Before the crisis, not after.
A fund with a record: Plan International’s Early Action Fund, released when a crisis is anticipated, to lessen its impact on children, especially girls.
© Plan International
- €2.3 milliondisbursed
- 27countries have accessed funds
- 1 millionpeople reached
- 30disaster preparedness programmes supported
- 48 hoursfor a response to every funding request
The fund’s record from its launch in June 2021 to March 2024. Source: Plan International, Empowering Early Action (Early Action Fund brochure), PDF p2 / printed 02, “Source: March 2024, Plan International’s Early Action Fund”; launch, PDF p4 / printed 06; the 48-hour response is restated on PDF p5 / printed 09.
Cyclone Freddy left more than 600 people dead across Mulanje district in March 2023. In Nkanda, a member of the District Civil Protection Committee saw the river gauge reach red and warned families to move to safer ground. As the gauges on the Thuchila River reached a critical level, she and her team blew their whistles and told families to evacuate quickly.
There was no loss of life in the area.
Source: Empowering Early Action, PDF p8 / printed 14. Early action in Mulanje is listed among the initiatives the fund paid for, PDF p6 / printed 11.
Help that starts before the crisis does.
© Plan International
Early action
The Early Action Fund lets Plan International country offices act on a crisis they can see coming, from drought, flooding or cyclones to conflict and displacement, so the harm to children is smaller and communities are better able to withstand it. The money moves when a crisis is anticipated, not after it lands. Source: Plan International, Empowering Early Action (Early Action Fund brochure), PDF p4 / printed 06–07; the list, PDF p7 / printed 12–13. Gifts through the Foundation fund part of Plan International’s humanitarian work, not all of it.
What the money buys, before a crisis
- Emergency supplies in place before the crisis
- Early warnings that reach the communities at risk
- Cash for the families most at risk
- Local responders and teachers trained and ready
How it is released
On a successful application from a Plan International country office to the Global Hub, with every request answered within 48 hours. Source: Empowering Early Action, PDF p5 / printed 09.
27 country offices since 2021.
Since the fund launched in June 2021, 27 Plan International country offices have drawn on it. Among the work it has paid for: cyclone preparedness in Zimbabwe and in Mulanje, Malawi; preparing for a refugee crisis on the Myanmar–Thailand border; support for flood-affected communities in Mali; and early action for adolescent girls in Lebanon. Source: Empowering Early Action. Launch, PDF p4 / printed 06; 27 country offices, PDF p5 / printed 08; the initiatives, PDF p6 / printed 10–11.
adolescent girls in Lebanon received psychosocial support and cash. In March 2022, through a local partner: 256 girls from Syria and 19 from Lebanon, aged 10 to 17. Their caregivers became more responsive, and communication within families improved. Source: Empowering Early Action, PDF p8 / printed 15.
Investing in early action.
Early money does more than arrive first: it helps country offices unlock funding from others.
After Cyclone Freddy, Plan International’s Country Director in Mozambique said the fund’s early action “helped us to leverage additional funds from UNICEF and other donors for our response.” Gerald Magashi, Country Director, Plan International Mozambique, in Empowering Early Action, PDF p4 / printed 07. A significant gift is shaped with you in conversation, around what you want it to do.
| Cost | What it buys | Where |
|---|---|---|
| €5 | Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits for one girl (sanitary pad, soap, inner clothes, towel, etc) | Zimbabwe |
| €10 | Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) kits for one child or family | Mozambique |
| €20 | Developing the capacity of a community member to deal with protection and safety | Niger |
| €25 | A set of dignity kits | Colombia |
| €30 | An education pack for a child | Not stated |
| €100 | Two meals for a month for a family of five | Kenya |
| €500 | A one-minute radio alert, broadcast 100 times | South Sudan |
| €1,000 | Prepositioning emergency rescue supplies | The Philippines |