On December 2 1992, Greece endorsed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989.

The 54 articles of the Convention aim to ensure security, love, dignity, freedom, equality, and solidarity to all children growing up in our country.

In SOS Children’s Villages, as a Child Protection organization, both in Greece and globally, we actively support the Convention on the Rights of the Child through our programs and activities. In order to ensure the rights of children growing up in our care, we follow the following guidelines and specifications:

• The Quality4children regulations developed through international research in 32 European countries in 2004.
• The 2005 Council of Europe Recommendation on the ‘’Rights of Children Living in Child Protection Institutions’’

Emphasis is given to the care of children in a family-like environment, such as that of SOS Children’s Villages with SOS Mothers or in foster families so that children don’t grow up in institutionalized environments.

At SOS Children’s Villages we promote and ensure quality alternative care for our children. We work with institutions, care professionals, and specialized scientists and provide continuous training to our staff, such as the “Safe Places, Thriving Children” program, to ensure that every child has the best care according to his and her personal needs.

At the same time, we advocate for the Deinstitutionalization of out-of-family care of children in Greece and we work closely with Public and Private Child Protection bodies in order to:

• Transfer know-how
• Support them with specialized staff
• Put pressure for the implementation of policies aiming to benefit children who are deprived of their biological family

For more information about our propositions and expertise in the area of Child Protection you may visit the special microsite that we have created.