When children can no longer live with their families, SOS Children’s Villages gives them the support they need by providing quality alternative care, and, when families are at risk of separation, we work to prevent the loss of care through family strengthening services. This means we have a tremendous responsibility to children, families and their communities.
We understand the gravity of this responsibility and are committed to doing everything we can to provide high quality and sustainable care and support.
We start by tailoring every SOS Children’s Villages programme to local needs – each child, each family,each community – and we regularly review our services to make sure we are having the greatest impact and reaching the children who need us most.
These efforts are reinforced by our commitment to living the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children: we have a defined set of standards which are monitored and evaluated on a regular basis; we highlight with a passion the negative impact of impersonal, onesize-fits-all care and advocate for de-institutionalisation at national and international levels.
In 2017, we took further action to ensure high quality by developing the SOS Care Promise, with input from across the federation. The SOS Care Promise gives an overview of our core standards and policies in one document, providing us with a comprehensive framework for our programmes and setting a benchmark for other providers of alternative care.
By ensuring high-quality care and services, we can be truly proud of what we do. The Helmut Kutin Award, for example, celebrates the achievements and dedication of extraordinary caregivers. The 2017 winners were: Geeta Singh, an SOS mother from India who specialises in the care of children with disabilities, and Mariam Traore, an SOS mother from Burkina Faso whose courage during an insurrection helped to keep the 74 children in SOS Children’s Village Bobo-Dioulasso safe.
SOS Children’s Villages has a powerful, simple model – a strong bond and a loving home – and we are committed to delivering this model at top quality.
Siddhartha Kaul
President
SOS Children's Villages International
