and providing family-based care

3.1 PREVENTING CHILD-FAMILY SEPARATION AND PROVIDING FAMILYBASED CARE

The work of our SOS organisa tions worldwide primarily focuses on the care and protection of children. By making families stronger and thus preventing children being neglected or abandoned, and by providing family-based care for children who (temporarily) can no longer live at home safely or those who have lost their parental care. We listen to their needs and provide them with the care they require, and which is best suited to the specific situation of the child(ren) and their environment.

Preventive and family-based care constitute a permanent aspect of our work - see box on page 17. Different types of support are provided and can be combined. Contact or reintegration with the biological family remains the goal, if the family still exists and if it is in the best interest of the child.

In addition we work on: • The physical and social integration of children growing up in the Children’s

Villages and SOS families living in the community. To prevent children who grow up in care being labelled or having to cope with social exclusion, we ensure they actively participate in the life of the community; • Improving community facilities, so that children can develop in good health; • Increasing cooperation with (local) governments and other organisations to bring about sustainable change and more efficient working methods.

The consequences of Covid-19 on our activities

The pandemic has had a major impact on our care programmes. Activities have come to a halt, or have (partially) continued in an adapted form. Furthermore, additional measures and activities have been incorporated in order to respond to the consequences of the pandemic.

Changes to support: food parcels and education related to hygiene All the countries in which we implement projects financed by the Netherlands imposed lockdowns during the year in review. This impeded work on the ground because colleagues active in the communities also had to work from home. The result: most activities, including training courses and education for large groups, as part of our programmes to strengthen families including the youth employability activities, temporarily came to a halt. At the same time, additional measures and activities had to be incorporated at all locations. In the communities in which we operate, most people live from hand to mouth. The lockdown therefore meant: no work, no food. Food aid became vital. As did education about the virus and the importance of hygiene, and the provision of hygiene kits and face masks. This was achieved with extra funding, or by using the available funds differently.

School closures For many children in the community the closure of schools formed a huge obstacle to education. They either have limited or no access at all to electricity or the internet, or their schools and communities do not have the capacity to provide digital learning. We had to be inventive and distributed school materials and solar-powered radios so children could follow national curricula, and extra support was also provided by phone. Home schooling was easier to facilitate and follow for the children in our Children’s Villages.

Children’s Villages The children in our SOS families were also affected by the pandemic. They had to stay in the Children’s Village and were not able to see their friends in the community. A lot of attention in our activities was devoted to hygiene measures and the mental health of the children and SOS parents. Young people in the Children’s Village helped the community by making face masks. During the course of the year, restrictions were partially or completely lifted, but this varied considerably from one country to another.