Nacional

SOS Children's Villages Bolivia reorganizes and strengthens its response to the national crisis

The 2024 management report shows that, in the face of an increasingly complex national context, the organization has restructured its services, strengthened its care model, and expanded its social base to respond more efficiently.

In a country where more than 900,000 children are at risk of losing family care, SOS Children's Villages Bolivia has adapted its organizational structure and strategy to address the effects of the economic crisis, social inequality, and the weakening of protection systems. In 2024, new intervention approaches were consolidated, prioritizing operational efficiency and the territorial strengthening of its programmes.

The implementation of the 2024-2028 National Strategy of SOS Children's Villages Bolivia made it possible to reorganize services into three key categories: Advocacy, Family Strengthening, and Alternative Care. This transformation improved the scope and impact of actions, allowing for the direct care of more than 22,500 highly vulnerable children, adolescents, and families.

One of the most significant changes was the expansion of advocacy services, which are nowadays a consolidated programmatic line. Based on territorial evidence and strategic partnerships with local governments, communities, and other organizations, three national and municipal laws were established and ten peri-urban districts across the country where child protection levels are alarmingly low were activated.

At the same time, the organization increased its Family Strengthening services' coverage, preventing child abandonment through material and psychosocial support and close accompaniment for three to four years for families at social risk. On the other hand, its Alternative Care services' coverage was reduced, prioritizing improving the quality of services with a second caregiver, mental health care, and the strengthening of the child protection systems for children who have already lost family care.

"When we find a family in a vulnerable situation and arrive in time to tell that family that we are going to help them, when we find a child who has been let down by all adults and does not know what to do, that is when SOS Children's Villages steps in, and it is as if we are challenging fate, and sometimes we manage to beat it. That is what gives meaning to our work. Convincing each family that it is possible to change that apparent destiny and improve their living conditions with our help."

— Alfonso Lupo, National Director