SOS Children's Villages

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SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficulties and supports children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it. The organization also protects their interests and rights around the world.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Today, SOS Children's Villages is active in more than 130 countries and territories worldwide.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="customers.microsoft.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

SOS Children’s Villages offers alternative care options for children and young people.

Additionally, SOS Children’s Villages advocates together with – and on behalf of – children and young people who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it.

SOS Children's Villages relies on contributions from governments and private donors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2017, the organization's 350 institutional partnership contracts totaled more than €31 million in institutional funds implemented. Funding from foundations and lotteries totaled nearly €48 million, and corporate partnerships provided more than €49 million in support for SOS Children's Villages globally.<ref name=":2" /> The organization was awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in 2002, and the Princess of Asturias Award of Concord in 2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

HistoryEdit

File:SOS Children's Villages.Kandalaksha.jpg

Children at SOS Children's Villages in Kandalaksha in Russia

The Second World War resulted in many children becoming homeless and orphaned. Hermann Gmeiner (23 June 1919 – 26 April 1986), who himself participated in the war as an Austrian soldier, founded the first SOS Children's Village in Imst in the Austrian Federal State of Tyrol in 1949 together with Maria Hofer, Josef Jestl, Ludwig Kögel, Herbert Pfanner, and Hedwig Weingartner.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> Originally, the SOS Children's Village was established to look after the orphans of the Second World War. But later the organization eventually started looking after other children who had experienced abandonment, neglect, and abuse.<ref name=":3" />

File:Aldeas-sos-mdp.JPG

SOS Children's Villages in Argentina

In the second half of the 20th century, the organization spread all over Europe. In 1959, SOS Children's Villages national associations were established in Italy, France, and Germany, and in the same year, the first SOS Children's Villages Youth Facility was founded in Innsbruck, Austria. The first caregiver for SOS Children's Villages was the Austrian Maria Weber (1919–2011). This first patron was Béatrice von Boch-Galhau (1914–2011). She financed the first SOS Children's Villages programme in Germany (Hilbringen / Saar) with her private assets and she used her political and business connections to promote the idea. As the organization grew, the umbrella organization SOS-Kinderdorf International was established to oversee all the national associations in the world in 1960. In the same year, the first SOS Children's Villages organization in South America was founded in Uruguay. In 1963, the organization reached Asia with the first programmes established in South Korea and India. Seven years later, the organization founded programmes in Africa in the Republic of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.<ref name=":3" /> In North America, the first programme was established in 1991 in the United States. Today, there are now more than 570 SOS Children's Villages programmes present in 135 countries and territories.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2006, the "Colegio Internacional SOS Hermann Gmeiner", in Santa Ana, Costa Rica, re-opened as the United World College of Costa Rica, becoming the 11th United World College and the only UWC in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although no longer operating under the auspices of the SOS Children's Villages, the college continues to have a relationship with the organization, including a program of full scholarships for SOS Children's Villages students, with more than 50 SOS Children's Villages students having attended and graduated from the school.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Hermann Gmeiner was the SOS Children's Villages president until 1985 when he was succeeded by Helmut Kutin. Helmut Kutin, born in 1941 in Bolzano, Italy, who was one of the first children admitted in SOS Austria, led the organization SOS Children's Villages International for 27 years after which in 2012, he was succeeded by Siddhartha Kaul, born in 1951 in Pilani, India.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

GovernanceEdit

Template:Unsourced section Each 118 national SOS Children's Villages association carries out the international organizations’ missions, protocols, and policies. Regional offices guide this work and provide fundraising, marketing, and technical assistance to country offices as needed. Overall management and administration of the organization takes place at the headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria. The highest decision-making body is the General Assembly responsible for electing the President, Vice-President, and other members of the International Senate. Guiding and monitoring of all SOS’ work is the responsibility of the International Senate made up of 22 members. They establish policies, formulate policy changes, and procedural guidelines. The International Senate's work is coordinated by the Management Council, comprising eight representatives from member associations chaired by the President. The Management Council makes recommendations for Senate decisions, approves work plans developed by the Management Team, and defines the federation's targets. The General Secretariat comprises the international offices in Austria, and other regional offices responsible for implementing strategic decisions, developing and monitoring the organization's quality standards, and representing the organization in international communications and forums.

International frameworksEdit

File:SOS Kinderdorf Akademie.jpg

SOS Children's Villages Hermann Gmeiner Academy, Austria

The organization follows three international frameworks that serve as guidelines for their work. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) adopted in 1989 is a human rights treaty that sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health, and cultural rights of children. The UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children adopted in 2009 provides a framework for governments to acknowledge and deliver alternative care to children growing up without adequate parental care.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> And the UN Sustainable Development Goal adopted in 2015 and valid until 2030 in which SOS Children's Villages work focuses mainly on children and families living in vulnerable circumstances.

CampaignsEdit

2009Edit

In 2009, the organization launched the "I Matter" campaign to improve legislation surrounding the practice on leaving care. The aim is to support youth ageing out of care in their transition toward independence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2012Edit

In 2012, the organization launched the Care For ME! Campaign to encourage research and assessment on alternative child care and to advocate the need to protect the human rights of children from various violations committed against them. Participating countries need to assess whether their national alternative care system complies with the UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2017Edit

In 2017, the organization launched the No Child Should Grow Up Alone campaign which aims to emphasize research showing that 1 in 10 children (220 million) worldwide is growing up alone. The campaign is based on global research called the 'Care Effect' claiming that children growing up without adequate parental care are particularly vulnerable to different forms of human rights violations such as child labor, violence, and sex trafficking.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The report concluded that:

"If we provide care for today's children in vulnerable circumstances, giving them the foundation they need for learning and developing life skills, we stand a better chance of building a better future for the world”<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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Regional and national networkEdit

SOS Children's Villages is presentTemplate:When in over 130 countries and territories around the world.Template:Cn These are listed below by region. SOS Children's Villages organizations in these countries provide active support to children, young people and families. Exceptions are countries marked with an asterisk (Template:Font color), in which SOS Children's Villages maintains representative offices which focus on fundraising and building awareness.

Africa<ref>SOS Children's Villages in Africa</ref>Edit

Template:Flagicon Algeria	Template:Flagicon Angola	Template:Flagicon Benin	Template:Flagicon Botswana	Template:Flagicon Burkina Faso	Template:Flagicon Burundi	Template:Flagicon Cameroon
Template:Flagicon Cape Verde	Template:Flagicon Central African Republic	Template:Flagicon Chad	Template:Flagicon Côte d'Ivoire	Template:Flagicon Democratic Republic of Congo	Template:Flagicon Djibouti	Template:Flagicon Egypt
Template:Flagicon Equatorial Guinea	Template:Flagicon Ethiopia	Template:Flagicon Gambia	Template:Flagicon Ghana	Template:Flagicon Guinea	Template:Flagicon Guinea-Bissau	Template:Flagicon Kenya
Template:Flagicon Lesotho	Template:Flagicon Libera	Template:Flagicon Madagascar	Template:Flagicon Malawi	Template:Flagicon Mali	Template:Flagicon Mauritius	Template:Flagicon Morocco
Template:Flagicon Mozambique	Template:Flagicon Namibia	Template:Flagicon Niger	Template:FlagiconNigeria	Template:Flagicon Rwanda	Template:Flagicon Senegal	Template:Flagicon Sierra Leone
Template:Flagicon Somalia	Template:Flagicon Somaliland	Template:Flagicon South Africa	Template:Flagicon South Sudan	Template:Flagicon Sudan	Template:Flagicon Swaziland	Template:Flagicon Tanzania
Template:Flagicon Togo	Template:Flagicon Tunisia	Template:Flagicon Uganda	Template:Flagicon Zambia	Template:Flagicon Zimbabwe

Americas<ref>SOS Children's Villages in the Americas</ref>Edit

Template:Flagicon Argentina	Template:Flagicon Bolivia	Template:Flagicon Brazil	Template:Flagicon Canada	Template:Flagicon Chile	Template:Flagicon Costa Rica	Template:Flagicon Dominican Republic	Template:Flagicon Colombia
Template:FlagiconEcuador	Template:Flagicon El Salvador	Template:FlagiconGuatemala	Template:Flagicon Haiti	Template:FlagiconHonduras	Template:Flagicon Jamaica	Template:Flagicon Mexico
Template:Flagicon Nicaragua	Template:FlagiconPanama	Template:Flagicon Paraguay	Template:Flagicon Peru	Template:Flagicon Uruguay	Template:Flagicon United States	Template:Flagicon Venezuela

Asia<ref>SOS Children's Villages in Asia</ref>Edit

Template:Flagicon Armenia	Template:Flagicon Azerbaijan	Template:Flagicon Bahrain	Template:Flagicon Bangladeshi	Template:Flagicon Cambodia	Template:Flagicon China	Template:Flagicon Georgia
Template:FlagiconIndia	Template:Flagicon Indonesia	Template:FlagiconIsrael	Template:FlagiconJapan	Template:FlagiconJordan	Template:Flagicon Kazakhstan	Template:Flagicon Kuwait
Template:Flagicon Kyrgyzstan	Template:Flagicon Laos	Template:Flagicon Lebanon	Template:Flagicon Mongolia	Template:Flagicon Nepal	Template:Flagicon Oman	Template:Flagicon Qatar
Template:Flagicon Pakistan	Template:Flagicon Palestine	Template:Flagicon Philippines	Template:Flagicon Saudi Arabia	Template:Flagicon South Korea	Template:Flagicon Sri Lanka	Template:Flagicon Syria	Template:Flagicon Iraq
Template:Flagicon Taiwan	Template:Flagicon Thailand	Template:Flagicon United Arab Emirates Template:Font color	Template:Flagicon Uzbekistan	Template:Flagicon Vietnam

Europe<ref>SOS Children's Villages in Europe</ref>Edit

Template:Flagicon Albania	Template:Flagicon Austria	Template:Flagicon Belarus	Template:Flagicon Belgium	Template:Flagicon Bosnia & Herzegovina	Template:Flagicon Bulgaria	Template:Flagicon Croatia
Template:Flagicon Czech Republic	Template:Flagicon Denmark Template:Font color	Template:Flagicon Estonia	Template:Flagicon Finland	Template:Flagicon France	Template:Flagicon Germany	Template:Flagicon Greece
Template:Flagicon Hungary	Template:Flagicon Iceland Template:Font color	Template:Flagicon Italy	Template:Flagicon Kosovo	Template:Flagicon Latvia	Template:Flagicon Lithuania	Template:Flagicon Luxembourg
Template:Flagicon North Macedonia	Template:Flagicon NetherlandsTemplate:Font color	Template:Flagicon Northern Cyprus	Template:Flagicon Norway	Template:Flagicon Poland	Template:Flagicon Portugal	Template:Flagicon Romania
Template:Flagicon Russia	Template:Flagicon Serbia	Template:Flagicon Spain	Template:FlagiconSweden Template:Font color	Template:Flagicon SwitzerlandTemplate:Font color	Template:Flagicon Ukraine	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom Template:Font color

Oceania<ref>SOS Children's Villages in Oceania</ref>Edit

Template:Flagicon Template:Font color Australia	Template:Flagicon French Polynesia

ControversyEdit

In January 2018, the branch of the association in Ethiopia was accused of supporting Islam, including forcible conversion of children.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The organization denies the allegations but does admit that a mosque (now closed) had been built on SOS land, contrary to policy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Prominent supportersEdit

The first prominent supporter was the German-British businesswoman Béatrice von Boch-Galhau, wife of the largest shareholder of the ceramic manufacturer Villeroy & Boch. She became friends with the at-the-time unknown Hermann Gmeiner. In 1959, she employed some of her private fortune to pay for the first Kinderdorf in Germany located in Merzig Hilbringen. She also used her husband's political connections to promote the SOS Kinderdorf idea which was first meeting resistance from the local majors.Template:Cn

Prominent supporters include Nelson Mandela; the Dalai Lama; international footballers Kakha Kaladze, Andriy Shevchenko, Vincent Kompany, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cesc Fàbregas and Javier Zanetti; opera singer Anna Netrebko; writer Henning Mankell; Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters; French writer and actress Anny Dupérey; Sarah, Duchess of York; English Child Actress Georgie Henley; former model Princess Salimah Aga Khan; actress and singer Cher; businessman and television host Mike Holmes; Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and entertainer June Carter Cash; and Johnny Cash whose memorial fund is towards the work of SOS Children's Villages worldwide. Template:Citation needed The organisation received the 2002 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

SOS Children's Villages also receive significant funds through Genworth Financial's Putts4Charity initiative, which they run on golf's European Tour. In November 2012, the initiative reached €1 million in total money raised since 2007.Template:Cn

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Template:Princess of Asturias Award for Concord Template:Humanitarian partners of the European Commission Template:Authority control