Concern 2011 2015-strategic_plan._email_v

Greater impact in an increasingly vulnerable world 1
STRATEGIC PLAN
2011 – 2015
Greater impact in an increasingly vulnerable world

Contents
Introduction 1
Background 2
The Programme Plan 7
Strategic Goal 1: Increasing our focus on working in the poorest and most vulnerable places 7
Strategic Goal 2: Emergency response 8
Strategic Goal 3: particular focus on hunger and health 9
Strategic Goal 4: Addressing the root causes of extreme poverty 9
Concern’s Impact Pathway in 2015 11
Strategic Goal 5: Accountability & results. 12
Organisational Development Plan 13
Strategic Goal 6: Greater organisational effectiveness 13
Summary 16

2 concern STRATEGIC PLAN 2011 – 2015 Greater impact in an increasingly vulnerable world 3
A child having her arm circumference measured for signs of
malnutrition in a Concern emergency health centre, Port Au
Prince, January 2010. Photographer: Brenda Fitzsimons
This is Concern’s strategic plan for 2011-
2015. We have named it ‘Greater Impact in
an Increasingly Vulnerable World’ because we
believe this captures best the challenges, and
our proposed response to them, in the next
five years.
Concern is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading
humanitarian organisations. This reputation has been earned since
our foundation in 1968 in many of the world’s disaster zones. We
respond to these disasters and we work in long term development.
Over the past decade we have chosen to focus our work in four
sectors we regard as key to tackling extreme poverty: improving
livelihoods; education; health and HIV and AIDS.
We underpin this work with our understanding of the nature
of extreme poverty. We recognise that to fulfil their human
rights and to escape from extreme poverty, poor people must
be assisted to improve their assets and reduce their risks and
vulnerabilities. We recognise that reducing inequality, particularly
gender inequality, is central to our work in reducing poverty.
We have developed particular strengths for which we are
internationally recognised. These include:
• Responding effectively to emergencies
• Working in difficult contexts with the most vulnerable people
• Engaging with, listening to and ensuring the participation of
the poorest
• Child survival and health
• Innovation in and treatment of severe malnutrition
• Influencing international policy and practice on nutrition and
hunger
As we look to the future we see considerable risk that the lives
and livelihoods of the poorest people will become even more
vulnerable. Climate change is leading to more frequent and
severe disasters. Population growth, spikes in food prices, the
global financial and economic crisis and increasing urbanisation
are all increasing vulnerability. Conflict, with associated security
concerns, restricts humanitarian space and our capacity to reach
the poorest people in a number of our countries of operation.
However we also see some basis for hope. The resilience and
capacity of extremely poor people continue to inspire us in our
work and we know we are part of concerted international efforts
to reach crucial targets such as the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). We also see possibilities in the Information and
communication technologies revolution and in the development
of green technology in enabling people to have new opportunities
for their economic and social development.
In planning strategically how Concern can be most effective in
reducing vulnerability and in tackling extreme poverty, we will
build on our existing strengths and develop some new ones.
We will further develop our capacity to prepare for and respond
effectively to emergencies. We will continue to work in the
current sectors of improving livelihoods through our programme
for Food, Incomes and Markets (FIM), in health and HIV and
AIDS, and in education. In so doing, we will deepen expertise
in our holistic approach to hunger, with particular emphasis on
the prevention of under-nutrition. Within a holistic approach to
improving health, we will focus on maternal and newborn health.
An increasing emphasis on water and sanitation is central to
both hunger and health. Education will also continue to have a
key role in our programmes, both as a contributor to achieving
our objectives in hunger and health, and in its own right as a
foundation stone for long term development.
We have always worked with the poorest people in the poorest
countries. This plan signals a commitment to concentrate even
more of our efforts on extremely poor people living in poor,
vulnerable contexts in both urban and rural areas.
We are committed to innovation in all our work, in our field
programmes and in all the functions which support these
programmes. Learning from our work and being able to demonstrate
results is central to how we operate. We are committed to the
highest standards of accountability to our beneficiaries, the public,
and the many government donors who support us.
High quality work on the ground, demonstration of results and
learning provides the basis to advocate for policy and practice
change, at national and international level, to help the poorest
people. Over the past decade we have been successful in
influencing policy in such areas as the treatment of severe
malnutrition, hunger and humanitarian reform. We want to further
develop our capacity to influence policy change over the next
five years.
We also aim to significantly improve how we communicate to
our different audiences, whether the public who support us, our
government donors, or the policy community who can help us
achieve policy change.
Over the past five years, Concern UK and Concern US have
grown and developed due to the hard work and commitment
of staff and the respective Boards. We believe we have
opportunities to attract more public and governmental support
for our work in both countries and we are committed to making
significant investments over the course of this plan to realise
these opportunities.
Whatever success Concern has had in carrying out our mission
has been due to the quality and commitment of our staff. We will
continue to invest in our staff and in developing an organisational
culture which enables our staff to perform to the highest
standards and to develop personally and professionally.
This strategic plan for 2011-2015 re-affirms our values and our
mission to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major
improvements in their lives and their human rights. It builds on
our established strengths in humanitarian action and in our
sectoral approaches to tackling extreme poverty. It also provides
clear strategic direction in increasing our focus in holistically
tackling hunger and health. We will invest in our capacity in these
areas so as to increase our programme breadth, improve our
learning and become a more effective advocate for policy and
practice change. This plan also envisages strategic investment in
developing Concern UK and Concern US and in increasing our
capacity to more effectively communicate about our work.
Achieving the goals and objectives set out in this plan will bring
Concern to a new level of effectiveness and influence and will
further enhance our capacity to make a difference to the lives of
the world’s poorest people. We have a responsibility to them,
and to ourselves, to deliver on what we commit to.
Introduction

Figure 1: How we achieve our mission
OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF
EXTREME POVERTY
INNOVATION &
LEARNING IN
PROGRAMMES
IMPACT ON THE LIVES
OF EXTREMELY POOR
PEOPLE
INFLUENCING
DECISION MAKERS
AND PRACTITIONERS
OUR HUMANITARIAN
IDENTITY
Evidence &
Analysis
Givens
In setting out our strategic plan for 2011-2015, we believe it
is important to affirm certain basic facts and approaches we
regard as ‘givens’. Concern is secure in its identity, vision for
change, mission and core organisational structure. We engage in
emergency response and in long term development work, using
advocacy and development education, drawing increasingly from
the lessons we learn in the field, to make the case for policy and
practice change.
We are an international non-governmental humanitarian
organisation, headquartered in Ireland, with Concern UK as a
subsidiary and Concern US as an affiliate organisation, each
contributing to the achievement of our organisational mission.
We strongly engage with the EU through our membership of
Alliance 2015.
We will continue to have this core structure. Concern UK and
Concern US have both grown in size and influence. In order to
build on the opportunities in the US and UK, we have located
specialist programme staff there to be able to provide technical
assistance to engage at policy level as well as contributing to our
single overseas programme. A major review of our governance
structures was agreed by Council in December 2005 and the
recommendations implemented over the subsequent three
years. As Concern UK and Concern US develop, we will keep
our governance arrangements under review. We believe we are
operating to high standards of corporate governance. We are
also open to exploring the option of establishing in a new country
for fundraising, in order to expand our support base.
We are acutely aware of the financial and other support we get to
enable us to do our work, from the public, government funders and
various partners from the private sector and other development
actors. We work hard to be accountable to all our supporters and
we are committed to continuing high standards of accountability
and to effective engagement with our supporters.
Against the background of these ‘givens’, the rest of this plan
aims to provide clear strategic direction for the organisation over
the next five years.
Summary of our Internal Analysis
The overall thrust of the strategic plan articulated in the 3is
(Innovation, Influence, Impact) made a difference to the work
of Concern and people’s understanding of our ambition and
programmes.
Considerable advances were made in terms of developing
organisational capacity across a range of areas such as strategic
partnerships, organisational coherence, co-funding, advocacy
and IT.
The plan was too detailed having too many objectives and
strategic actions. This made it very difficult to monitor and
actively manage for both Senior Management and Council. There
was no in-built mechanism for effective monitoring and review.
It built on commitments to a number of approaches and cross
cutting issues (partnership, equality, disaster risk reduction,
HIV mainstreaming and a human rights-based approach) and
attempted to move them to a new level. In reality, this was very
ambitious and it has been difficult to ensure high quality work
across the board in each of these areas.
We need to have a more holistic approach to our work from
application of cross-cutting issues to ensuring that programmes
are linked to policy change.
While we continued to invest in strengthening monitoring and
evaluation (M&E), our ability to show longer-term results or to
provide evidence of change remains weak.
The plan that follows shows a commitment to learn and change
based on the Internal Analysis.
TheWorld Today: Summary of our
External Analysis1
There are a number of key trends in the external environment
which are likely to impact on our target group and on Concern’s
work. These represent both opportunity and threat. We know that
it is the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world who are
most negatively and seriously affected by many of these trends.
These are the people Concern works with and for.
Climate change and cycles of greater frequency and severity of
natural disasters are increasingly obvious. Population growth,
urbanisation, changing age profiles of populations, migration
and displacement are major demographic issues we must deal
1 For detail, see “Concern Worldwide Strategic Planning 2010:
External Analysis” (Will Devas and John Grindle).
What Concern Stands For
Our Identity: Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental,
international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the
reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate
elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.
Our Vision for Change: A world where no-one lives in poverty,
fear or oppression; where all have access to a decent standard
of living and the opportunities and choices essential to a long,
healthy and creative life; a world where everyone is treated with
dignity and respect.
Our Mission: Our mission is to help people living in extreme
poverty achieve major improvements in their lives which last and
spread without ongoing support from Concern. To achieve this
mission we engage in long term development work, respond to
emergency situations, and seek to address the root causes of
poverty through our development education and advocacy work.
What we do to achieve our mission
Drivers of Concern’s work
In striving to achieve our mission there are two drivers that
govern the work we do.
1. Concern’s humanitarian identity
Our humanitarian identity obliges us to prioritise and maintain the
capacity to respond quickly and effectively to emergencies with
the specific objectives of:
i) Saving lives and alleviating suffering
ii) Maintaining dignity during and in the aftermath of disasters
iii) Strengthening community preparedness for future
disasters
2. Concern’s commitment to address extreme poverty
How we go about this is articulated in How Concern Understands
Extreme Poverty which outlines our understanding of:
• What identifies the extremely poor - that they have very few
assets and poor return from them.
• The main causes and maintainers of extreme poverty – risk
and vulnerability, and inequality.
Therefore in helping those ‘living in extreme poverty to achieve
major improvements in their lives’ this understanding must be
central to our contextual analysis and programme design and all
our programmes must aim to:
i) Help extremely poor people to build and improve their
resources
ii) Help extremely poor people to reduce their vulnerability
to shocks and stresses and address the inequalities they
face, particularly gender inequality.
How Concern works
In both our humanitarian action and efforts to address extreme
poverty, Concern engages in two broad categories of work.
1. ‘On-the-ground’ work which, in 2009, directly reached
some 10 million people. This is done where possible and
appropriate with government and civil society partners
but also, particularly in emergencies, through direct
implementation of programmes. The emphasis on working
with and through partners is for the added value they bring,
as well as the importance of working effectively with others
to meet the needs of, and achieve long term sustainable
change for, extremely poor people.
2. Influencing for policy change through persuading others
to, and encouraging public support for, the adoption of
policies and practices we know to be effective and to build
the political will to achieve universal human rights.
Therefore in doing our work Concern is committed to
Innovation and learning in our programmes to ensure that
our practice in humanitarian action and addressing extreme
poverty is as effective as possible.
Which, through evidence, analysis and partnerships,
leads to
Influence of national and international decision makers and
practitioners to adopt policies and practices that can bring
larger scale and lasting change to extremely poor people in
the world’s poorest countries. This is done through advocacy
with targeted actors as well as engaging with and mobilising
public support for our mission and wider humanitarian and
extreme poverty issues.
Resulting in
Impact on the lives of the extremely poor through our on-the-
ground and influencing work.
Background

CONCERN’S AMBITION FOR 2015
Ultimately everything Concern does aims to help extremely poor
people make major and lasting improvements in their lives. To
ensure we continue to improve our work and increase our impact
we are challenging ourselves to achieve the following ambition:
By 2015, Concern will be demonstrating how
to achieve real change in the most difficult
countries in the world, those we are calling
‘poor-vulnerable’.2
In order to achieve this, Concern will
effectively manage frequent emergencies as
well as significant development programmes
and use the results of these to influence
national and international policy to achieve
long-term improvements in people’s lives. We
will significantly improve our work according
to commitments laid out later in this plan.
In achieving this it is expected that Concern will have
consolidated its reputation as a leading humanitarian
international non-governmental organisation (INGO) in working
with the poorest and most vulnerable people living in the most
difficult circumstances. In practice this means that we must take
ourselves to a new level of consistent excellence in both our on-
the-ground programming and influencing work. Our programme
design, generation of learning and evidence, advocacy, public
engagement and communication of what we do and achieve
must all improve. Our benchmark will be the level of impact we
help to bring about for the extremely poor in the poorest and
most difficult contexts.
Strategic Goal 1:
Focus on the poorest and most
vulnerable countries and regions in
those countries.
Concern has always worked in extremely poor countries, most
of which are also prone to emergencies. Following an analysis
2 Concern characterises ‘poor-vulnerable’ as being first the existence
of widespread extreme poverty e.g. bottom 40 of the HDI but
combined with elements of: poor governance, weak institutions
and lack of rule of law; potential for or existing conflict or violence;
proneness to emergencies; high vulnerability to shocks and
stresses; the existence of pronounced inequalities; and widespread
environmental degradation.
of poverty levels in all our countries of operation Concern
decided in 2008-2009 to withdraw from four countries so that
its resources and strengths could be better focused in countries
which are extremely poor but also have very high levels of
vulnerability.
During the lifetime of this plan Concern commits to continue this
shift of increasingly working in ‘poor-vulnerable’ contexts. This
will involve a fresh analysis of the countries in which we work to
see whether it is right to exit any further countries and whether
to enter new countries, whilst maintaining the ability to enter new
countries to respond to major emergencies. In order to provide
both strategic direction and stability, and given the decision to
remain in about 25 countries during this plan, we do not expect
to exit more than two countries within the next five years.
Furthermore, all of our current country offices within their
own strategic planning will be expected to assess whether
they are working in the poorest and most vulnerable areas
of those countries and consider adding to or shifting their
areas of operation. In doing our analysis, the existence of
widespread extreme poverty will be the first consideration but
always supplemented by other criteria that capture elements of
Concern’s understanding of vulnerability.
In continuing this shift we acknowledge that ‘poor-vulnerable’
countries present additional challenges and increased
organisational risk such as staff recruitment, potential increased
need for French speaking staff, increased insecurity and greater
stress on systems support for fields where staff capacity is likely
to be lower. However we believe that it is in these contexts that
Concern can add the greatest value and can most influence
international best practice in how to bring about improvements
to the lives of extremely poor people in the most difficult of
circumstances.
Figure 2 illustrates the shift Concern has already made and will
continue to make in the next five years in terms of where it works.
The expectations of what Concern can achieve in these contexts
also need to be realistic. Although in relative terms impact can
be equal to if not greater than in more stable contexts, the
results are likely to be at a lower level as the contexts are more
challenging.
with. Health epidemics continue to threaten target groups and
burdens of disease shift as solutions to some are found. The
recent global economic crisis and increases in food prices have
pointed to key economic vulnerabilities. Globalisation’s roots
get deeper and there will continue to be huge benefits from
knowledge sharing and the application of ICT for development
goals. In the long-term, energy and environmental needs will
affect markets and the transfer of goods. Political models
continue to be debated; democracy and good governance
continue to be promoted but in more locally meaningful ways.
The influence and economic power of Brazil, Russia, India and
China are on the rise.
Conflict and security concerns at national and international level
impact substantially on our humanitarian work. Conflicts have
become more localised, smaller and intra-state but they continue to
have huge impacts on the most vulnerable civilians. Humanitarian
space is under threat and shrinking. Concern has been an active
supporter of the humanitarian reform process initiated by the
UN and engages in a number of the specialised clusters aimed
at improving delivery of humanitarian operations, but significant
challenges remain for effective emergency response.
There is an increasing political and public debate about aid
and its effectiveness. Official donors and the public are placing
increasing emphasis on the importance of accountability,
demonstrating results and improved information about aid work.
These external trends have consequences for NGOs. The global
economic crisis and the serious problem for Irish public finances
are having a negative effect on aid budgets. However there may
also be opportunities in the more difficult and uncertain economic
environment. We expect there will be structural change in the
NGO sector as funding becomes scarcer and more competitive.
Because of its reputation for effectiveness and its capacity to
communicate about its work, there may be an opportunity for
Concern to increase its market share both from official donors
and the public. Greater engagement of the private sector in
development and the rise of major foundations offer funding as
well as expertise and organisational development opportunities.
Over time, we would like to maximise these opportunities, continue
to diversify our funding streams and deepen our engagement and
relationships with non traditional actors.
In short, vulnerability is increasing, need is rising and inequalities
will remain pervasive. ICT offers a beacon of light by offering
new development opportunities and processes but will reach
the poorest last. There is clearly a continued role for effective
international NGOs who are able to learn and adjust to a rapidly
changing world and work with the extremely poor in the world’s
poorest countries to help them address the challenges they face.
What follows is a response to these changes: adjusting to
increasing vulnerability and inequality; focusing our resources
where they are most needed, building on our strengths and
ensuring that we will continuously improve key areas of our work,
both in our overseas programmes and in how we support these
programmes.
The Programme Plan
Niger, 2010

Strategic Goal 3:
Significantly improving the food
security, nutrition security and
health of extremely poor people.
Concern will retain a wide choice of programming within the
existing four sectors of Food Income & Markets (FIM), health, HIV
and AIDS and education as well as other emergency specific
interventions. However, we continually strive to improve our work
to meet the critical needs of our target group. We believe we
can best meet these needs by bringing a more strategic focus to
our programming and have decided to prioritise the two themes
of Hunger and Health. We plan to build up a critical mass of
organisational learning and expertise on these themes during this
strategic plan.
It is expected that the existing four sectors will ensure that
their interventions are significantly contributing to improving
the food security, nutritional status and health of extremely
poor people whilst retaining the flexibility to carry out non food
security, nutrition security and health related interventions where
contextually appropriate.
Strategic Objective 5:
By 2015, Concern will have significantly increased the
contribution of its four programme sectors to improving
the food security, nutrition security and health of
extremely poor people whilst retaining the flexibility to
carry out other interventions where appropriate.
Expected result:
• All four sectors will be able to demonstrate the contribution
of their interventions to improved nutrition, food security and
health of extremely poor people through clear impact pathways.
Additional specialisations to reducing
hunger and improving health
Concern is already recognised for having expertise in the We are
committed to maintaining and, through improved learning and
demonstration of results, improving the quality of and scaling up
these programmes. Given our increased focus on hunger and
health, by building on our current specialisations and in response
to the priority needs of our target group, Concern will pursue
three additional specialisations:
• Prevention of undernutrition (in addition to treatment),
• Promotion of maternal and newborn health (in addition to
child health) and
• Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
For prevention of undernutrition and maternal and newborn
health, we expect to focus on a limited number of countries
covering a variety of contexts: sudden and slow onset
emergency, rural and urban. For WASH, the emphasis will be on
providing effective programmes wherever it is required.
By 2015, Concern will have developed additional
specialisations in the areas of:
a) prevention of undernutrition; b) maternal and
newborn health; c) and water, sanitation and hygiene
(WASH); to sustainably improve the food security,
nutrition security and health of extremely poor people.
Expected results:3
• Contributed to reduced child, infant and maternal morbidity
and mortality in at least six countries.
• Reduced prevalence of stunting and acute malnutrition
among children under five years in at least three countries.
• Reduced incidence and or prevalence of water borne
diseases.
• Disseminated new evidence and learning on effective
programme models to improve the food security, nutrition
security and health of extremely poor people.
Strategic Goal 4:
Consistently addressing the root
causes of extreme poverty through
programming and increased
influence.
To achieve our mission, we must continue to improve how we
respond to the root causes of extreme poverty. We recognise
that lack of assets (and poor returns from those assets)
distinguishes those who are extremely poor from those who
are not. Concern identifies risk and vulnerability and inequality
as the key causes of and main obstacles to people getting out
of extreme poverty. Our contextual analysis has to include root
causes. We must also ensure that all programme interventions
will have improved assets, reduced risk and vulnerability and
greater equality as outcome objectives.
While strengthening our own programmes on the ground, we
can further our impact on the root causes of extreme poverty
by partnering with others and influencing key actors to adopt
policies and practices we know to be effective in eliminating
extreme poverty. Therefore we must increase our influence on
policy makers, peer organisations and retain public support for
development.
We already have global influence in the area of nutrition and
hunger but we need to build on this. Improved planning, more
targeted influencing and diversifying our sectors of influence are
likely to lead to greater impact, visibility and credibility which in
turn should facilitate the attraction of greater funding and high
quality personnel.
3 Although we expect our programmes to significantly contribute to
these results we have to acknowledge the difficulties attributing
success to Concern.
By 2015, Concern will have increased its focus on the
poorest and most vulnerable contexts.Throughout this
plan we will work in approximately 25 countries.
Expected Results:
• To have made decisions (by end of 2011) on exiting or
entering countries for long-term development on the basis
of an analysis of ‘poor-vulnerable’ contexts done by May
2011.
• Each Concern country office, in its strategic planning, will
have assessed and decided (by end of 2012) if they need
to focus more on ‘poor-vulnerable’ areas and plans will be
made for transitions (by end of 2013).
Figure 2: Concern's continued shift to working in 'poor-vulnerable'
countries and areas
Concern in 2009
Concern in 2011
Concern in 2015
MOST
VULNERABLE
CONTEXTS
STABLE
CONTEXTS
Emergency Response Recovery Rehab Development
We take security management very seriously. Given that we will
continue to work in insecure environments and perhaps enter
more, it is vital that our security analysis, planning and practice
are strengthened and are consistently of a sufficient quality to
effectively manage security risks in each context. This will involve
ongoing relevant staff training, adherence to policies, plans and
procedures, regular updating of the same, maintaining good
response mechanisms as well as building an organisational
culture of security and individual responsibility for oneself and
colleagues. Thus we are setting ourselves the following strategic
objective:
Strengthened staff and organisational security
management practice.
Expected result:
• Every country will have security practice that is
commensurate with and adaptive to the changing pattern
of risk in each of their programmes areas. The contextual
analysis - and the specific security management measures
derived from it - will be contained in regularly up-dated and
approved Security Management Plans.
Strategic Goal 2:
Strengthened Emergency Response
Capacity and Effectiveness.
Humanitarian action is a key part of Concern’s work. Given
trends such as climate change, urbanisation, population growth,
increasing politicisation of aid and shrinking humanitarian
space it is almost certain that Concern will have to respond to
more frequent, severe and complex emergencies in the future.
Therefore it is vital that we continue to maintain and improve our
humanitarian action capacity and effectiveness.
Concern will have, in all country programmes, the
capacity to make timely and effective emergency
responses.
Concern will have increased its surge capacity to
respond effectively to emergencies and protracted
crises in our existing countries and where we have no
prior presence.
Expected results:
• By the end of 2013, every field will have an approved
Preparing for Effective Emergency Response (PEER) plan
in place and will be annually reporting on its on-going
implementation.
• By 2015, within Concern’s existing countries, 75% of
emergency assessments, initial response planning and
implementation can be carried out by the in-country team
and selected partners.
• By the end of 2011, increased and improved surge capacity
mechanisms will be identified and in place that ensure
skilled staff are available in a timely manner to respond to
emergencies and protracted crises.

Based on the priorities outlined above, Figure 3 illustrates our
expected impact pathway in 2015.
This emphasises: the importance of our understanding of
extreme poverty in contextual analysis in setting objectives at
the right level (outcome); that we will maintain our broad range
of programming choices through the sectors and additional
emergency specific programming; the increasing focus on
hunger and health; the additional specialisations within these
areas; and in seeking to achieve our expected impact and
outcomes, Concern can and will use an appropriate combination
of on-the-ground and influencing work at national and
international level.
Achieving greater influence requires: having evidence;
effectively communicating that evidence to the right audiences;
and diversifying our supporter profile and deepening their
engagement with Concern and its mission. Increased publication
of Concern’s programme experience, results and policy
recommendations will be part of this.
By 2015, Concern will be able to show that all its
programmes are effective in addressing the root causes
of poverty.4
Expected results:
• Increased and improved assets, greater resilience and
increased equality objectives and indicators are embedded
in the organisation’s (as well as each field’s) results
frameworks.
• By 2015, all proposals will be based on our Contextual
Analysis Guidelines (CAG) and have improved assets,
reduced risk and vulnerability and greater equality as
outcome objectives. The interim target for 2012 is 65% of
programmes.
4 With the exception of the early phases of rapid on-set emergencies.
By 2015, Concern will have increased its international
influence on emergencies, hunger, health and aid
through improved advocacy, communications and
public engagement.
Expected results:
• Developed (by April 2011) and implemented a global
advocacy strategy with clearly articulated targets around
attainment of positions of influence and policy and practice
change.
By 2015, we will have significantly increased long-term,
sustainable support for Concern’s mission.
Expected results:
• In terms of the number of supporters in the RoI, UK and
US who show a strong understanding of, display empathy
for, and taken action in support of Concern’s mission, we
will have doubled this level of support by 2015, using a
2011 survey of knowledge, attitudes and behaviours as a
baseline.
• Key targets and plans to achieve a significant increase
in both the quantity and quality of Concern coverage in
relevant international media will be decided by end of 2011
based on a review to be carried out by September 2011.
Concern’s impact pathway in 2015
MISSION
Major & lasting improvements in
the lives of the extremely poor
IMPACT
HUMANITARIAN
• Lives saved
• Suffering alleviated
• Dignity maintained
• Community preparedness
strengthened
EXTREME POVERTY
Improvements in the lives of
the extremely poor
OUTCOMES
Improved ASSETS
Reduced RISK & VULNERABILITY
Greater EQUALITY
ASSETS, RISK & VULNERABILITY, EQUALITY
Through:ON-THE-GROUND&INFLUENCINGWORK
Substainably addressing
HUNGER and HEALTH
Particular focus
on themes of:
Maternal and
Newborn HEALTH
Prevention of
UNDERNUTRITION
WASH
Developing
specialisations in:
EMERGENCY specific e.g.
Shelter & Camp Management
FIM
Sector
HEALTH
Sector
EDUCATION
Sector
HIV & AIDS
Sector
Programmes
NEEDS ANALYSISProgramme design
Contextual analysis
Figure 3: Concern’s programming and expected impact pathway 2011-2015
Farmers and the Mongu District Farmers Association, Mongu Zambia. Photo by Liz Yeates, April 2010

Strategic Goal 6:
Greater organisational
effectiveness
In order to achieve and sustain consistent high quality
programming and to increase our influence and impact we have
identified five organisational priorities in which we will invest to
support the achievement of strategic goals one to five and fulfil
our ambition for 2015. These five priorities are:
1. Attracting, developing and retaining high quality staff
2. Optimising and diversifying our funding
3. Investing in and maximising opportunities in the UK and
US
4. Improved internal coherence, communications and
management systems
5. Embracing technology and becoming a greener
organization
For each priority we have identified a strategic objective and
expected results.
1. Attracting, developing and retaining
high quality staff
Concern could not have achieved significant impact over the
last 42 years without very committed, skilled and professional
staff. However we continue to have a number of positions
across the organisation that are ‘hard to fill’ and, as we are and
will increasingly work in difficult, complex and often insecure
environments, Concern faces considerable on-going challenges
in attracting, developing and retaining quality staff. Therefore
investing in our HR function across the organisation to ensure
improved recruitment, development and retention is very
important in the next five years so that Concern can achieve the
high standard of programming to which it aspires.
By 2015 Concern’s impact will have been increased
by an efficient HR function contributing to the timely
recruitment, development and retention of skilled staff.
Expected Result:
• Key milestones, areas to be addressed and an
implementation plan will be developed by the end of March
2011 as a result of a major review of our global human
resources function being carried out in December 2010/
January 2011.
2. Optimising and diversifying our funding
Concern has a large and diverse funding base generated from
both private fundraising and co-funding. In the last decade our
co-funding has increased by 70%. Although private fundraising
dropped to 35% of total income in 2009 from 48% in 2007,
largely due to the economic downturn, Concern still enjoys a very
strong supporter base and is diversifying that base by engaging
with the private sector and large trusts and foundations.
Notwithstanding Concern’s relatively strong funding position,
we will continue to seek to increase our income diversity and
predictability. With expected structural changes in the NGO
sector we would hope to be able to increase our international
market share from donors, private sector, and the public.
Achieving these increases will require use of new media,
exploring new markets, investing in the UK and US, continued
targeting of the private sector and trusts and foundations,
working more in consortia and working more effectively with
partners such as Alliance 2015.
By 2015, Concern will have further optimised and
diversified our funding.
Expected Results:
• By 2015 Concern will be generating €84 million per annum
of co-funding excluding funding for major emergencies.
• By 2015, we will have achieved 75% co-funding across all
our programmes
• By 2015 Concern will have grown private fundraising
income excluding for major emergencies in RoI by 18%
from the 2011 budgeted net contribution of €26.9million
and gross contribution of €35million and continue to
generate sufficient funds to allow us to respond effectively
to emergencies.
• Within each of our two main funding streams, we have
several significant sources of funding (Co-Funding; Irish
Aid, EU/ECHO, UN), (Private Fundraising; Individual
Giving, Major Donors, Corporate and Trusts and
Community Fundraising). We will seek to ensure that each
of these individual sources of funding will expand from
2011 budget levels throughout the course of the plan,
whilst ensuring that no individual source of funding will
exceed 30% of total organisational income.
• Explored several and entered at least one new market in
private fundraising
• Increased income from major donors, corporate, trust and
foundations in RoI from 2011 budget base of €4.3m to
€6.3m and in the UK from 2011 budget base of €1.9m to
€2.3m excluding funding for major emergencies.
Strategic Goal 5:
Increased programme quality and
impact through strengthened
accountability and demonstrated
results.
Accountability
Encouraged by our Humanitarian Accountability Partnership
(HAP) certification, Concern is committed to ensuring that we
are more accountable to our intended beneficiaries and all other
stakeholders for our agreed commitments and objectives and for
programme quality and results.
By 2015, we will have strengthened systems of
accountability to beneficiaries and all stakeholders,
including internal stakeholders.
Expected result:
• An organisation wide accountability framework will have
been developed (by end of 2011) with clearly outlined
priority commitments and responsibilities and from the end
of 2012 will be consistently implemented and monitored.
Demonstrated Results
Although many evaluations point to considerable success in our
programmes, we must further improve our ability to demonstrate
what we are achieving as a result of our interventions. This is
also true of our influencing work. This will require improving
programme design, being clear on how we expect change
to be achieved, improving our monitoring and evaluation and
conducting high quality baseline and end line surveys to help
measure change.
Concern has made improvements in organisational learning and
knowledge management in the last five years with considerable
investment in improved ICT systems although progress in
optimising the use of these systems has been less than hoped
for. It is vital that we improve our learning and knowledge
management in support of the achievement of Concern’s goals
and objectives.
By 2015, we will have strengthened systems of results
measurement and organisational learning.
Expected results:
• An organisational results framework, including all areas of
Concern’s work, will have been developed (by mid 2011),
measured annually and have embedded in it measures of
assets, inequality and risk and vulnerability.
• By March 2012 milestones, areas to be addressed and
an implementation plan will be developed as a result of a
review of our existing knowledge management and learning
systems, behaviours and practice. This is to be completed
by the end of 2011.
Organisational development plan

and strategic objectives for 2015. These shall be monitored by
Concern Council (annually) and reviewed by Senior Management
on a six monthly basis.
The Detailed Change Objectives:
These will be articulated through the completion of more detailed
plans carried out by:
• Departments - by the end of March 2011
• Cross organisational groups where relevant - by the end of
June 2011
• UK and US in developing their strategic plans - by the end
of June 2011
• Country teams in developing their strategic plans - by the
end of 2012
These should include an action plan with key milestones and
responsibilities embedded within them and will require the
production of progress reports for SMT and their six monthly
reviews.
Change Management
To fulfil the goals and objectives in this plan it is vital that there
is put in place a mechanism to facilitate a well managed roll-out
of the plan, implement necessary changes and monitor progress
combined with an optimised organisational structure and
deployment of resources.
Successful achievement of strategic goals and
objectives through a well managed plan.
Key Milestones:
• End Jan 2011: Initial allocation of investment resources.
• End Jan 2011: Agreed mechanisms to facilitate
management of detail of plan (‘junction-box’?).
• March 2011: Departmental plans finalised.
• June 2011: Cross organisational plans finalised.
• June 2011: Finalised strategic plans by Concern UK and
Concern US.
• July 2011: Agreed sequence of key initiatives across the
organisation in order to reduce management bottlenecks or
overload at critical junctures.
• July 2011: First SMT review of progress on this strategic
plan (every January and July SMT thereafter).
• Sept 2011: Agreed changes in working groups and
structures, as necessary.
• Feb 2012: First review by Council, UK and US Boards of
progress on strategic plan(s).
• June 2013: Begin mid-term review (MTR) of plan.
Completed MTR by Sept 2013.
3. Investing in and maximising opportunities
in the UK and US
Over the past five years Concern UK and US have grown and
developed in both size and influence. Concern UK has built up
a reputation in the areas of hunger and humanitarian action and
Concern US has done so on emergency response and child
survival. However given that the UK and US are two of the most
important global humanitarian and development hubs, we believe
we have opportunities to attract more public, private sector, trust
and foundation and governmental support for our work as well as
to increase our influence. Furthermore, increasing our presence
in both the UK and US are important elements of Concern’s risk
diversification strategy.
To achieve expansion in these competitive markets, we are
committed to making significant investments to realise these
opportunities through developing Concern’s brand and unique
contribution, improved communications, and deepening
and establishing strategic relationships with e.g. academic
institutions, coordinating bodies and the private sector.
By 2015, Concern in the USA and UK will have further
developed a distinctive profile, increased policy and
practice influence and increased income.
Expected results:
• Ensure we receive an appropriate level of return on any
incremental investment in fundraising activities in Concern
UK and Concern US.
• By 2015, be raising €13m from USAID and €4.4m from
DFID annually excluding funding for major emergencies.
Increased influence with institutional actors according to
policy and practice change objectives identified in advocacy
strategies.
• Significant increase in public, private sector and trust and
foundation recognition levels.
4. Improved internal coherence,
communications and management systems
In recognising the importance of coherent messages for
increasing our impact and influence, Concern has made
considerable improvement in its internal coherence,
communications and management systems in the last five years.
However with the worldwide appetite for instant information and
the rapid growth in communication methods we are continually
challenged to ensure coherent ‘messaging’.
By 2015, Concern will have increased its effectiveness
through improved internal coherence, communications
and management systems.
Expected results
• An international communications plan will have been
developed (by end of 2011), taking account of the UK and
US strategic objectives.
• Have carried out annual simulations (starting in 2011) and
subsequent revisions of our Critical Incident Management
(CIM) policy and procedures as part of wider organisational
risk management practice.
• From June 2011 we will be working according to agreed
mechanisms that deliver greater coherence between Public
Affairs and Advocacy in the RoI, UK and US; Overseas;
and the CEO.
• Improved management of demands on the fields through
proper and agreed sequencing of planned initiatives and
reduced unplanned demands.
5. Embracing technology and becoming a
greener organization
Our external analysis and experience recognise the huge
potential of technology and ICT in facilitating and speeding up
improvements in the lives of our target group. We are committed
to embracing this potential.
Concern must be and also wishes to be a “green organisation”
by building on our carbon audit of 2007 and working in ‘greener’
ways. This will involve reducing our own carbon footprint as well
as relevant use of green technologies in our programme work.
By 2015, Concern will have increased its utilisation
of technological and ICT opportunities in our
programming and be a significantly greener
organisation.
Expected Result:
• By the end of 2011, Concern will have conducted an
analysis and developed a plan to utilise technological and
ICT opportunities to improve our programming.
• By the end of 2011, we will also have set specific targets
and outlined the necessary steps to become a greener
organisation, both in our programmes and in home offices.
Management of the implementation
of this Strategic Plan
There are two major components of this fourth strategic plan. The
first is the Strategic Direction; the second is the Detailed Change
Objectives.
The Strategic Direction:
This is articulated in this document and a summarised version
will be made available to external audiences and published on
Concern’s website. It articulates our ambition, strategic goals

4. ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES OF
EXTREME POVERTY:
We will do this through ensuring that our contextual analysis
captures root causes and that every programme specifically
addresses them. It will also be done by seeking to achieve
greater influence through our advocacy and active citizenship
work with clear objectives and coherence between each.
5. ACCOUNTABILITY & RESULTS:
Significantly improving our ability to demonstrate
our results and impact and being more explicitly
accountable for this as well as being accountable for all our
stated commitments to all of our stakeholders.
6. IMPROVING ORGANISATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS: Concentrating on
the following areas:
a) Attracting, developing and retaining quality staff
(especially in the most difficult places)
b) Continuing to maximise and diversify our funding
c) Investing in and maximising opportunities in the UK and
US
d) Improving internal coherence, communications and
management systems
e) Embracing ICT and technology opportunities for
efficiency and becoming a ‘greener’ organisation
Concern’s fourth strategic plan
2011-2015 is premised on:
1. Effectively and appropriately responding to global trends
affecting extremely poor people and NGOs.
2. Furthering the achievement of our mission and being
true to our ethos and values.
3. Building on our strengths and furthering our reputation
as one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs.
4. Further improving the quality of work and increasing our
influence to meet the needs of and help the extremely
poor to make sustainable improvements in their lives.
In short, the external environment, with trends such as climate
change, means that for extremely poor people living in the
world’s poorest countries need is rising, vulnerability is increasing
and the inequalities they face will remain pervasive. Education,
knowledge, Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
and improving concerted international efforts to reach targets
such as the MDGs remain beacons of light whilst the continued
resilience of extremely poor people in the face of adversity
continues to inspire us. However these opportunities reach the
poorest last. NGOs are needed as much as ever.
There are consequences for NGOs as well with the continued
economic crisis negatively affecting aid budgets and public
giving. This may give rise to structural change in the NGO sector.
Given Concern’s reputation for effectiveness, we would hope
to increase our market share from both official donors and the
public in this more competitive situation.
To respond appropriately in this environment and to further the
achievement of our mission Concern will build on its strengths
which are widely agreed to include:
• Responding effectively to emergencies
• Working in difficult contexts with the most vulnerable people
• Engaging with, listening to and ensuring the participation of
the poorest
• Child survival and health
• Innovation in and treatment of severe malnutrition
• Influencing international policy and practice on nutrition and
hunger
Therefore, in short, this strategic plan is about achieving this
ambition:
By 2015, Concern will be demonstrating how to achieve
real change in the most difficult countries in the world,
those we are calling ‘poor-vulnerable’1.
To achieve this we have set ourselves six strategic goals:
1. INCREASING OUR FOCUS ON
WORKING IN THE POOREST AND MOST
VULNERABLE PLACES:
Concern will remain in about 25 countries but will increase
its focus on countries and regions in those countries that
are extremely poor but also have high levels of vulnerability
e.g. being prone to emergencies, have poor governance and
high levels of inequality – i.e. working with those that need us
most and for whom the challenge of getting out of poverty is
greatest. We wish to become known as the ‘go to’ NGO for
working effectively in these contexts.
2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE:
Continuing to improve our capacity and effectiveness
in responding to emergencies, both to unusually large
emergencies as well improved internal field capacity to
smaller emergencies in our countries of operation.
3. PARTICULAR FOCUS ON HUNGER AND
HEALTH:
Over the past decade we have chosen to work in four sectors
we regard as key to tackling extreme poverty: improving
livelihoods, education, health and HIV and AIDS. We will
continue to work in these sectors but we will bring a more
strategic focus to our programming by prioritising the themes
of Hunger and Health. We plan to build a critical mass of
organisational learning and expertise on those themes during
this strategic plan.
As part of this focus Concern is committing to developing
three additional specialisations in these areas. These are:
a) prevention of under-nutrition, (in addition to treatment)
b) maternal and newborn health, (in addition to child
health) and
c) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
1 Concern characterises ‘poor-vulnerable’ as being first the existence
of widespread extreme poverty e.g. bottom 40 of the HDI but
combined with elements of: poor governance, weak institutions
and lack of rule of law; potential for or existing conflict or violence;
proneness to emergencies; high vulnerability to shocks and
stresses; the existence of pronounced inequalities; and widespread
environmental degradation.
Summary

Republic of Ireland
52-55 Lower Camden
Street, Dublin 2
T 00353 1 417 7700
E info@concern.net
Northern Ireland
47 Frederick Street, Belfast
BT1 2LW
T 0044 28 9033 1100
E belfastinfo@concern.net
England & Wales
13/14 Calico House,
Clove Hitch Quay
London SW11 3TN
T 0044 20 7801 1850
E londoninfo@concern.net
Scotland
40 St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow G1 4DH
T 0044 141 221 3610
E glasgowinfo@concern.net
USA
104 East 40th St, Room 903
New York NY 10016
T 001 212 5578000
E info.usa@concern.net
www.concern.net
COVER PHOTO: Ramzan (Right) was
born on the night of 2005 Pakistan
earthquake in Jari Sultan Village.
Photograph by Taqi Shaheen, 2009

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