What is a Strategic Plan?
A strategic plan sets out what an organization wants to achieve over the next few years and how it will get there. It focuses on new projects and making changes and improvements, rather than on maintaining core operations, which continue regardless. A strategic plan allows an organization to achieve more by focusing finite resources on its top priorities. It guides budget decisions, work programs and staffing.

Why is it important for ChildFund Alliance to produce this five-year strategic plan?
This plan will serve as a guide for our members, employees, board members and stakeholders as we embark on our next phase of membership growth and expansion into new areas.

How was the plan created?
The 2016-2021 strategic plan was developed by ChildFund Alliance’s Secretariat and approved by its board of directors and CEO Forum.

The three strategic priorities were developed by the Secretariat and presented to and endorsed by the CEO Forum at its meeting in May 2015. They were ratified by the CEO Forum at its meeting in November 2015.

Between November 2015 and May 2016, the Secretariat formulated and implemented an outreach plan to ensure that members – including their national and regional offices – played a role in the formulation of the Alliance strategy, have a sense of ownership of this strategy and actively contribute towards its implementation. Feedback was collected and incorporated into the strategic plan.

The working draft was presented to the CEO Forum and approved by the Alliance Board of Directors at their meeting in May 2016.

What are the overarching goals of the strategic plan?

Strategic Priority 1: Global Advocacy and Child-Friendly Accountability

• Advance Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 (End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children) and related targets through global, regional and national advocacy and engagement.
• Support children in holding their governments and local authorities accountable to their commitments in SDG 16.2.

Strategic Priority 2: Improve our capacity for Child Protection in Emergencies and Disaster Risk Reduction

• Prioritize key child protection in emergencies interventions in all humanitarian response.
• Mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) into regular programming and community development.
• Build on successful youth-led DRR.

Strategic Priority 3: Strengthen Membership Engagement and Growth

• Recruit at least three new members in the next five years.

Why did you choose these as your strategic priorities?
In September 2015, the United Nations unanimously adopted Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) frame the global agenda for the next 15 years. ChildFund Alliance is well positioned to build on our experience and play a key role in achieving this vision. In our strategic plan, we make a commitment to do all we can to prevent violence at all levels; protect children from violence; and enable children to meaningfully participate in decisions affecting their lives.

How will we accomplish these goals?
The ChildFund Alliance Secretariat will establish task forces to guide the Alliance’s advocacy, child-friendly accountability, child protection in emergencies and disaster risk reduction initiatives. We will draw on the expertise of our staff around the world, and, where needed, call on external experts for guidance.

Potential Alliance members will be cultivated through engagement and collaboration on existing initiatives.

Who is responsible for determining whether targets are met?
ChildFund Alliance Secretariat staff, ChildFund member CEOs and the ChildFund Alliance board of directors are responsible for determining whether the targets are met.

What are the biggest challenges to accomplishing the goals set forth in the 2016 – 2021 strategic plan?
We will need to ensure that we have the resources to properly implement our Strategic Priorities on Advocacy and Child-Friendly Accountability, and Child Protection in Emergencies and Disaster Risk Reduction. For select projects, such as Child-Friendly Accountability, the Secretariat may attempt to secure funds from external sources.

One of our major areas of growth during the next five years will be Strategic Priority #2: Child Protection in Emergencies and Disaster Risk Reduction. The Alliance will need to substantially build on its expertise to further impact these two complex sectors. Given our evolving expertise and our limited resources, we will focus first on Child Protection in Emergencies in FY 2017.

Insecurity and lack of access in conflict zones may make it difficult to implement child protection in emergencies interventions but we will rely on the Alliance country offices to guide us.

Questions? Contact us here.

Find out more:
Toward a Safe World for Children: Five-Year Strategic Plan 2016-2021
Strategic Plan at a Glance (one pager)
Glossary of terms used in the strategic plan
Press statement
Our Mission