Development programmes
Committed to the protection and rights of children, SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde is involved in the field of development with long-term programmes, as part of the 4th framework agreement (2022-2026) signed on 2 February 2022 with the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MFEA). In Benin, Guinea, Niger, Senegal and Uzbekistan, 13 programmes are in their 3rd year of implementation and are continuing to develop. These programmes target more than 2,300 vulnerable families, 10,500 children, teenagers and young people (aged between 15 and 24), and 10,000 members of state and community structures.
West Africa: PACOPE-SPE
In West Africa, 12 PACOPE-SPE1 projects are being developed to ensure that children in vulnerable situations receive high-quality care, that the rights of children and young people are respected, that their access to basic social services is improved and that young people are supported on the challenging path to employment.
1 The 12 Community Empowerment Programmes for Child Protection and Child Protection Systems (PACOPE-SPE) currently running in West Africa (Benin, Guinea, Niger, Senegal) are included in our 2022-2026 Framework Agreement signed with the MFEA.
Uzbekistan : Child protection
In Uzbekistan, the programme to strengthen the child protection system, supported under our Framework Agreement 2022-2026 with the MFEA, continues to strengthen the actions undertaken with child protection partners, improve the well-being of children, adolescents and young people and support them on the path to employment. Indeed, their situation has further deteriorated with the Covid-19 crisis, the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and the effects of inflation that has increased over the past two years. This programme implemented by SOS Children’s Villages in Uzbekistan covers 15 pilot Mahallas in the city of Urgench and in the rural districts of Shavat, Gurlen and Qushkupir.
Emergency response, rehabilitation and resilience programmes
Our association is active wherever conflicts, crises and natural disasters threaten the lives of children and their communities, in their own countries or those where they are refugees. Protection, care for unaccompanied minors, family reunification, psychosocial support, education and resilience are at the heart of these programmes, some of which are supported by the MFEA.
Ethiopia: Emergency response in the Oromia region
While a nutrition project in the Amhara region had to be suspended due to the security situation, a second project, supported by the MFEA, started in July 2023 in southern Ethiopia (ending in December). This intervention by SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia and its partner Gayo Pastoral Development Initiative is taking place in the Oromia region (Borena zone). It aims to meet the health and nutritional needs of children, pregnant and breast-feeding women and the elderly, and to support households affected by chronic drought.
Madagascar : Education and resilience for people in the deep south
The project to build a new primary school in Tanandava, which was due to start in early 2023, was only launched in November, as SOS Children’s Villages in Madagascar wanted to forge a partnership with the Ministry of Education to anchor the project in the long term. The foundation stone was laid and work began in November. In addition to two new classrooms, separate latrines for girls and boys and a water collection basin were built.
Palestine: Emergency response for displaced people in Gaza
Since October 2023, the population of the Gaza Strip has been suffering an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. The war is killing, injuring, and destroying homes, schools, and health facilities. Half the population of Gaza has been displaced. Famine and disease are pervasive. Children and young people are among those most exposed to violence and deprivation. Operating since 1968, SOS Children’s Villages in Palestine supports some 400 families and 2,500 beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Our sister association in Palestine now offers emergency assistance (reception of unaccompanied children in its children’s village in Rafah, direct humanitarian support for families, emergency care for unaccompanied children, mental health services and financial support for families).
Central African Republic: Supporting the resilience of people near Bangui³
The project to support the resilience of internally displaced and host populations in Kokoro has three components (protection, education and economic resilience) and involves the whole population in creating a community in which children are protected and live in full respect of their rights, at school, at home and in the neighbourhood. The project targets 5,200 beneficiaries over three years, including 3,500 pupils (1,645 girls), 450 teenagers and 30 VSLAs (600 members). The final phase of the project (April 2024-May 2025) will focus on supporting community child protection networks and parents’ associations in their governance, empowerment (implementation of income-generating activities) and finance (collective IGAs).
³ Co-financed by the MAEE, the project is supported by ATOZ Foundation, placed under the aegis of the Fondation de Luxembourg, and the City of Luxembourg (food security section).
Ukraine: SOS Children’s Villages’ response to the war
Since February 2022, the war in Ukraine has put children’s lives in danger and deprived them of their rights. In 2023, as in 2022, SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine and its partners continued their work in nine regions. In addition to its foster care and family strengthening programmes, its emergency response provided support to some 370,000 people by offering them essential services. Thanks to its donors, our association has been able to transfer more than €520,000 from Luxembourg.
5 education projects for our association’s 50th birthday
Cape Verde has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which have weighed heavily on tourism, the country’s main economic engine and source of employment, and on towns such as Mindelo. As a result, unemployment, poverty, and inflation have made it impossible for vulnerable families, particularly single-parent families, to meet their basic needs (education, food, health). To address this situation, an education project has been set up to help young girls and women heads of household build their capacities to develop income-generating activities and provide for their children.
Colombie : Nouvel espace ami des enfants
A new “child-friendly” space will be built for 50 children and 25 adults in Riohacha, near the Venezuelan border. The space will be divided into 4 areas (logicalmathematical thinking, language and communication, development of emotional capacities and protection), where the children will be cared by our teams for 2 days a week rather than staying at home on their own while waiting for their parents to come home. They will have access to educational and recreational activities, and the parents and adults targeted will be regularly made aware of child protection issues.
Laos: Rehabilitation of buildings and computer laboratory
In Laos, a lack of economic opportunities and high unemployment are leading to migration of young people to neighbouring countries, and many children and youth have little access to drinking water, toilets, health, nutrition and quality education. A one-year project (starting in June 2024) will strengthen their capacities, especially in education, so that they have access to economic opportunities. The aim is to ensure that they receive care, have access to quality education and exercise their rights. Several buildings in the SOS Children’s Village in Savannakhet will be rehabilitated, a computer laboratory will be created, the children will receive new equipment and will be trained in computer skills and the promotion of good health, with sufficient access to drinking water and nutritious food.
Morocco: Building and equipping a secondary school and boarding school for girls
Following the earthquake that hit Morocco in September 2023 (almost 300,000 inhabitants affected), SOS Children’s Villages in Morocco set up a four-part humanitarian response, one of which focused on a renovation project supported by SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde. This involves the construction of a secondary school and boarding school for young girls in the town of Aït Ourir. The school will meet the need for quality education for young girls and boys in the region, where 530 schools and 55 boarding schools have been damaged.
Central African Republic: Fencing around Kokoro 1 school and sports ground
Since May 2022, our association has been supporting vulnerable children in the commune of Bimbo, near Bangui, consolidating the achievements of a project started at the Kokoro II school (2020-2022) while focusing on the Kokoro I school. In 2022-2023 we contributed to the rehabilitation of 16 classrooms, as well as the renovation and construction of latrines. In 2023-2024, a borehole was rehabilitated to provide drinking water.
Other projects
Mauritius: Expansion of an education and learning centre
The Mauritian economy has been heavily impacted by COVID-19 as tourism has been on hold for many months. While the sector has been restarting since 2022, many people have been left behind, especially the most vulnerable in the center of the country. Since April 2011, the Curepipe Education and Learning Centre (ELC)4 offers quality education to disadvantaged children. Since 2020, applications for admission have multiplied (30 children on the waiting list) and the ELC, which has four classes, welcomes 84 children under the age of 5 (initial capacity: 70 children
4 Financed a.o. by private donors, the Fondation du Rotary Club de Luxembourg, the Club Soroptimist of Esch/Alzette and the Fondation du Souvenir et de l’Amitié, as well as a financial and management contribution from SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde with SOS Villages d’Enfants in Mauritius.
