SOS Children's Villages History 

The first SOS Children’s Village was founded by Hermann Gmeiner in Tyrol, Austria, in 1949. As a child welfare worker, Gmeiner saw how children orphaned as a result of World War II suffered. He was committed to helping them by building loving families and supportive communities.

 

With the generous support of donors, child sponsors, partners, and friends, Gmeiner's vision of providing loving care in a family environment for children without parental care, and of helping families stay together so they can care for their children, has grown steadily over six decades.

With the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Imst in Tyrol in 1949, Hermann Gmeiner (1919-1986) and a group of dedicated men and women laid the foundation for a global humanitarian idea. They developed the "four SOS Children's Village principles" as defining elements for an SOS Children's Village:

Mother, siblings, house, and village.

 

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Today, SOS Children's Villages is represented in 137 countries and territories around the world and also operates more than 550 SOS Children's Villages as well as over 1,500 other programmes in child and youth care and Family Strengthening. These include kindergartens, schools, social & health centres, medical centres and emergency aid programmes and other community-based work.