The Arab Council for Childhood & Development (ACCD)
2011 - 2013
(Summary)
Introduction:
ACCD is implementing its Strategic Plan which is adopted by the Board of Trustees in 2011. The Strategic Plan concentrates on a number of mechanisms including: advocacy, networking, capacity building, providing information, and arousing social awareness on childhood issues in the Arab world, aiming to make the targeted influence, as well as considering the new international approaches and strategies in the field of child protection, that participates in promoting ACCD's role at the regional and international levels. This requires enhancing and expanding partnership basics, cooperation and coordination among concerned national, regional and international institutions. Moreover, the Strategic Plan seeks to emphasize ACCD's regional role in promoting the movement of civil society, and working with higher councils & national committees for childhood, in addition to children themselves.
Guiding Documents of the Strategic Plan:
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child, The United Nations, 1989 (CRC)
- Arab Plan for Childhood (2004 - 2015), The League of Arab States
- Millennium Development Goals, The United Nations, 2000
- Achievements and Projects of ACCD
- The Universal Declaration on Human Rights, The United Nations, 1948
- Arab and International documents and initiatives on childhood.
Guiding Principles of the Strategic Plan:
The implementation of the strategic plan will be guided by the following principles:
- Promoting and spreading the culture of child rights and effective citizenship.
- Combating violence against children.
- Protecting and integrating children in difficult circumstances, marginalized children, and disabled children.
- Promoting child participation.
- Preparing children to interact with the updates of knowledge society at the national and internationals levels.
- Building effective partnerships with governments and civil society organizations.
Objectives and Structure of the Strategic Plan
Fundamental Basics of the Strategic Plan
In its activities for promoting child rights, ACCD focuses on the following fields:
1 - Comprehensive development of the child cognitively, emotionally, physically, recreationally and culturally, and caring for talents and creativity in arts, science and literature.
2 - Child protection from violence, abuse, exploitation and mistreatment.
3 - Child's participation in all relevant matters that affect his life, and the freedom of expression for his views. 4 - The full integration and capacity development of children with disabilities and children in difficult circumstances, in education and all aspects of life.
Objectives of the Strategic Plan:
- Activating participation of Arab children in programs that addressing and influencing them, to ensure their protection. This is in addition to inserting the protection of children and disabled children from violence, mistreatment, and exploitation, into the priorities of national agenda.
- Activating the tools that help in understanding and supporting childhood development, through depending on rooting Arab cultural identity, in the context of respecting diversity and interaction with humanitarian cultures. This is in addition to promote developing national plans and policies, as well as mechanisms to measure the quality of early childhood programs.
- Developing guiding standards in the context of CRC, that help Arab governments to draft policies and programs, aiming to ensure child rights based approach in the field of protection in Arab societies.
- Spreading and encouraging scientific research through reissuing of Childhood and Development Quarterly, to enhance knowledge on the status and issues of Arab child, through studies and researches published in the Quarterly.
- Networking among Arab civil society organizations working in the field of childhood, and establishing relationships with international organizations, in order to exchange experiences and knowledge, as well as strengthening partnerships and cooperation with governmental institutions and private sector, aiming at influencing decision makers to promote childhood issues.
- Mobilizing and promoting the Arab public opinion to support and develop the culture of child rights in cooperation and coordination with the media and other developmental institutions.
Implementation Strategies:
The implementation of the Strategic Plan depends on a number of supporting strategies including: media, advocacy, fundraising, expanding partnerships, as well as capacity building of ACCD's staff, and updating the technological structure of ACCD.
Implementation Mechanisms:
The implementation of the Strategic Plan depends on a number of mechanisms including: annual plans, holding periodical meetings of Internal Coordination Committee of ACCD, in addition to electronic follow up programs, experts, and team works.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
Being a fundamental element in the success of plans, this Strategic Plan adopts the concept of monitoring and evaluation, which focuses on following up, evaluating, and analyzing implemented activities, according to the objectives. This process includes assigning responsibilities, identifying achieved progress, obstacles and problems, as well as suggesting solutions in quarter and annual reports, and ensuring that the performance measures are clear and correct.
Strategic Issues
First Issue: Child Care and Protection
Second Issue: Arab Child Development
Third Issue: Knowledge Development
Fourth Issue: Building Effective Partnerships
Fifth Issue: Child Media
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