SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
The decision to build an SOS Children's Village in Belarus was made due to the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl on 26 April 1986. The first negotiations took place in 1990, and a plot of land in Borovljany, some 20 km northeast of the Belarusian capital Minsk, was put at the disposal of SOS Children's Villages in 1991. The construction of the SOS Children's Village and the adjoining SOS Social Centre, catering to children from all over Belarus in need of medical assistance as a consequence of the Chernobyl disaster, started in June 1992. Due to difficulties, such as delays in the procurement of building materials, the SOS Children's Village was not completed until the summer of 1995. Shortly afterwards, however, the first children moved in, and the SOS Social Centre (health centre) was finished by the end of 1995. An SOS Youth Facility for youths who have already outgrown the SOS Children's Village was erected in Minsk in 2001.
Construction of the second SOS Children's Village in Belarus, in Marina Gorka, started in autumn 2002, and in July 2004 SOS Children's Village Marina Gorka opened its doors. Since 2004, SOS Children's Villages Belarus has launched family strengthening programmes in Borovljany, Marina Gorka and Mogilev. These programmes offer support to families who are at risk of abandoning their children and enable children to grow within a caring family environment. Together with local authorities and other service providers, SOS Children's Villages supports families and helps them to take good care of their children.
The third Belarusian SOS Children's Village, Mogilev, was completed in 2009 and welcomed the first SOS families in 2010.
At present there are three SOS Children's Villages in Belarus, two SOS Youth Facility and nine SOS Social Centres (partly family strengthening programmes).
Website of SOS Children's Villages Belarus
(available in German, English and Russian)