Child centred community development, or CCCD is a systematic, holistic, development approach to developing and delivering Plan programs. CCCD addresses the practical and strategic needs of disadvantaged children, families and communities by facilitating their participation and ownership of the development process.

Child Centred Community Development builds on Plan’s previous experience of working with children and communities. It emphasizes the need for poor children, their families and communities to participate in and take ownership of the development and contributes towards realizing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UNDP Human Development Indicators and the UN Millennium Development Goals. CCCD is an inclusive approach to development which aims to avoid further marginalizing poor people or people with particular needs.

CCCD offers a comprehensive approach that coordinates all aspects of community participation, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Based on program results and in consultation with the communities, Plan determines its future action. This may be program restructuring, seeking further funds, or extending the scale and scope of Plan program/projects. In other cases, Plan phases out its involvement and the community takes control of the program’s and the community’s development. 

Plan’s role is more of a facilitator and catalyst, creating opportunities for the poor to effectively act upon the issues that affect them so that children, their families and communities may influence the reform of institutions and their relationships with other levels of their society. It also moves away from sole direct implementation of Plan’s programs to programs and projects owned by the communities.