NEW YORK, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Nations General Assembly welcomed a resolution on the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children today, on the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Guidelines call attention to the vulnerability and needs of orphaned and abandoned children.

Over the last five years, SOS Children's Villages International has been a leading organization in supporting the development of the Guidelines and lobbying for their adoption. SOS Children's Villages joins the international community in celebrating the passing of a resolution that further strengthens the rights of children without parental care.

SOS Children's Villages Welcomes the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

"The implementation of the Guidelines will ensure that children are listened to and receive specific attention for their particular situation and needs. Furthermore, the Guidelines will help us to speak out for those children and to constantly monitor and improve our own services," said Richard Pichler, Secretary-General of SOS Children's Villages International.

The Guidelines provide a framework of standards for the alternative care of children. This comprehensive framework addresses many of the challenges children without parental care face -- including an absence of nurturing care, education and health care. Recognition by the UN General Assembly gives the Guidelines political weight that strengthens NGOs like SOS Children's Villages. The Guidelines demand that children's concerns are heard and that their rights are respected.

The Guidelines discuss a range of options including foster care, other family-based environments, and small group residential care. They state that the option chosen should meet the best interests of the individual child.

SOS Children's Villages Provides Family-Based Care for Orphaned Children

Dr. Heather Paul, CEO of SOS Children's Villages -- USA is passionate about the recognition of children's rights: "The UNCRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. The Guidelines strengthen the core principles of the UNCRC and make it clear that the best place for a child to grow up is in the family. Orphaned children are at great risk. They all too often fall prey to abusive situations where they are sexually exploited, or they are forced to become child soldiers or child laborers. SOS's two-pronged approach of providing family-based care for orphaned children, as well as services to strengthen families, addresses these situations."

SOS Children's Villages offers family strengthening programs to prevent child abandonment, in addition to 500 family-based care programs worldwide. SOS works to keep siblings together. Family strengthening programs include counseling services, life-skills training, income-generating activities, and material support. The ultimate goal of SOS Children's Villages is to enable families to care for and protect their children.

About SOS Children's Villages

For 60 years, SOS Children's Villages has been dedicated to the long-term care and prevention of orphaned and abandoned children. With 500 villages in 132 countries, SOS offers a family-based village model that provides for the holistic needs of a child -- family, community, education and support -- that are essential for a successful transition from childhood to adulthood. Through Villages, family strengthening programs, and other initiatives, SOS Children's Villages impacts the lives of over 1 million people each year. In 2009, SOS Children's Villages received the Save the World Award. SOS has also been awarded the Mother Teresa Gold Medal, the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and the Vietnam Friendship Medal. For more information about SOS Children's Villages, visit www.sos-usa.org.

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Dr. Heather Paul

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SOURCE SOS Children's Villages - USA

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