ReliefWeb

On 17 February SOS Children's Village President Helmut Kutin and the President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, officially opened the SOS Children's Village facilities in the Kosovan capital, Pristina. Located in the residential district of Velania, the facilities offer pre-school education to 120 children in the SOS Kindergarten and give temporary homes to 48 abandoned babies in the four Centres for Short and Middle Term Placement of Children in Need.
At the ceremony President Kutin stressed the importance of providing all children with a loving family atmosphere as well as solid educational foundation. He also thanked the local officials and SOS co-workers for their ongoing efforts and support of SOS Children's Villages. Mr Rugova expressed his deepest gratitude to SOS-Kinderdorf International for its investment in Kosovo's next generation; "Kosovo's government will continue to support all present and future SOS projects," he promised.

The Centres for Short and Middle Term Placement of Children in Need provide abandoned and orphaned babies with temporary care in a family atmosphere. Since the opening of the first centre in February 2001, over 30 adoption procedures have been successfully completed.

With capacity of 120 children the SOS Kindergarten offers pre-school education according to modern pedagogical standards. SOS Children's Villages has also built a big public playground right next to the kindergarten which is open to all children from Pristina.

For more information about the projects in Kosovo, see the news dated 6 June 2002 in the news archive.