SOS Children's Villages History 

With the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Imst in Tyrol in 1949, Hermann Gmeiner (1919-1986) and a group of dedicated men and women laid the foundation for a global humanitarian idea. They developed the "four SOS Children's Village principles" as defining elements for an SOS Children's Village:

Mother, siblings, house, and village.

Today, SOS Children's Villages is represented in 133 countries and operates more than 550 SOS Children's Villages as well as over 1,500 other programs in child and youth care and Family Strengthening. These include kindergartens, schools, social centers, medical centers and emergency aid programs.