships at [email protected].

Report & Resource
August 1, 2021

Study on women and girls’ participation in community disaster risk management in Bangladesh

This study on women and girls’ participation in community-based disaster risk management in Bangladesh is part of Plan International’s Inclusive Community Disaster Risk Reduction and Management project. The project, funded by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, aims to increase the level of inclusion and participation of women, girls and marginalized groups in disaster risk management.

Insights
July 15, 2021

Aligning to the times: Bridging the humanitarian and development divide

In March, the international community marked the 10-year anniversary of the Syrian War. Sadly, Syria is far from the only place where children and families live in perpetual states of emergency. We live in a world in which the effects of protracted ideological conflict, natural disasters and climate change are shaping the daily existence and future lives of tens of millions of children, especially girls, who already face the greatest risk of physical, emotional and gender-related harm.

The death, destruction and human suffering created by persistent conflicts in places like Syria, Sudan, Somalia and so many other places require emergency responses that provide food, shelter and medical aid. And the humanitarian aid community has long responded, delivering vital assistance.

However, long-term civil conflicts and major population displacements caused by complex and natural disasters and climate change also raise questions about how best to address the cascade of longer-term economic, social, health care, civil rights and other challenges that emerge from, and in many cases perpetuate, the state of emergency. In brief, how can we address these key development issues in the context of such emergencies, ideally even as the emergency is still unfolding? To meet this challenge, Plan is collaborating with Relief International as part of a broader effort to explore how short-term relief and longer-term development programming can work together to serve vulnerable populations and build more resilient futures in the most fragile parts of the globe.

Humanitarian assistance: International development

Over the last 10 to 15 years, there has been a growing recognition that it is essential to think longer-term while addressing emergency needs. And we have a growing body of evidence that provides sound approaches to managing immediate response tools, like cash-for-work, in a way that supports longer-term efforts to sustainably rebuild infrastructure and labor markets. But making these programs work well requires more than new ideas for programming and thinking differently about “what” we do in emergencies. It requires thinking differently about the “how” we do it, including whether and how humanitarian and development actors are able to work within and through government systems and structures in places where government is often seen as part of the problem. Hence, the question is as much, if not more, about how we do the programming rather than just what programming we can do.

Humanitarian assistance is supposed to be apolitical and strictly needs-based. Development is by definition a political process and often builds off rights-based approaches to determine priorities. Humanitarian assistance and international development programming often have different funding sources, budgets, and timelines; the former characterized by 12- to 18-month interventions and the latter by three- to five-year projects.

In the face of modern challenges, the rules and lines that divide humanitarian relief work and development need to be rethought. As a former Plan colleague noted, “People don’t live their lives in silos, so we shouldn’t respond that way…” Moreover, the divide may itself be contributing to the endless nature of the crises. My colleague has it right: “If you want to change anything in this crisis, you need to address the root causes, while at the same time making sure you cover humanitarian needs.”

It’s time for change.

Talking about change is easy. Figuring out the mechanics of how to bring about such change in challenging contexts is something else entirely, but we believe a solid first step is through partnership. As a first step, Plan International USA has begun collaborating with Relief International to explore how our two organizations can leverage our complementary missions, expertise and geographic footprints.

For Plan, partnering with a humanitarian organization like Relief International means expanding our programming reach to more vulnerable children and girls in some of the most fragile areas of the world — including the Middle East, where historically our access and resources have been limited. It also expands our capacity and ability to influence government policies around child protection, gender-based violence and expanded access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in emergencies. For Relief International, collaborating with Plan strengthens the child protection and gender-sensitive elements of its broader humanitarian assistance. The partnership offers the opportunities to collaborate on essential relief and development programming critical geographies including the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, Central Africa, and the Americas.

The world’s challenges in 2021 will not be solved with funding and programmatic divisions founded for another time. We hope that cooperation between two organizations like Plan and Relief International and their combined 140 years of experience — responding to the world’s greatest needs and partnering with communities to build stronger futures — helps bridge the perennial, and increasingly problematic, development-humanitarian assistance divide, creating more relevant and impactful programming for the world’s most fragile populations. Watch this space for more news as we continue to collaborate and learn.

Page
April 21, 2021

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Insights
March 11, 2021

Reducing extreme poverty through a graduation approach

At the end of 2020, Plan International closed a program in Vietnam that was using a graduation approach to move people out of extreme poverty. The program was implemented alongside two others, in Mexico and Bangladesh, under a three-country project led by Trickle Up and funded by MetLife. While the project had positive results, Plan learned a number of lessons along the way, and a set of recommendations have been created to help international development professionals get the best results when implementing a graduation approach.

What is a graduation approach?

Graduation (or graduated) programs, based on a model originated by BRAC, take a step-by-step approach to building greater economic prosperity and stability among extremely poor populations (living on less than a few dollars a day). These populations often can’t benefit from traditional economic development interventions because the same features that keep them in poverty — isolation, lack of access to services, social marginalization, a weak social safety net — also make it hard for them to participate effectively.

UNHCR describes the basic elements of a graduation approach like this:

Identify the most vulnerable households within a community.
Provide cash transfers for basic needs.
Help families plan their livelihoods and transfer their productive assets.
Develop their ability to save money.
Provide livelihood enhancement through technical and entrepreneurial training.
Mentor participants throughout the process in a way that develops their self-confidence.

As it continues to be used and integrated into more programs, evaluators are providing strong evidence — using experimental, quasi-experimental or other rigorous evaluation approaches — that the graduation approach can be a powerful tool in alleviating extreme poverty.

The program

Over three years, Plan reached 7,000 households in the Quang Tri and Kon Tum provinces, both located in the rural central highland regions of the country. Our activities targeted the very poor and ultra-poor (terminology designating the most impoverished groups), and provided trainings, coaching, financial and material support, connections to government services and support for the creation of social solidarity groups to build good financial practices and savings.

As a result of these activities, the program achieved some compelling results, according to a third-party program evaluation.

272 Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups established and functioning.
97% of ultra-poor participants passed at least six out of nine project-defined benchmarks for being considered out of extreme poverty, and almost 40% passed nine out of nine benchmarks.
94% of ultra-poor households reported every member was eating at least one meal with meat/fish/eggs per week, and had at least two meals per day.
97% of ultra-poor households had at least one youth member engaged in at least two livelihood activities.
94% participants had knowledge of available government programs and services (social services, insurance).
94% of household children (5-14) were in school.
99% of household members had access to health care services.

Key learnings

Like almost every other activity in 2020, the program was disrupted by COVID-19. As periodic lockdowns introduced social distancing measures and unexpected expenses, it became harder for savings groups to keep in contact, and to keep saving. As a result, some of the groups lost cohesion, and 11 of them stopped functioning.

Beyond COVID-19, 2020 also saw incidences of extreme weather phenomena increase. Particularly in the last quarter of the year, a series of floods, storms and prolonged heavy rain affected many project sites. More than 800 program households suffered at least some form of damage to either homes, livestock, crops or other property.

The project responded by working with the local Women’s Union to deliver emergency relief, recovery help, cash assistance, supplemental training and home visits. Unfortunately, the prevalence of severe weather is likely to increase as the climate warms.

Recommendations

Over the course of the program, Plan tailored and adapted the approach to respond better to local context and arising needs. We hope other implementers can learn from our experience.

1. Apply wealth-ranking methods for recruitment to the program, and make the selection process as participatory and transparent as possible to avoid unintended social or economic consequences (i.e., do no harm).

2. Recruit local coaches from the communities who understand the situation, culture and language of participants for more effective daily interactions and support.

3. Use community-based groups (VSLs, parenting groups, girls club, etc.) as platforms for skills building beyond financial education, such as life skills, gender equity, decision-making, advocating and advancing the social engagement of girls and women.

4. Align with government partners and their initiatives and policies whenever possible, to leverage existing resources and programs, improve accessibility and gain their buy-in.

5. Include disaster-risk reduction activities such as training, communication and the creation of emergency response plans to help VSL and other groups be resilient in the face of disasters.

For more articles of this nature, sign up for From Plan to Action, a quarterly newsletter that highlights the technical work of Plan International USA.

Insights
March 11, 2021

It’s time to talk: Menstrual health in the U.S.

Despite increasing attention and advocacy, menstruation remains a taboo topic in the U.S., often surrounded by embarrassment and shame. According to a new report by Plan International USA, P&G and Always on period stigma and poverty in the U.S., much work remains to be done to make sure periods don’t get in the way of people reaching their full potential.

The key findings reveal that periods are often associated with negative feelings as more than half of girls report losing confidence at puberty and 47% feel scared when they get their first period. We also learned that a greater percentage of the population feel more comfortable discussing sex, politics, family problems and STDs than periods, so it isn’t completely surprising that periods are often met with such negativity and taboo.

Period stigma

Since so few Americans talk about period health and sexual and reproductive health education is inconsistent, periods remain shrouded in secrecy. That secrecy results in one in four young people not knowing why some people get periods and how to manage them, which leads to an environment where period teasing and shame can thrive. More than a third of young people have experienced jokes and negative remarks about periods.

In addition, period stigma is one part of the interconnected web of gender-based issues. This stigma is somewhat connected to how society perceives women and girls, which in turn affects how they perceive themselves. Unfortunately, the less likely people are to talk about periods, the less likely they are to see girls as risk-seeking and ambitious which continues to reinforce gender stereotypes. People are ten times more likely to describe girls as emotional and three times more as shy versus boys.

Period poverty

Compared to other countries, the U.S. scored remarkedly low on support for talking openly about periods, and on support for sexuality and relationship education. When a normal bodily function of 50% of the population is not understood and talked about, it means issues stemming from that topic go unnoticed and unaddressed.

Period poverty, the inability to buy or access period products, is surprisingly high in the U.S., and this has been aggravated by COVID-19. In 2020, nearly 1 in 5 women struggled to get period products and 25% of adults, particularly parents, are worried about their on-going ability to afford period products.

Pre-pandemic, nearly 1 in 5 girls were missing school because they couldn’t access products. Not having the period protection you need to concentrate in classes can result in negative outcomes including lower academic performance, feeling less confident and ashamed, and missing extracurricular activities and sports.

What to do?

Talk about periods! 85% of young women agree that if they saw others talking openly about periods, they would feel more confident about their own.
Involve men and boys. Periods are a normal part of life, and men and boys should understand that and learn how they can be supportive.
Require quality school-based puberty education for all genders, regardless of where you live.
Remove the tax from periods products. Many states label period products as a luxury good. A normal and healthy part of life is not a luxury.
Require that schools, homeless shelters, prisons and immigration centers provide free period products.

Always and Plan International USA have joined-up for a campaign on normalizing conversations and actions around periods. We encourage you to join the conversation and share your period story. For every story shared from March 8 through May 28, Always will donate a pack of period products to those in need across the U.S.

The more we talk about periods being a normal part of life, the less stigma will exist, and we will be more able to address period-related challenges, like period poverty and endometritis. Let’s work towards a world where people can manage their periods safely and with dignity.

For more articles of this nature, sign up for From Plan to Action, a quarterly newsletter that highlights the technical work of Plan International USA.

Report & Resource
March 1, 2021

Effects of forced labor and trafficking in persons on female relatives of male fishers

The study, “Effects of Forced Labor and Trafficking in Persons on Female Relatives of Male Fishers,” is part of Plan International USA’s Safeguarding Against and Addressing Fishers’ Exploitation at Sea (SAFE Seas) project.

The objectives of this study can be summarized as follows: (i) to assess women’s awareness and knowledge of forced labor and trafficking in persons (FL/TIP) on fishing vessels; (ii) to explore women’s experiences and coping strategies to deal with the impact of FL/TIP; (iii) to assess gender norms and gender relationships in the fishing community; and (iv) to identify potential future roles for women and how women’s agency can contribute to prevention and protection against FL/TIP.

Insights
February 23, 2021

Youth voices roadmap to guide funders in meaningfully engaging youth in youth employment programs

Commissioned by:

In collaboration with:

First-of-its-kind report aims to inform and strengthen the engagement of youth in funders’ and implementers’ investments, strategies and programs around the world.

New York, NY — As part of our global commitment to ensuring and protecting youth rights, Plan International is pleased to launch a new report exploring the meaningful engagement of young people in youth employment strategies and programs. Conceptualized by the Youth Employment Funders Group (YEFG) and commissioned by the Citi Foundation, this report establishes a first-of-its-kind roadmap in the youth employment sector on how to actionably and meaningfully place youth at the center of youth engagement strategies and programs.

The report, “Youth voices in youth employment: a roadmap for promoting meaningful youth engagement in youth employment programs” outlines the steps that funders and implementers can take along the various phases of a youth employment program to strengthen youth engagement and amplify youth voices, regardless of where they are in their youth engagement journey. Together, these elements help to bridge the knowledge gap that exists in the youth employment sector around what meaningful engagement means and how to engage youth in employment programs that impact them.

The report stipulates that meaningful youth engagement is achieved when under enabling conditions, youth representatives actively participate throughout the program life cycle and enter into youth-adult partnerships that empower youth and may contribute to positive and long-lasting market outcomes. Using this definition, alongside a set of key pillars and the roadmap, funders will be able to set goals and assess how to strengthen the engagement of youth in their programs, making use of step-by-step guidance and finding inspiration in the case studies and quotes provided by youth and practitioners on the potential impact of meaningful youth engagement.

“For funders who understand that meaningful youth engagement leads to better youth employment program outcomes, this roadmap gives stakeholders the common language and clarity on meaningful youth engagement throughout the program lifecycle,” said Alexandra Robinson, a member of the Youth Advisory Panel representing AIESEC International. The Youth Advisory Panel is a diverse group of youth members from around the globe, who informed and supported the development of the report. This Panel, alongside youth focus groups discussions and a global youth survey, played a central role in ensuring that youth informed the development of the roadmap.

“This user-centered approach will provide good practices to actionably strengthen the role of youth in programs that ultimately affect their lives,” said Youth Advisory Panel member Jihane Lahbabi-Berrada, representing Education for Employment – Morocco.

As a global girls’ rights organization, Plan International recognizes that meaningful engagement of young people is particularly important to those from vulnerable and marginalized groups, especially young women, young people with disabilities and ethnic minorities, who often struggle to have their voices heard in various participatory spaces.

“Strengthening the practice of meaningful youth engagement in youth employment programs is more important than ever. The gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated youth unemployment, profoundly impacting youth around the world,” said Tessie San Martin, CEO, Plan International USA. “When youth are meaningfully engaged, in ways outlined by this roadmap, the positive impacts can have ripple effects on young people and labor markets.”

“We hope that the guidance shared in this roadmap helps funders and stakeholders engage youth more intentionally and meaningfully in the programs that impact them,” said Dorothy Stuehmke, Senior Program Officer, Citi Foundation. “By listening to and elevating their voices, we are helping to strengthen the youth employment field and create a more resilient future for young people entering the workforce.”

For more information and to download the report, please visit: www.planusa.org/youthvoices

About Plan International

Founded in 1937, Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls in more than 80 countries. Powered by supporters, Plan International partners with adolescent girls, young women and children around the world to overcome oppression and gender inequality, providing the support and resources that are unique to their needs and the needs of their communities, ensuring they achieve their full potential with dignity, opportunity and safety.

About Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities. The Citi Foundation’s “More than Philanthropy” approach deploys the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation.

About Youth Employment Funders Group

The Youth Employment Funders Group (YEFG) is a network of over twenty multilateral organizations and international donors, including private foundations, working together to generate and share more and better evidence-based knowledge on what works in the field of youth employment.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Robin Costello
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