Creating a Safe and Caring Environment for the Children in SOS Children’s Villages

Children & youth

Jan 27

Who: SOS Children´s Villages

What: Grieg Gender Challenge and Family Strengthening Programme

Where: Eswatini, Nigeria, Malawi and Zambia.

Project period: 2002-2024

Web: SOS Children´s Villages

Every child needs a safe and caring environment to grow and reach their full potential. SOS Children´s Villages work with families to prevent family breakdown and with communities and states to provide a loving and supporting family environment for children who need alternative care.

Grieg Foundation has always been a major contributor to SOS Children’s Villages. Our commitment to help the most vulnerable children started with our engagement with SOS Children´s Village in 1988.

Our support has primarily been projects with education as the main component, but Grieg Foundation has also financed the construction of children's villages in Africa (Rwanda), Asia (India and the Philippines), Europe (Norway) and South America (Brazil). In recent years, the Grieg Foundation has supported educational projects in Ethiopia, India, China, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia, Swaziland, Vietnam and Zambia.

Today, we focus our cooperation around the Grieg Gender Challenge in Eswatini and Nigeria, and the Family Strengthening Programme in Malawi and Zambia.

With NOK 7 million per year, the lives of more than 21,000 children in four countries will be directly impacted by 2024.

The Grieg Gender Challenge

The Grieg Gender Challenge aims to make all children able to make their own decisions about their bodies, sexual life, income and assets.

The Programme works to reduce gender discrimination and harmful cultural practices in schools and communities with a special focus on securing equal educational rights and opportunities for girls and boys.

Major goals:

Make caregivers able to provide material and support to educate girls
Reduce incidences of teenage pregnancies

Increase security for girls on their journey to/from school and at school
Change community attitudes towards the importance of educating girls
Improve sanitation in schools

Protect and support families

Children are more likely to thrive when their families have the support they need. SOS Children's Villages Family Strengthening Programmes work directly with families and communities to enable them to better protect and care for their children through:

skills training
small business and micro enterprise initiatives
community development programs

The Family Strengthening Programmes ensure children access to essential services and strengthen support systems for vulnerable children and their families within the community. They support families to become self-sufficient and self-reliant. With improved household income, caregivers are able to cover the health and educational needs of their children.