FAMILY STRENGTHENING PROGRAMME (FSP)
Our Family Strengthening Programme commonly known as FS works in conjunction with the local community partners (CBOs). The FS supports disadvantaged families with family and community empowerment interventions in the four programmes which are located in Mzuzu, Lilongwe Blantyre and Ngabu.
OVERALL GOAL OF FSP
The overall goal of the Family Strengthening Programme is to ensure that families, communities and government protect and promote the rights of children to grow in a caring family environment.
Strengthening families is of critical importance to the work of SOS Children’s Villages in general as we believe that regardless of their background, children should live in a family that will support them to reach their full potential.
The FS programme is currently being supported through the NORAD grant which was acquired in partnership with SOS Children’s Villages Norway.
- Through the FS programme, we are currently supporting 8000 children and young people as well as 2500 families in all our programmes and interventions include:
- Parenting programmes
- Psychosocial support
- Economic Empowerment (VSLA)
- Education support to vulnerable children
- After school support programmes
- Girl child education
- Capacity building of public schools
SOS Children’s Villages strongly believes that a family environment is the most appropriate for a child to grow and develop.
WHO WE ARE
We are an affiliate member of SOS Children’s Villages International, and an independent child development Non-Governmental Organisation.• We were founded by Hermein Gmeiner in 1949 to help children who had lost their families in the Second World War.
• We are currently working in 136 countries and territories around the globe.
• In Malawi we started our operations in Lilongwe in 1994. We expanded to Mzuzu in 2002, Blantyre in 2007 and Chikwawa, Ngabu in 2013.
Our Strategy
OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION
- By 2030 we want to reach out to 16000 children and young people in Malawi – through innovative and community rooted child care and family strengthening programmes.
- We will continue to support national efforts in preventing children from being separated from their families.
- We will continue to be part of national care reforms – showcasing our extensive experience in the provision of care to the most vulnerable children.
Priority 1: Increase local relevance of our programmes
Priority 2: Grow and diversify income
Priority 3: Empower people and member associations
Priority 4: Build partnerships to scale-up our impact
Priority 5: Embrace digitalisation to boost our future readiness
OUR STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
OUR 2030 STRATEGY AND OUR 2020 MID TERM PLAN
Between 2017 and 2030, SOS Children’s Villages International and its member associations including SOS Children’s Villages Malawi has set out to implement the Strategy 2030 (S2030) which has set out to achieve the following two main goals as follows:
- a) By 2030, we ensure that many more children have a loving home and an equal chance to succeed in life.
- b) By 2030, we lead the world’s most effective child-care movement to make sure “No child is born to grow up alone”
In order to drive our 2030 strategy, every year we develop a 3 year rolling a mid-term plan where we commit strategic actions leading us to achieve the different strategic objectives as follows;
(a)Strategic Initiative I: Innovate alternative care
The initiative is mainly aimed at driving organizational reforms within our SOS Families programmes (or SOS Family Based Care) to be aligned with the current legislative demands which promote frequent assessment of the children families and early reintegration of children in their families.
SI I Objective
501 children and young people receiving quality care in community integrated SOS families and other forms of alternative care by 2020
(b)Strategic Initiative II: Strengthen families
The initiative is mainly aimed at driving more organizational focus on increasing our investment in prevention of family separation through implemeting Family Strengthening programmes (SOS FS).
SI II Objective
65% of families providing a caring and resilient environment for equal development opportunities to 8000 children and young adults by 2020.
(c)Strategic Initiative III: Empower young people
The strategic initiative looks at strengthening the care and employability of young people that are supported by our programme interventions mainly SOS FBC and SOS FS.
SI III Objective
70% of children and young people in our target are capacitated with quality education, professional trainings and skills development for self-reliance.
(d)Strategic Initiative IV: Advocate for children
The strategic initiative on advocacy will ensures that
- The organization builds its own capacity in advocacy
- Scale up advocacy work nationally with a focus on care and prevention
- Focus on evidence-based advocacy work based on programme expertise
- Ensure participation and the active involvement of children and young people in advocacy.
SI IV Objective;
To contribute to the development, review and implementation of child-related laws and policies in Malawi by 2020.
(e)Strategic Initiative VI: Invest for funding growth
The strategic initiative on invest for funding growth focusses on
- Growing funding above market average
- Diversify into new markets
- Making large strategic fundraising investments in high potential long term Return on Investments (ROI) markets
- Increasing governmental subsidies for domestic programmes.
SI IV Objective
A well-branded and visible Organisation with sustained income growth from diversified sources in collaboration with partners by 2020.
News and Events
SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES MALAWI LAUNCHES ITS SECOND PHASE OF THE EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAMME
5th October 2022- SOS Children’s Villages Malawi has announced that it will continue with the emergency relief programme (ERP), with a strong focus on resilience building and recovery to meet the needs of over 580 families who were displaced and lost their household items to Cyclone Ana and other cyclones which hit the country, particularly […]
WE ARE HIRING!
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES SOS Children’s Villages Malawi is a non-governmental child development organization which started its operations in Malawi in 1994. We envision every child belonging to a family and growing with love, respect and security. We achieve this through building families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the […]
Read MorePROGRESS ON THE FINALISATION OF THE REGULATIONS ON FOSTER CARE EXCITES THE MINISTRY OF GENDER
Director of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Dina Gumulira says she is excited with the meeting which is set to finalize regulations on the foster care system in the country which shall, in turn, support the operationalization of 2010 Child Care, Protection and Justice Act. Gumulira said this […]
Read More10 CAREGIVERS FROM BLANTYRE FAMILY BASED CARE AND FAMILY STRENGTHENING PROGRAMMES TRAINED IN RAFIKI DIGITAL CARE ASSISTANT APPLICATION
The introduction of RAFIKI Digital Care Assistant (DCA) tool to SOS Children’s Villages Malawi care givers both from the Family Based Care (FBC) and the community-based Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) illustrates the inclusive digital transformation drive that strives to reach out to key care co-workers with vital information and skills necessary to enhance child care […]
Read MoreADWEL CHIPITA – TOWARDS REALISING HIS DREAM
For those young people who ever failed to get the results they were hoping for on their Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) results, they do understand that it can be hard to see the way forward, advice can also be meaningless and giving up may seem like the only worthwhile option. This was not […]
Read MorePILIRANI SHINES! GRADUATES WITH A BACHELOR OF ARTS IN JOURNALISM.
Pilirani Keren Samson is one of the young women in Mzuzu who definitely have some countless reasons to celebrate! She just graduated from the prestigious Polytechnic and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Journalism, marking her first step away from poverty, gender inequality and setting for herself a strong stepping stone towards her big career and […]
Read MoreSOS HERMANN GMEINER PRIMARY SCHOOLS
SOS Children’s Villages Malawi is providing quality education through SOS Hermein Gmeiner primary schools in Mzuzu, Lilongwe, Blantyre and Ngabu programmes. We ensure that our schools are secure, inclusive and offering real lifetime learning opportunities to all learners in our schools. We are committed to providing a stimulating and motivating learning environment, one that equips […]
Read MoreHappy Siblings Day!
Did you know that siblings experience and express a wide range of feelings for each other that are connected to the children’s respective functions? Brothers and sisters are first and foremost mutual interaction partners. They do not just play with each other but are also rivals and they learn how to solve basic feuds along […]
Read MoreSOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES MALAWI JOINS ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN IN MEDIA IN CONDEMNING CHILD ABUSE AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
Young people and co-workers from SOS Children’s Villages Malawi, Mzuzu Family Based Care, joined the Association of Women in Media (Northern Region Chapter) on a solidarity march, to add their voice to condemn the rising cases of child sexual abuse and gender based violence in the country. Of late, both mainstream and social media has […]
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Care for me campaign
- Through advocacy, we have been implementing the care for me! campaign since 2013, and the main goal of the campaign was to improve child care systems to ensure that all children in Malawi receive quality care.
- Key achievements registered after the implementation of the care for me campaign include key reforms which government is currently pushing regarding general management and placement procedures as well as duration of stay in the institutional care.
- We have also strengthened the capacity of co-workers and partners in advocacy and policy engagement in general. Read more…
Save my Mother Project
We have been running a cervical cancer prevention and treatment programme since 2011 and have reached to over 12000 women and girls in the four districts we are working in. the programme is being done in partnership with the Female Cancer Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages Netherlands and the Government of Malawi.
SOS Children’s Villages Malawi launched the second phase of the Save My Mother Project (SMMP) in a lively event organised on the 23rd June 2017. The launch was purposefully scheduled for the 23rd June to coincide with the celebration of the SOS day where all over the world SOS Children’s Villages celebrates the birthday of the founder of SOS Children Villages Herman Gmeiner. The launch of the Save My Mother Project was organised under the theme “I need my mother, strengthen collaboration to end Cervical Cancer in Malawi.” It was attended by over 100 stakeholders from Ministry of Health, development partners, the academia, NGOs in the health sector, the media as well as the general public.
As of December 2016, our education programmes offered through SOS education facilities (kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and vocational training Centre) reached an enrolment of 2,965 children and young people (1,479 males and 1,486 females).
Our education facilities work in close collaboration with government; our relationship is mostly cemented through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Following education facility assessments in 2014, a recommendation was made to exit running of Kindergartens and VTC (and for these engage any willing private provider to run under a lease agreement); and to continue working with government under the current MOU (with responsibility to run being progressively given to government).
