SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

Azerbaijan became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1992 and is one of the most densely-populated of the Trans-Caucasian states. Since 1995, it has been a presidential republic. Due to the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh the number of abandoned children increased and so did unemployment and inflation.

Therefore, SOS-Kinderdorf International decided to bring Hermann Gmeiner’s idea to this country. The basis for the SOS Children’s Village work in Azerbaijan was laid when a government agreement was signed in 1997. One year later the government provided a plot of land for the construction of an SOS Children's Village in the capital, Baku on the Caspian Sea. Finally the first children were able to move into their SOS Children’s Village in Baku in September 2000. There is also an SOS Kindergarten attached to the village, which is open to both SOS Children’s Village children and children from the neighbourhood.

In January 2007 an SOS Youth Facility was set up in Baku for the youths who had outgrown the SOS Children's Village.

Construction works for Azerbaijan’s second SOS Children’s Village were taken up in August 2004 in the country’s second largest city Ganja and were concluded in December 2005. In 2007, SOS Children’s Villages Azerbaijan started to operate Family Strengthening Programmes, which enable 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 Azerbaijan 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. Another programme started in 2009 in Baku. Its aim is the qualitative improvement of services of public schools and kindergartens by offering skill enhancement to teachers and educators as well as supporting children on a demand-oriented, individual basis.

At present there are two SOS Children’s Villages, one SOS Kindergarten, one SOS Youth Facility and five SOS Social Centres in Azerbaijan.

Website of SOS Children's Villages Azerbaijan
(available in English and Azerbaijani)