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ShareMICHAELA SCHALK is respoinsible for SOS Children's Villages communications.
The partnership "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" has been running for more than three years now, and the world football association's involvement has produced significant results. For the SOS organisation itself, 1999 will be a very special year - it is the 50th anniversary of this private charity organisation.
| Nelson Tapia at the SOS Children's Village near Santiago. |
A tiny spark lights a fire
Deeply moved by the tragic fate of countless orphans and the suffering of homeless children after the Second World War, the Austrian Hermann Gmeiner and a group of friends laid the foundation for the first SOS Children's Village in the little Tyrolean town of Imst in 1949.
After that it was as if a signal went round the world, indicating that humane behaviour, solidarity and tolerance were still alive, and a chain reaction started. As early as the 1950s, SOS Children's Villages were founded in Germany, France and Italy. In the mid-60s the SOS idea took root in Asia and Latin America, and then the 70s saw the first Children's Villages in Africa. The most recent regions to join the movement have been Australia and elsewhere in Oceania.
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Today there are SOS Children's Villages in 131 countries around the globe. There are 385 Villages in all and 391 SOS Youth Centres as well, looking after a total of over 45,000 children and young people. In addition there are more than 1000 associated facilities, such as kindergartens, schools, trade schools, medical centres, and various social and emergency programmes (see statistics) as a back-up to the SOS programme itself. Between them, these services offer assistance and/or education and training to hundreds of thousands of needy young people.
Four basic principles
What an SOS Children's Village does is to offer children who have either lost their parents or can no longer live with them a chance of a new home and a new family. By giving the children this firm basis of support and a sound education, it is hoped that they will develop into responsible adults who will be able to function independently in their society.
The four basic premises that Hermann Gmeiner laid down as the philosophy of the SOS Children's Villages remain unchanged today:
- Each child is assigned to a Children's Village mother, who will be his/her surrogate parent
- Boys and girls of different ages live together like brothers and sisters; natural siblings are not separated
- Each SOS family in a Children's Village lives in its own house
- Groups of houses form a village society - the SOS Children's Village.
These four principles have proved their worth in every part of the world.
For over 50 years now, SOS Children's Villages have been offering effective and lasting help in places where it has been most needed. Each individual SOS Village and each SOS associated facility is a working demonstration of cooperation, peace, tolerance and reason, and offers young people a refuge from violence and discrimination. SOS Children's Village facilities are open to all - there are no restrictions as to nationality, religion or culture; peaceful co-existence is the aim.
| Sir Bobby Charlton leads the fun at the SOS Children's Village in Cairo. Photo: SOS Children's Villages |
Anniversary celebrations
Throughout the entire year of 1999 there will be a variety of celebrations and activities. All the children and young people associated with SOS Children's Village facilities will be able to take part, as well as all friends, sponsors and partners of the organisation. The On-line anniversary magazine The Global Village (http://globalvillage.sos-kd.org) which is updated every 14 days provides details of the latest events in the anniversary calendar and offers unusual insights into the world of SOS Children's Villages.
The high point of the celebrations will be on 23 June 1999 - International Children's Village Day. Among other things, all the Hermann Gmeiner Schools will be organising big, local sporting events. These will also help to promote the social side of the anniversary festival; children from SOS Villages will be mixing with other children and young people in their region as part of the celebrations. The contacts that SOS Villages have with national football associations will be of great value during these sporting festivals.
FIFA's partnership
Cooperation between FIFA and SOS dates back to 1994, when the FIFA President at that time, Dr. Joao Havelange, set up a FIFA youth fund and named SOS Children's Villages as the main beneficiary. This funding enabled sporting facilities to be established or newly equipped in or near Children's Villages in (so far) 13 countries, spread over four continents. When the draw for the World Cup qualifying round was being made in Paris in December 1995, Havelange and Helmut Kutin, the President of SOS Children's Villages International, officially founded the partnership "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages".
A positive note with regard to the continuation of this cooperation in the future was sounded by the current FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, who announced that: "The cooperation between FIFA and SOS Children's Villages is one of the most effective demonstrations of the social responsibility of football. SOS Children's Villages is a fine partner to work with and our cooperation is one of the most rewarding aspects of FIFA's work".
The aim of the partnership "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" is to support children and young people through Children's Villages and to bring the idea to the attention of football fans all over the world. Thousands of children in SOS Villages are keen football players themselves, and if the world's football public can reach out a helping hand to assist these and many other children, then we will be ensuring a brighter future for them.
Cooperation between FIFA and SOS Children's Villages offers activities at national and international levels. By jointly promoting events in conjunction with other member organisations, the SOS movement will be become better known, and thus more sources of funds will become available.
| Gabriel Batistuta hands over $ 25,000 to SOS, by courtesy of McDonald's, after his France 98 hat-trick . |
Joint activities
Of major importance to their successful cooperation is the participation of SOS Children's Villages at the big official FIFA events such as the Gala for the World Footballer of the Year or the draws for international tournaments. A high point in this respect was the PR campaign during the World Cup in France, for example in advertising in the stadiums, the MasterCard press conferences, and the hat-trick publicity McGoal Goal Goal! in cooperation with McDonald's. Gabriel Batistuta's hat trick and the nomination of the World Team of the Century ensured that the World Cup was a real hit in promoting the SOS Children's Villages idea.
Another positive factor is the involvement of SOS Children's Villages in FIFA's football development programmes. When courses are run under the auspices of these programmes, the Children's Villages always benefit; the FIFA trainers and representatives involved always visit the Children's Villages nearby and this is a great moment for the children or young people in that area. So far these courses have been held in 62 countries worldwide.
Many well-known footballers have also volunteered to act as ambassadors for the joint activities (see box). A "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" ambassador undertakes to make the partnership better known in his own country and to take part in any joint activities that are organised. To draw even more attention to the "FIFA for SOS Children's Villages" partnership, the parent organisation, SOS Children's Villages International, also runs a website which provides full background details http://www.sos-kd.org.fifa. The anniversary year itself will provide a great opportunity for FIFA and a challenge for national football associations to strengthen this already fruitful partnership and to do even more to make Herman Gmeiner's guiding principle "All the world's children are our children" to become reality.
| Facilities | ||||
| SOS Children's Villages | SOS Youth Centres | SOS Kindergartens | SOS Hermann-Gmeiner Schools | |
| Total | 385 | 391 | 213 | 141 |
| SOS Trade Schools | SOS Hermann-Gmeiner Social Centres | SOS Hermann-Gmeiner Medical Centres | SOS Emergency Programmes | |
| Total | 122 | 150 | 62 | 9 |
![FIFA [logo]](http://img.fifa.com/imgml/foot/fifaLogo.gif){kind=small}