Armenia - Overview 

SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

Following the devastating earthquake in Armenia on 7 December 1988, SOS Children's Villages decides to offer immediate aid to the children who have lost their parents. In co-operation with the Armenian Lenin Children's Foundation it is soon possible to find a suitable plot of land in the town of Kotayk, just outside the area that has been destroyed and about 15 kilometres from Yerevan. Construction is started on the first Armenian SOS Children's Village and in 1990 the first children are able to move into their new homes together with their SOS mothers. There are no pre-school facilities in the vicinity and so a provisional SOS Kindergarten is initially set up in one of the family houses. This is replaced by a purpose-built SOS Kindergarten in 1995. In February 2001 an SOS Youth Facility is set up in Yerevan for the youths who had outgrown the SOS Children's Village. Here they are looked after until they are able to live on their own.

In April 2006 SOS Children's Villages Armenia starts 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 Armenia 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.

In December 2007 construction works for Armenia's second SOS Children's Village are taken up in Idjevan, a town located in the north-eastern part of Armenia, and the SOS Children’s Village is populated in spring 2010. Other programmes start in 2009 in Idjevan and Kotayk and are extended to Yerevan in 2010. Their 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 in Armenia, one SOS Youth Facility, one SOS Kindergarten and seven SOS Social Centres.