Plan International’s COVID-19 Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on girls and their families around the world, killing millions of people. More than 1 billion children were shut out of school in the first year of the pandemic, and economic instability led to mass unemployment for people who were already struggling financially.

Built on our expertise gained from responding to past health emergencies such as Ebola and Zika, Plan International implemented a targeted emergency response from 2020-2021 in more than 70 countries. In collaboration with local organizations, municipal agencies and community leaders, we provided lifesaving resources to families like masks, sanitizer and clean water, as well as leading awareness campaigns on health-related practices to prevent the spread of the disease.

See a list of some of our initiatives from Plan’s emergency response here.

The impacts of COVID-19 have exacerbated and created long-term problems, especially for girls and women. Learning loss from school closures set girls back significantly, and they now face increased risks from child marriage, gender-based violence and limited access to essential health care services.

These long-term problems call for long-term solutions, which is why Plan now integrates COVID-19 response measures into all of our programming where it is still needed. We are implementing programs to support girls’ continued learning, including remote and blended learning opportunities, access to digital resources and accelerated learning programs to catch girls up in school.

To tackle the rising rates of child marriage and gender-based violence, we are continuing to strengthen community-based protection mechanisms, raising awareness about gender equality among parents and community members and providing safe spaces for girls and women to seek support — including mental health and reproductive and sexual health care.

Through this long-term strategy, we aim to build a more resilient future, where girls and their families not only recover from the setbacks caused by COVID-19 but move beyond them and build the futures they envision.