We appealed. You responded.
Your donations are changing lives - find out how.
Our vision is for a world where every girl can access equal opportunities, and where all children can thrive. A world where children can go to school, live free of violence, and unleash their full potential.
Your support is vital in making this vision a reality
and when you donate to an appeal, you are actively helping us work towards a better tomorrow for girls and communities globally.
Read on to find out how your donations have helped us respond to humanitarian emergencies and supported our work to end child marriage over the past six months.
You helped us make progress towards ending child marriage
Most recently, our tax time appeal called on you to help end child marriage in our lifetime. It’s a complex issue and change won’t happen overnight, but your support is critical in helping to progress the fight to end this harmful practice.
The tremendous outpouring of support for this appeal tells us that this is something our community really cares about – with your help, we reached an outstanding total of $352,353!!
Your support will make a significant impact on young girls like 17-year-old Ashfia, from Bangladesh. Thanks to her involvement with Plan International’s Building a Better Future for Girls (BBFG) project, Ashfia was well aware of the consequences of child marriage and was able to use the knowledge she learnt to stop her own marriage. “I wanted to study, to go further,” she says.
And Ashfia is now using her new-found knowledge and experience to benefit others - already she has helped prevent 19 other child marriages from happening in her community.
“I received life skills training from the youth forum and spread what I learnt to others,” she explains. “At the same time, I make other girls aware of the consequences of child marriage.”
Your contributions will allow us to conduct community education sessions, establish safe spaces, and create support networks for girls at risk, so that they, like Ashfia, can finish their education and have the freedom to choose their own life path. We will able to provide critical training to teachers, healthcare workers, community leaders, and police about the risks of child marriage, strengthening our child protection work. Additionally, through your donations we will be able to provide critical counselling support and medical treatment to girls who have escaped child marriage helping them rebuild their lives and ensuring a brighter future.
Additionally, through your donations we will be able to provide critical counselling support and medical treatment to girls who have escaped child marriage helping them rebuild their lives and ensuring a brighter future.
Ending the practice of child marriage isn’t just about making sure girls and their communities know the risks, it's about ensuring they have a support system that protects them – including an education - and an awareness that marriage isn’t their only option.
Our target for this appeal – $400,000 – was ambitious and it's an important reflection of our commitment to ending child marriage in our lifetime and continuing to make real progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals to end poverty, which includes ending child marriage.
Progress is possible – we've seen it in the numbers: over the past 10 years child marriage has declined, from accounting for 23% of all marriages, to now accounting for 19%. We must continue supporting girls and their families, to ensure they can stay in school and make choices about their own futures.
You helped to deliver
life-saving nutrition and
safe water to girls experiencing hunger
For those in the grips of the hunger crisis, your generosity during our Autumn Appeal meant that girls and their families were able to access life-saving nutrition, safe water and cash vouchers, and your generous support saw us raise an incredible $64,737, surpassing our initial target of $60,000.
When hunger strikes, girls are often fed the least and pulled out of school first, and the likelihood of early and forced marriage increases when food is scarce, as families are forced to make desperate choices to survive.
Your contributions are already making a significant impact on girls like Arare, whose lives have been deeply affected by the hunger crisis. At just eight years old, Arare carries the burden of caring for her five younger siblings, doing her best to soothe her baby brother's hunger and tears. Her parents struggle to find enough food, leaving them all in dire circumstances.
Your support has allowed us to extend a helping hand to families like Arare's, who are facing food and water shortages due to prolonged insecurity. Communities are experiencing the severest food and water scarcity in almost 40 years, with over 4 million people in Kenya left without a reliable source of food. This situation disproportionately affects women and girls like Arare, who bear the heavy responsibility of caring for their families during these challenging times.
Thanks to your donations, we have been able to provide lifesaving cash vouchers and food rations to vulnerable families, ensuring their survival under these difficult circumstances.
You helped us respond to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan
It has been just over 100 days since armed conflict began in Sudan, resulting in over 1,000 deaths and forcing 2.5 million people to flee their homes. Thanks to our passionate community and the $26,747 we raised, we have been able to deliver a lifesaving emergency response and expand our humanitarian operations in Sudan and neighbouring countries, providing vital supplies and services to those in need.
In Sudan, thanks to your support we have provided essential supplies and services to children and families, including food, clean water, cash vouchers and critical resources. We are also offering child protection and education services, conducting awareness sessions on child protection and gender-based violence, and providing psychological aid and psychosocial support to families and at-risk women.
In addition, we've identified and registered unaccompanied and separated children, distributed play and recreational materials to 2,900 children, and supported internally displaced individuals in six schools.
Collaborating with the Egyptian Red Crescent, we've reached over 250,000 Sudanese people who sought safety in Egypt, providing life-saving essentials and helping families reconnect. This includes emergency cash transfers for medicine, menstrual health management kits, hygiene kits, child protection services, and prepaid SIM cards.
In Chad, we've offered cash support to 700 families, while in the Central African Republic, we've been preparing for the arrival of Sudanese refugees by building family shelters, latrine/shower blocks, and organizing food distribution.
Your donations have brought hope and relief to those facing unimaginable challenges during this crisis and will continue to help those affected and ensure the well-being of children and their families.
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