SOS Children's Villages Sri Lanka

Family Like Care

In May 1980, SOS Kinderdorf International and the Ministry of Social Services, Government of Sri Lanka entered into an agreement to establish SOS Children’s Villages in Sri Lanka. Today there are 6 SOS Children’s Villages and 40 other SOS Projects in Sri Lanka. The organization takes action for children as an independent non-governmental social development organization. It works in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka engage with children through program interventions in providing “Care” with a love of a mother, “Education” and “Health” to meet a child’s growth, learning and development objectives. SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka pioneered a family approach to the long-term care of children who have lost their parental care, based on four principles: the Mother (each child has a caring parent) Brothers and Sisters (family ties grow naturally), the House (each family creates its own home) and the Village (the SOS Family is a part of the community). This is Family Like Care and can provide children who have lost their biological family a family-like setup to grow up. SOS Family strengthening programs aim to prevent children from losing the care of family. This program strengthens families’ capacity to protect and care for their children, as well as safety nets for vulnerable children and their families within the community.