SOS Children's Villages respects and promotes the rights of all children. Through advocacy, the organisation can use its extensive experience to support children to claim their rights and spark change that will make a lasting difference to their lives.

The millions of children all over the world who are without parental care or at risk of losing it are especially vulnerable to violations of their human rights. They are the most exposed to poverty, exclusion and discrimination and are particularly susceptible to abuse or exploitation. While keeping all children in mind, SOS Children's Villages supports these children in particular to claim their rights by fighting to improve their living conditions, tackling the root causes of issues that undermine their well-being.

Through advocacy, SOS Children's Villages aims at sensitizing decision-makers to the concerns that these children face and influencing them to make changes in policies and practises that undermine the well-being of children without parental care.

In addition, children are encouraged and enabled to participate in making decisions that affect their lives and are guided towards taking an active role in their own development.

SOS Children's Villages has pioneered family-based out-of-home child care and provided support to children without parental care and to their communities all over the world for nearly 60 years. This experience provides a solid basis for advocacy work. By combining this strength with those of other like-minded organisations, productive and lasting partnerships are formed that will make a true difference to the lives of countless children.

In the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
As the most universally ratified human rights instrument, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child spells out those basic human rights that children everywhere are entitled to. SOS Children's Villages works in the spirit of this Convention, promoting the rights it sets out and helping children to claim them.

Children without parental care are especially vulnerable to many of the world's ills, and therefore have particular rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. SOS Children's Villages upholds these rights and works to create the best possible family environment for children.