SOS Organization Announces End of Its Operations in Syria by the End of This Year

The SOS Syria organization, affiliated with the global SOS Children’s Villages network, announced that it will cease its activities in the country by the end of this year and terminate its employees’ contracts, while retaining a limited number of staff temporarily to complete financial and administrative procedures and transfer children to alternative care centers.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the organization said that the decision came “as a result of the recent circumstances the organization is facing in Syria,” noting that the step aims to “ensure the continuity of the global organization’s work and uphold standards of transparency and compliance.”

The statement explained that the closure of the Syrian branch includes arranging the status of children residing in the organization’s centers, in coordination with local authorities and partner organizations.

The decision comes amid the fallout from cases that have sparked controversy over the conditions in some child care facilities in the country, accompanied by calls to review the operating mechanisms of humanitarian organizations working in this sector.

SOS works in the fields of child protection, orphan care, and support for vulnerable families, and has branches in more than 130 countries around the world.