Save the Children takes tough decisions to achieve greater change for children
Save the Children UK's Board of Trustees has agreed the latest phase of its ten-year plan designed to deepen the charity's positive impact on children both at home and across the world.
Wednesday 26 March 2008
The charity will continue work in a range of areas but will increase resources in two priority areas:
- Save the Children's international emergency response to disasters
- The 'Saving Children's Lives' drive to ensure a two-thirds cut in the number of children across the world who die before their fifth birthday.
The organisation is also investing in long-term, sustainable fundraising initiatives targeting both institutions and individual donors.
Save the Children has been working for the last two years on a gradual transition plan to fund a higher proportion of its work in the UK from grants earmarked for that purpose rather than general funds. This will be accelerated so that general funds used for UK programmes are reduced to a level comparable with other countries where Save the Children is working, while working to increase targeted grant income for UK work.
Save the Children will also accelerate the handover of work in a number of countries in South East Europe to other members of the Save the Children Alliance.
Planning for these changes will take place between now and the end of June 2008.
Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said: "These decisions are designed to ensure that we are in great shape to achieve the dramatic change for children across the world we want to see in the next 5 to 10 years. That has meant being clear about where we will increase our ambition and where we will do less. Decisions like this are always difficult and we will work closely with our staff to implement these changes in a responsible and considered way. We are committed to our vital work with children in the UK and worldwide, and we will continue to be guided by what will make the biggest difference to children's lives."
-ENDS-
For more information please contact the media unit on:
+44 207 012 6841 / +44 7831 650 409 (out of hours) / media@savethechildren.org.uk
Notes to Editors
- General (unrestricted) funds for UK programmes will fall from £5m annually to around £3m.
- The Save the Children 10 year plan was agreed in 2007. Save the Children will focus its work on four fundamental rights where it has expertise, where change is urgently needed, and where it believes it can make a dramatic impact: Health and Hunger (together making up the Saving Children's Lives initiative), Education and Protection. Overall programme expenditure for the organisation continues to rise with a 12% growth in programme expenditure from 07/08 to 08/09 (factoring out the Tsunami effect).
- Save the Children is the world's independent children's charity. We're outraged that millions of children are still denied proper healthcare, food, education and protection. We're working flat out to get every child their rights and we're determined to make further, faster changes. How many? How fast? It's up to you.
