Capital: Oslo
Area: 324,220 km²
Population: 4.4 million (December 2000 est.)
Ethnic groups: Norwegian
Official language(s): Norwegian
Religion(s): 86% Lutheran
Currency: 1 Norwegian krone = 100 øre
At the beginning of the 1960s the SOS Children's Village idea reached also Scandinavia. On 10 July 1964 a small group of people close to the Austrian Consul at that time, Arne Örvig, motivated by Hermann Gmeiner, founded the "Komiteen for norske venner av SOS-barnebyer" (Commitee of Norwegian Friends of the SOS Children's Villages) to support the worldwide activities of SOS Children's Villages.
During the first years only individual family houses in different SOS Children's Villages were financed, like the "Fritjov Nansen" family house in the SOS Children's Village Daegu in South Korea in the year 1967. With the funds raised in the 1973 "Operasjon Dagsverk" (Operation Daywork) campaign the construction of the SOS Children's Village Dhaka in Bangladesh could be supported. The number of sponsors and friends of SOS Children's Villages Norway increased steadily and in 1979 it was possible to finance for the first time a complete SOS Children's Village, the SOS Children's Village Rajshahi in Bangladesh, with Norwegian funds. In the mid 1980s a special fund was created to support students and vocational training facilities. In 1983 the Norwegian Association was renamed to "Stiftelsen SOS-barnebyer Norge".
The development of a network of local, voluntary supporters started in the mid 1980s. Most of the activities in the provinces is done by this network. In 1994 Princess Märtha Louise became SOS Norway's patroness, and in 1995 she joined the opening of the SOS Children's Village Keila, Estonia. In 2000 the Norwegian association was the beneficiary of the biggest fundraising campaign in Norway, the so-called "TV Appeal". This event, organised every year by the Norwegian TV channel NRK for the benefit of a humanitarian organisation, consists of different programmes broadcasts on television.
In addition there's a one-day fundraising activity where an army of voluntary supporters equipped with money collection boxes knocks on the door of every Norwegian household. Due to this campaign SOS Norway not only raised a lot of donations, but increased its name recognition amongst the population. At present more than 200 000 sponsors and active donors are supporting the activities of SOS Children's Villages worldwide.
Until now the Norwegian Association does not operate any SOS Children's Village facilities of its own. Nevertheless they have been discussing for years to set up an SOS Children's Village, for the first time already in the early 1970s. In the beginning of 2004 the board of directors finally gave the go-ahead for the first SOS Children's Village in Bergen on the Western coast. This project is currently under construction and should be opened by 2008.
Website of SOS Children's Villages Norway (available in Norwegian)