Frequently asked questions

The organization was founded in 1949 in response to the high number of children who had lost the care of their families during World War II. The focus in the early days was therefore on providing residential care – namely as an alternative to institutions and large-scale orphanages – in family-like settings, where children could grow up in a safe environment with strong relationships, a wider community, and a sense of belonging: the "children's village".  

In the seventy years since, the scope of our work has evolved a great deal and while residential care still forms part of our services, much of our efforts go towards strengthening families so that they can stay together and advocating for positive change in child-related policy and practice. 

Read more about our history here and more about our work in practice here. 

SOS Children’s Villages refers collectively to the entire organization worldwide rather than a specific legal entity.

SOS Children’s Villages International refers to the umbrella organization registered in Innsbruck, Austria, under the name SOS Kinderdorf International. SOS Children’s Villages International operates through its General Secretariat, which consists of the international offices in Innsbruck and Vienna, five regional offices, and representation offices in Brussels, Geneva and New York.

For more on our organizational structure, see the “Organization” page. For the contact details of the offices of SOS Children’s Villages International, see the “Our Offices” page. To navigate to the websites of our member associations, use the Country button in the top right corner of the navigation bar.

‘SOS’ stands for Societas Socialis. In 1949, Hermann Gmeiner and his supporters founded the Societas Socialis, a social club with the goal of raising funds for the care of orphaned children in Austria. A year later, the name was changed to SOS Children’s Villages.