October 1 2013

Never has helping children at risk been so important

Our efforts are making a world of difference in the lives of children, families and whole communities around the world. But there is still much work to do... The following statistics give a snapshot of what is seen first-hand, everywhere SOS Children's Villages works.

An SOS mother and children from the Children´s Village in Kigali, Rwanda, sit in their garden and enjoy some reading time. Photo: © Till Meullenmeister


The latest SOS Children´s Villages Facts and Figures show the scale of the unique solutions we provide in 133 countries and territories.

Our efforts are making a world of difference in the lives of children, families and whole communities around the world. But there is still much work to do...


The following statistics give a snapshot of what is seen first-hand, everywhere SOS Children's Villages works.


Abandonment.
In many countries, a large number of children born out of wedlock are abandoned. In Egypt: 9 out of 10 children; in Sri Lanka: 7 out of 20.
 
Neglect. In 44% of cases in Chile the main reason for children being placed in the care of SOS families is neglect.
 

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Death of parents. In Laos 72%, in India 30% and in Zimbabwe 66% of children in SOS families are from families where both parents have died.
 
Substance abuse. 60% of children living in the care of SOS families in Finland are from families where the parents are ­struggling with alcohol or drug addiction.
 
Disease. 70% of children living in SOS families in Kenya and Malawi have been orphaned, in most cases because of HIV/AIDS.

Read the full report for sources.
 
Poverty. Half of the population of developing countries lives on less than two dollars a day. As a result, one in five children under the age of five in those countries is underweight.
 
Death. In 2011, every day 19,000 children under the age of five died.
 
Economic crisis. The UN and the World Bank estimate that the current economic crisis has driven an additional 47 to 84 million people into extreme poverty.
 
Shrinking budgets. Research in 28 low income countries shows that government spending on social protection declined from 1.9% to 1.6% of GDP.
 
Lack of healthcare. Each day about 800 women die worldwide because of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth; developing countries account for 99 per cent of those deaths.
 
War. Over one billion children live in countries affected by armed conflict.
 
Loss of parents. 153 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents.

Unemployment. The global unemployment rate for youth (ages 15-24) remains at crisis peak levels and is not expected to come down until at least 2016.
 
Lack of education. 67 million children of primary school age do not go to school.
 
Domestic violence. Children suffer from domestic violence everywhere. On every continent, domestic violence occurs in 20-60% of households.

Read the complete report: SOS Children´s Villages Facts & Figures 2012