A group of siblings stands against the wall of their home at SOS Children's Villages - Malakal in Southern Sudan

July 11, 2011: SOS Children’s Villages has been active in Sudan since 1975.  The recent independence of South Sudan necessitates the founding of a new SOS Children's Villages Association that will manage the existing programs in Malakal as well as initiate new programs. Until now, the office of SOS Children's Villages in Karthoum was in charge of all activities in the Sudan. There are some 100 children currently living in SOS Families in Malakal; 25 adolescents in the local SOS Youth Facility. Studies are being conducted to determine how SOS can further assist children without parental care and families in urgent need of help in other areas of South Sudan.

SOS Children's Villages has worked in South Sudan for more than ten years. The consequences of the civil war, which lasted several decades and ended in 2005, are especially serious for the people in the South. Many have high expectations for their new state, which officially declared independence on July 9th, and continue to hope for a better life. But there is also widespread uncertainty on the transition process and the beginning of a new nation.

SOS Children’s Villages in Sudan

An SOS youth in Khartoum, Sudan, holds her little brother

The Sudanese civil war, which lasted from 1955 until 1972 and flared up again in 1983, has had devastating effects on the living conditions of the children in Sudan. The population lived in constant fear and deprivation, particularly in the south of the country. In response, SOS Children's Villages initiated talks with the government of Sudan as early as 1975 regarding child care programs. Three years later, SOS opened a Children’s Village and a kindergarten in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city. In the years to follow, SOS launched numerous social and educational programs.  In 2002, the SOS-Malakal Children’s Village, in the south of Sudan, opened to care for up to 100 children.

Emergency Relief and Care for All Children in Sudan

A boy stands in view of a window shattered by a bullet from fighting in March, 2011

Again and again, hundreds of thousands of people have faced war, droughts and floods in Sudan. In addition to long-term care for orphaned and abandoned children, SOS has repeatedly provided emergency relief for children and families in need in the North and in the South, including nutrition programs, medical care, and construction of a well and shelters.

In 2004, when lasting peace began to seem likely after 50 years of war, SOS Children's Villages launched another emergency relief program close to Malakal, in South Sudan. In cooperation with other NGO's, SOS Children's Villages began a project that focused on the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers into society. The traumatised children received therapy, were given the chance to complete an education and were prepared for the return to civilian life. A majority of them returned to their families and communities by the end of 2009.

SOS Responds to New Need in South Sudan

A young boy holds a baby who was brought to SOS Children's Villages Malakal after being abandoned in a hospital in Southern Sudan

South Sudan's infrastructure is underdeveloped in every aspect. Most communities lack food supplies, education systems, medical care and public roads.  To make matters worse, the secession of South Sudan brings attention to ancient conflicts which have previously led to attacks on the civilian population, especially in the border region between the North and the South. In March of 2011, even the SOS Children's Village was caught in the line of fire and had to be evacuated.

SOS Children's Villages will continue to intensify its work for children and families in Sudan and South Sudan.  You can help.  Sign up for the SOS Children’s Villages eNewsletter to stay informed about the issues affecting children in South Sudan and around the world.