NEW DELHI: The Delhi government partnered with SOS Children’s Villages India to provide care and protection to 350 children without parental care for five years on Wednesday.
The Delhi Women and Child Development (WCD) department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NGO in this regard, as per the statement issued by the latter.
Under the agreement, 350 children across the capital will be supported through SOS India’s Kinship Care Programme, with regular caregiver training sessions and progress assessments.
The focus areas include care and protection, education, health and nutrition, emotional well-being, and social inclusion, it stated.
The agreement was signed by WCD Director Mitali Namchoom and SOS India CEO Sumanta Kar, in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.
The partnership aims to strengthen family-based alternative care by empowering caregivers and ensuring children’s overall development ‘ including their emotional, physical, and educational well-being.
SOS Children’s Villages India will extend its expertise in family-based care to enhance the reach and impact of the government’s scheme, it stated.
“Every child deserves the love, security and stability of a family, this partnership with SOS Children’s Villages India reflects our shared vision to create a nurturing ecosystem where every child can grow up with dignity, surrounded by people who care for them deeply,” Namchoom said.
Kar said the collaboration reaffirms their shared commitment to ensuring that every child grows up in a safe and caring environment.
“Through the Kinship Care Programme, we will work with families and caregivers to provide psychosocial and educational support so that children not only survive but truly flourish,” he said.
Established in 1964, SOS Children’s Villages India works to provide children without parental care – or at risk of losing it, with a range of family-based care interventions, including family strengthening, foster care, youth skilling and emergency childcare, it stated.
The organisation operates 32 children’s villages across 22 states and Union Territories, supporting over 65,000 children annually, it added.