RAMALLAH _ Palestine News Network
The Chairman of the Consultative Council for Children´s Villages (SOS) in Palestine, Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, on Tuesday called for the establishment of a new village north of the West Bank and another in the Gaza Strip to care for orphaned children and those who lack the necessary family care there.
This came during the participation of Dr. Shtayyeh and the national director of children´s Villages in Palestine, Mohammed al-Shaldah, in meetings of the presidency of global children´s villages and departments of the Middle East and North Africa, in Marrakech, Morocco, aimed at reviewing the strategy of children´s villages in the world in general and the Middle East and north Africa in particular.
Dr. Shtayyeh said that the meetings included a review of the experiences of some Arab countries in caring for children, providing a suitable environment for them and developing their capacities.
He added that SOS has two villages in Palestine, the first in the City of Bethlehem founded in 1966 and the second in the city of Rafah was established in 2000, where they implement a variety of programs for the protection and care of children, staffed by about 200 employees.
Shtayyeh explained that the children´s villages in Bethlehem and Rafah had reintegrated hundreds of young men and women who had been embraced by children, and currently had some 200 children living in a warm family environment that provided them with all their needs and worked to educate them and develop their skills to become viable and self-reliant citizens.
Children´s villages in Palestine are also implementing programmes to provide support to poor and vulnerable families in order to enable them to protect their children, build their capacities and care through the provision of educational, support, health, psychological and social supplies.
SOS Children´s Villages International is working today in 134 countries and territories around the world, helping hundreds of thousands of children every year through alternative family care, schools, health centres, a programme to strengthen family ties and other community work.
