Capital: Northern part of Nicosia
Area: 3,355 km²
Population: 215,000
Ethnic groups:Turkish Cypriots
Official language(s): Turkish
Religion(s): Islam
Currency: 1 Turkish new lira = 100 new kurus
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
First talks were held with the representatives of Northern Cyprus in 1989. At that point the country was lacking a clear child care concept, and they showed great interest in the SOS Children's Villages' idea and were eager to reform their social care along these lines. The cornerstone was laid for an SOS Children's Village and an SOS Kindergarten in the capital, Lefkosa (Nicosia) in April 1992.
The SOS Kindergarten was already able to go into operation in September 1993 and three months later the first children moved into their new homes in the SOS Children's Village. SOS Children's Village Lefkosa soon gained an excellent reputation and the local authorities were keen to place children here, where they could grow up in a family-like atmosphere, rather than in the state orphanages. It was therefore necessary to add five more family houses to SOS Children's Village Lefkosa. At the same time it became necessary to find a suitable facility to accommodate and care for about 30 youths. In 1997, a block of flats was bought in Lefkosa for the girls and construction started on an SOS Youth Facility for the boys in the port town of Girne, about 30 kilometres from Lefkosa. In the summer of 2000, the girls too moved into the more spacious youth house in Girne, which had been completed in 1998.
In the beginning of 2007, SOS Children’s Villages started to operate a Family Strengthening Programme in Lefkosa, which enables children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.
At present there is one SOS Children’s Village in Northern Cyprus, one SOS Youth Facility, one SOS Kindergarten and an SOS Social Centre.