Investing in Alternative

Care & Families In Asia

Annual Report 2019
International Office – Asia
 ild ren’s Villages
S Ch in As
SO ia
Diverse
in Culture

+
=
United Pioneer in
in Vision Childcare

Strong
Federation
Contents
Foreword���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4

Innovating Alternative Child Care

and Growing Integration.................................................6

Strengthening Families to Prevent

Breakup and Separation...............................................10

Empowering Young People to Build

Their Employability........................................................ 12

Advocating for Children

to Give Them a Voice...................................................... 16

Mobilising People for Quality Care............................ 20

Simplifying SOS to Become a Simpler,

Agile and Digital Organisation.....................................23

Ensuring Financial Health, Integrity

and Viability.................................................................... 26

Invest for Funding Growth

to Become Self-Sustainable....................................... 29
 Foreword
Strategy 2030: Every Child Grows
Up in a Loving Family
2019 has been a year of great significance
in many ways for what we do every day. The
United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child has been in place for three decades,
the United Nations Guidelines for Alternative
Care was formulated ten years ago and SOS
Children’s Villages turned 70.
This coupled with the 100th birth anniversary of
Dr. Hermann Gmeiner, the original advocate of
deinstitutionalisation is the icing on the cake.
I wish to remind all of you that 70 years ago,
Dr. Hermann Gmeiner brought to life, the SOS
Family Like care model, against all odds, fighting
for deinstitutionalisation. Though I never had
the opportunity to meet him personally, I feel
honoured to be part of this large SOS Family,
taking forward his work in Asia.
This year, in Asia all of you worked together
to push forward for legal recognition for the
4 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
alternative care for children with focus on
the “family care model”. All countries, with
the exception of Mongolia, have initiated
dialogue with their respective governments.
In Philippines, three bills related to alternative
child care have been introduced in the House
of Representatives. In Sri Lanka, Family like
Care (FLC) has been recognised as a form of
alternative care in the National Alternative Care
Policy. Indonesia is lobbying for the inclusion
of alternative care models in their National
Childcare Act including FLC.
I am happy to share that all of you are
advocating with their governments for “care
reforms”. India, Cambodia and Indonesia are
engaging with the government to improve
public policy, systems and processes for
alternative care for children.
At the regional level, IO Asia partnered
with South Asia Initiative to End Violence
against Children (SAIEVAC) to jointly work on
Alternative Care and Child Protection. The
partnership with Child Helpline International
(CHI) was renewed. CHI will explore in-country
partnerships in six MAs to advocate for
children’s rights and to amplify their voices.
This year the challenges faced by children
without parental care were acknowledged and
addressed in the first ever UN Resolution on
children without parental care. The Resolution
reaffirmed that the children should grow up in a
family environment for the full development of
their personality. It also recommends that if the
children lose parental care, quality care options
should be prioritised over institutionalisation.
The Resolution affirms that children and
adolescents in alternative care should receive
support in preparing for the transition into
independent living and should have access to
aftercare services. In Asia, with your support,
1,000 young people left care and 631 were
prepared for transition into independent
living. This was possible through corporate
partnerships (global, regional and local) in
transferring knowledge and strengthening
young people with employable skills.

In the region, we continue to implement Strategy

2030 going ahead with the seven strategic
initiatives. SOS Care Promise continues to guide
our programmes in all countries. I wish to re-
iterate that child safeguarding is a top priority
for the region so that children and young people
can grow up in a safe environment. We as adults
are duty bound to provide this and is a promise
that has to be delivered.
I am happy to share that new family
strengthening programmes have been
developed with institutional funding in Laos
and Philippines.
All the National Directors from 11 countries
came together in September 2019 for the
XIIIth Asian National Directors’ (AND) meet
at Piliyandala, Sri Lanka. Participants from
11 countries and the RMT took part in this
meeting. The meeting was chaired by President
Siddhartha Kaul. We had a special guest Mr.
Stewart Wilms participating in the deliberations.
Being a part of the Federation, we are
accountable to all our stakeholders. With
accountability comes responsibility. That is
why, one of the important topics to be taken
seriously is “compliance”. As an organisation
we need to be compliant to local and global
regulations. This is important to maintain trust
and be operational. The Global Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) is one such important
guideline which applies to personal data of
children, youth, donors and sponsors among
others. I expect every MA to introduce data
protection measures in your own countries.
Non-compliance could incur heavy fines and
loss of trust and credibility not just of your
country but the federation as a whole. So far
eight MAs have signed the Data Protection
Agreement, four are in the process of signing it
and two are yet to respond.
Overall, it was a fruitful and productive year. All
this would not have been possible without the
support and co-operation from each of you,
your teams, the board and the team at the IOR
Asia. I wish to thank all my colleagues in the
different PSAs, thousands of friends across
the globe who believe in what we do in SOS
Children’s Villages. Last but not least, I thank
the management team and my colleagues in
the different regions and in Innsbruck office
who stand with me, supporting us every day.
This Annual report for the year 2019 highlights
some of the work that happened in the region,
in your countries. I encourage you to read the
report to understand what we are doing to
ensure that No Child Grows Up Alone.
With best wishes,
SHUBHA MURTHI
Deputy COO & International Director, Asia
SOS Children’s Villages

Annual Report 2019 5

 Innovating Alternative
Child Care and
Growing Integration
In 2019, Asia region focussed on aligning
programmes to SOS Care Promise, the policy
document that sets standards for quality care
along with monitoring programme quality and
strengthening the care profession. The region
also addressed and resolved concerns related
to child safeguarding and protection so that
children and youth under our care could grow
up in a safe environment. In addition, Asia
also participated in a multi-region pilot project
promoting social integration of SOS families.
Implementing SOS Care Promise;
Assuring Quality of Care in Existing
Programmes
SOS Care Promise was translated into local
languages in Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines,
6 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
Sri Lanka, Nepal so that co-workers can
familiarise themselves with this important
policy document in their own language.
The SOS Care Promise self-assessment tool
enables each SOS Children’s Village to reflect
on the quality of services and to identify areas
of improvement as well as specific actions
to increase quality. All programme locations,
assessed themselves twice during the year as
per the SOS Care Promise self-assessment
tool. The findings are incorporated in the MA
action plan for 2020.
Strengthening the Care Profession
to Provide Quality Care
SOS parents play a key role in the development
of children under our care. The parents provide
personalised care and create a caring family
environment for the children. The SOS Parents
are trained childcare professionals as well. That
is why, SOS Parents are required to regularly
undergo training.
In Asia, the Mothers’ Training Curriculum
developed by IOR Asia has been adapted in
local languages in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Cambodia and India. These
Member Associations, with the exception of
Cambodia, have begun to conduct trainings
using the curriculum. In Sri Lanka, SOS
Children’s Villages advocated with the
Government to get recognition for the Mothers’
Training Curriculum. The Mothers’ Training
Curriculum was recognised by Department of
Probation and Childcare Services of Southern
Province, Government of Sri Lanka.
In a bid to provide fair working conditions to
SOS Mothers, the separation of their children Children in Alternative Care
is prevented. SOS Indonesia, Philippines, (including Youth)
Bangladesh have been working on a project to
identify SOS Mothers with biological children
and to help them stay together.
28,405
Number of countries
Integration of SOS Families in the
Community 11 MAs
(except China) + TCV+THF
SOS Care Promise prioritises social integration
of SOS families to enable children under our
care to become self-supporting and contributing
Number of Locations
members of the society. Asia Region participated
in a three-region pilot project to strengthen social
106 from 11
MA + 8 (*TCV 5 +**THF 3)
integration. Under this project, a self-assessment
tool and guide were developed and tested at *Tibetan Children’s Village; **Tibetan Home Foundation

two programme locations in SOS Mozambique.

The learning from the pilot project will be
implemented in Asia, ESAF and WCAF.
Construction of New Care Facilities
During the year 2019, 20 construction/
renovation proposals were submitted for
funding approval. Six of them received funding,
and four proposals have received interest.
Out of the projects completed in 2019, two were
related to Emergency Response Programmes
in Nepal and the Philippines. In four locations
across the region, renovation of family houses
took place. At three locations, extension of
youth houses took place and at two places, new
youth houses were built. At three sites, retired
mothers’ homes were extended. At one location,
a new vocational training centre was built. As
on December 2019, 17 construction/renovation
projects were in progress in the region.
Child Safeguarding
Managing child safeguarding risks, is a key
component of providing quality care. In 2019,
the endeavour was to build capacities and
understanding of risks, what constitutes
protective behaviours and what are the
recommended reporting and response
procedures.
Child Safeguarding Audits were conducted
in all MAs. SOS Bangladesh, Philippines and
Cambodia were given hand holding support
to conduct the audit. Following the audit,
corrective measures, risk assessment analysis
and mitigation plans were put into place. Regular
monitoring of child safeguarding incidents also
continued through the regional dashboard. As of
third quarter of 2019, the following data reflects
the number of cases in Asia.

Indicators Consolidated

Total number of Child Protection cases reported 274

Total number of Child Protection cases confirmed 214

Total number of Child Protection confirmed cases closed 201

Number of confirmed high profile cases 7

Number of confirmed high profile cases closed 6

Annual Report 2019 7

 Child Safeguarding is Everybody’s
Business
The child protection policy of the Federation
underwent revision in 2019. The revised
version has been shared with all the Member
Associations.

Initiatives to train children to understand

their rights and responsibilities are being
taken to protect them from abuse. Self-
Training Activities and Resources for
Children (STAR-C) is a tool for children
in various age groups to learn about their
rights in a fun, light-hearted manner. The
STAR-C materials are in the process of being
rolled out in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India,
Indonesia and Laos.
Programme Monitoring and
Evaluation for Meeting Care
Standards
In 2019, the regional focus was on improving
the data quality, rolling out results based
management (RBM) and conducting social
impact assessment. These initiatives
were aimed towards effective programme
implementation approaches, getting quality
data and demonstrating impact of our
interventions.
The Programme Database (PDB) was
upgraded in 2019. It was rolled out in IO
Asia as well as eleven MAs. The data from
PDB has been transferred to PDB 2 as
the new version has full data portability.
The upgraded version is tablet and mobile
compatible. It can work with slow internet
connections and can even work in offline
mode. Additionally, it supports integrated
reporting, is linked to RBM and allows for
digital programme management.
In Asia, the RBM framework was rolled out
in four MAs: Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia,
Sri Lanka. RBM has been put into place to

8 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia

demonstrate the impact of the programme
outcomes and to plan programme activities
more effectively. RBM training was also
conducted for IO Asia.
Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a type of
evaluation that focusses on long-term impact
of our work in three main areas: the lives of
former programme participants; communities
we are working in; and social return of
investment. In Asia, SIA was conducted in SOS
Sri Lanka and is currently being conducted in
Indonesia and Philippines.
The SIA results from CV Nuwara Eliya, Sri
Lanka indicate a very high level of satisfaction
with the services provided by SOS Children’s
Villages. Former participants of both Family
like Care (FLC) and Family Strengthening
Programme (FSP) report high positive
outcomes including good quality of life and
positive influence on personality. The cost
benefit ratio of FLC is 2:1 and the FSP is 29:1
which shows that for every Euro invested
the social impact of the programmes
are quite high. The ratio varies for both
the programmes as they have different
approaches and investments.
Other Measures to Improve
Programme Quality
Cross-functional audit was done in SOS
Philippines and Cambodia to improve
programme efficiency and effectiveness.
In Philippines, the audit found that the
programme could benefit from proper
targeting of children – their placement and
care. A collaboration with the government
to provide short-term care to children could
be developed. A strategic intervention plan
to respond to the high incidence of teenage
pregnancies has been submitted to the Board
for approval.
In Cambodia, the audit highlighted concerns
pertaining to child admission process, gate
keeping and record keeping.
Annual Report 2019 9
 Strengthening Families
to Prevent Breakup
and Separation
In Asia region, Family Strengthening
Programme (FSP) is being implemented
together with the kinship care programme. The
MAs are working to boost the quality and scale
of family strengthening programme. This year
IO Asia and MAs aligned FS target group with
the SOS Care Promise. The MAs used a strong
assessment criteria to support the children at
the verge of losing parental care. While deciding
which families to support, the MAs took into
consideration what was needed by the children
and was suitable for them. The MAs revisited
the targeting criteria and decided to graduate
families that did not fit the selection norms.
MAs also identified new families to admit to the
FSP so that the number of program participants
does not drop. All families prepared and/or
revisited their family development plans which
were also updated in the PDB.
10 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
Kinship Care Programme
Under the kinship care, two developments
took place in 2019. The Regional Kinship Care
Guidelines are being framed. Secondly, there
is a move towards building linkages between
FSP and kinship programmes. It was found that
many of the extended families of the children
lived in poverty and they faced challenges to
survive. Placing another child in the family
burdened the families further. A win-win
solution is to include the family in the FSP
where they could receive support for livelihood
generation. Through convergence between the
FSP and the kinship care the separation of the
child from its extended family is prevented.
New Family Strengthening Programme
With institutional funding, two new FS
programmes were developed in the region.
The FSP in Luang Prabang, Laos has been
expanded with support from SOS Denmark. Children in FSP
Based on the experience gained from
implementing small scale FS in Luang Prabang 83,230
in 2019, SOS Laos will implement a full-fledged
Number of Families in FSP
FS Programme from 2020-23.

SOS Philippines has begun implementation

22,597
of a new FSP in Calbayog and Tacloban. This Number of MAs

11
programme is designed to include all family
members of employable age so that families
becomes financially sustainable.
Number of locations
SOS Nepal will successfully close FSP
in Gorkha in 2020.This programme was 89
supported by SOS Switzerland. Another FSP
has been developed for Vyas municipality
Status of Children Exited
under SOS CV Gandeki. from CCS Bangladesh
Over 12 years Transferred to
SOS Indonesia has initiated local fundraising attending Idle, another Camp
for implementing a FS programme in the doing Nothing
emergency intervention area in Sulawasi where
they are linking relief and rehabilitation to
development. 19% 16%

Emergency Preparedness
In 2019, we continued to work with MAs
prone to natural disasters to prepare 12%
them for effective response and recovery
programme. The capacity building of CV
focal points continued in all the six MAs.
Currently the programme is being piloted in
six countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
53%
India, Philippines and Indonesia. SOS Sri
Lanka conducted a national workshop to build Over 12 years Over 12 years
attending Hafeez attending
capacity of co-workers in all the locations and Khana (Madrassa) Learning Centre
developed emergency preparedness plans at
two CVs.
All the 400 children in the Tengkhali
Emergency Response Programme Government Primary School will benefit
(ERP) from the education, nutrition and protection
In Asia, the ERP is being implemented components of the programme, while 180
in Bangladesh with a focus on refugee extremely vulnerable families and their
communities as well as the host communities. children will receive livelihood support along
SOS Bangladesh is engaging with the children with other assistance.
and their families in host communities in a
district of Cox’s Bazaar. ERP in Sulawasi province of Indonesia has been
successfully completed.

Annual Report 2019 11

 Empowering Young
People to Build Their
Employability

The federation’s Strategic Initiative 3 focusses in October, 2019 in the presence of corporate
on strengthening young people’s participation partners, SOS Youth, National Director and
and preparing them for independent living key staff of SOS Children’s Villages, Vietnam,
by building their employability skills and
enhancing their integration in the community.
Youth Can! implemented in
In Asia, we continued to work with young
people to strengthen youth employability under 5 MAs
the YouthCan! programme. Concurrently,
Total number of young people
the global standards for youth care are being
drawn up. These standards will support MAs in
implementing quality youth care programmes
455
tailored to local realities. Total number of volunteers

YouthCan! in Asia
YouthCan! was officially launched in Vietnam
245

12 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia

Goodwill Ambassador of SOS Children’s
Villages, Vietnam and IO Asia representatives.
Global partners such as DHL, Siegwek and
Thyssenkrup Elevators were present along
with several local partners as well. The young
people shared their challenges in preparing for
and looking for jobs.
All YouthCan! countries planned different
activities for young people with the corporate
partners:
Thyssenkrup Elevators organised trainings
for young people in India and Thailand. The
training focused on improving personal
effectiveness of young people. The workshops
focussed on enhancing employability skills.
The youth learned about the importance of
teamwork and time management through
various group activities. The youth also learnt
about email etiquettes, job recruitment
processes and faced mock interviews.
DHL organised first jobber’s camp in Thailand
to prepare the youth seeking jobs for the first
time. The young people had sessions on written
and spoken English, resume preparation, mock
interviews and tutorials on make up for interview.
In Indonesia, DHL conducted their camps in
four different locations and secured internships
for young people. In Sri Lanka, DHL invited the
young people for site visit. Job orientation and
social skill trainings were also organised.
AkzoNobel organised trainings in India and
Sri Lanka. They conducted their renovation
activity, Let’s Colour. The young people
underwent training on English and vocational
training. Soft skills training, job and career
workshop were offered to youth in Indonesia.
Siegwerk offered internship opportunities and
entrepreneurship training for the youth in SOS
Indonesia.
Allianz facilitated trainings on English,
soft skills, public speaking and finance
management for the young people in SOS
Indonesia.
Successfully Integrated Youth /
became independent
631
Youth Reunification with family
of origin (15+ years age group)
214
Number of youth leaving care
1095
Child Reunification with family of
origin (0-14 years age group)
212
Youth Career Initiative supports vulnerable
youth to gain skills that can further their career
in the hospitality sector. SOS youth from
Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam were trained
by them in 2019.
Local corporate partners also supported
YouthCan! activities. In Sri Lanka, Seylan Bank
offered internships to SOS Youth.
Youth Care and Development
User Guide
The Youth development user guide has been
developed to improve the quality of youth care
and will replace existing policies on youth care.
Six MAs from the region Sri Lanka, India, Nepal,
Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia contributed
to the development process.
The recommendations from the region
included:
•R oles and responsibilities of young people
should be defined
•T heory and practice of consent
•C hoice of self-expression especially about
sexual orientation and their integration in the
society
•A ddressing social issues such as child
Annual Report 2019 13
 marriage, female genital mutilation and early
pregnancy
•D
 eveloping care leavers peer-to-peer network
for their support after leaving care
International Youth Coalition (IYC)
The International Youth Coalition (IYC) is a
platform for young programme participants
from 10 countries around the globe. It aims at
strengthening youth participation, giving them
a platform to raise their voices and greater
stake in decision making processes.
In 2019, 14 young people from eight countries
were trained during the annual IYC meeting
in Pinkafeld, Austria in June. From Asia, four
young people, two each from SOS Indonesia
and SOS Sri Lanka participated in the IYC
meeting. The young people went through
teamwork exercises, presentations and other
capacity building activities. Besides this, the
young people received a methodical training
on how to hold a youth consultation workshop
in their MAs. This year’s theme was Young
People’s Use and Access to Technology.
Representatives from SOS Sri Lanka and
14 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
Indonesia held youth consultations. 18 youths
from SOS Sri Lanka and 19 youths from SOS
Indonesia participated in the consultation
workshop. The youth were asked to brainstorm
ideas how technology can be used to
strengthen their relationships or to develop
new skills. The following were accepted as
winning ideas from the MAs in Asia:
SOS Sri Lanka Proposed a mobile app-
ONE FINGERTIP – take the world to your palm
(use of mobile phones). The young people
proposed an app that everybody, even people
with special needs, can use. They proposed
sound notifications, icons instead of text and
intuitive interface to launch a voice or a video
call. The app would also have instant language
translator and a help icon, with videos tutorials
on how to use the app.
SKILLD4M (Skill development for
employment) is an app with all the information
needed by students studying in primary
school through to university. This will include
digital library with books in any language,
training courses and tuition classes.
Additionally, it will also have the details of
local and foreign scholarships and job market.
It could be used by teachers, students, youth,
and universities.
SOS Indonesia proposed an app LET’S LEARN
(E-learning). This app will provide lessons on
English, provide questions, discussion points
and virtual meetings between user and certified
tutor/teacher. Young people in the community
can actively learn English (speaking, reading,
listening, writing) so they can improve language
skills and develop tourism in their community.
With proficiency in English, they can invite
many international investors and tourists to
visit their community. International tourists will
enjoy the community instead of feeling unsafe
because of language barriers. This will benefit
the students, parents/caregivers and, youth
looking for jobs and scholarships.
Allianz Social-Innovation Fund
Allianz is committed to supporting social
innovations, ideas that offer creative, novel,
sustainable solutions to social issues. Social
Innovation is an initiative to build an inclusive
society as a part of Allianz’s Encouraging
Future Generations Programme.
This year they received applications from 17
countries spread over four continents. In Asia,
SOS Indonesia and SOS Sri Lanka bagged
the Allianz Social Innovation fund for Euros
10,000 each.
•A
 llianz Indonesia Life – YouthCan! We
Are The Future will provide support to SOS
youth by improving their abilities through
life skill development; improving English
language skills, building resilience, training
on computer literacy and micro business
training through coaching and mentoring by
Allianz employees.
•A
 llianz Sri Lanka – YouthCan! Shape The
World of Tomorrow, will target upskilling
of 100 SOS Youth in three years with the
International Computer Driving License
to provide employment opportunities in
related fields.
Annual Report 2019 15
 Advocating for Children
to Give Them a Voice
In 2019, advocacy initiatives focussed on
building ownership and capacities of the MAs
to take forward the advocacy priorities. The
main focus is on obtaining legal recognition for
Family like Care (FLC) and to contribute to care
reform processes in Asia. It is also important to
build the perspective of key stakeholders and
to influence public policy.
Obtaining Legal Recognition for FLC
All MAs, except Mongolia, have begun to
engage with their Governments to obtain
recognition for FLC. Nepal has adopted the
Children’s Act 2075, the byelaws of the Act
are being drafted by SOS Nepal. In 2019,
Government of Sri Lanka adopted the National
Alternative Care Policy, in which FLC has been
recognised due to lobbying by SOS Sri Lanka.
In Philippines, three bills related to the alternative
care of children have been introduced. The MAs
16 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
is engaging with key Members of Parliament to
garner support for the bills.
In India, 21 Children’s Villages out of 32 CVs
have been registered under Group Foster Care.
Other Care Reform Processes
Seven MAs in Asia; Cambodia, India, Indonesia,
Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam actively
contributed to care reform processes in their
respective countries. These included reforms in
laws and policies related to child care, protection
and rights among others. In Cambodia, the
MA supported the government in drafting a
comprehensive National Child Protection Law and
the National Action Plan of Child Development.
India contributed to various care reforms in the
country. The MA participated in discussions on
alternative care in different states across the
country.
Member of Parliament
of Philippines
supporting bills on
alternative care

Advocacy Events to Influence Policy
and Practice
Events to shape and influence public policy
were organised in different MAs. In 2019,
the 10th anniversary of UN Guidelines for
Alternative Care and the 30th anniversary of
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
was commemorated. SOS Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia and Nepal organised events to
observe the anniversaries.
The coalition of child rights organisation,
Joining Forces, launched country reports
in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal and
Philippines. The country reports took stock
of the progress and the challenges to the
realisation of child rights in the country. The
six Joining Forces agencies are ChildFund
Alliance, Plan International, Save the Children
International, SOS Children’s Villages
International, Terre des Hommes International
Federation, World Vision International.
In Sri Lanka, the Generation Never Give Up
(GNG), a peer to peer network of care leavers
organised a workshop, in September 2019,
to raise awareness about the challenges
that they face when leaving care. The young
Young care-leaver
speaking at the
Generation Never Give
Up advocacy event
care leavers shared their challenges and
needs about youth employability with a
diverse group of stakeholders at a youth led
advocacy workshop. The workshop aimed
to create awareness about the challenges
careleavers faced when transitioning to
working life. Ms. Shubha Murthi, the Deputy
COO, SOS Children’s Villages, Regional
Management Team of IO Asia along with the
National Directors of 12 countries attended
the workshop. Other participants included
bureaucrats, development sector partners,
childcare institutions, media, academia and
care leavers.
Organisational Development and
Capacity Building
The first regional advocacy workshop in Asia
was held in March in Cambodia. The first
Regional Advocacy Training Workshop and
Asia Advocacy Network Meeting 2019 was held
in December 2019 at Nepal. These workshops
aimed to building understanding and capacities
of focal points in advocacy from 11 MAs.
Country assessments for advocacy scoping
were conducted in Bangladesh and Vietnam
in the month of July, to gain insights into the
Annual Report 2019 17

internal and external advocacy environments
and to identify the way forward. Based on
the assessments, the MAs have started the
process of developing national advocacy
strategies.
Media Advocacy
A media and communications strategy for
advocacy was developed in collaboration
with the Communications Advisor in IO-Asia
and was shared with all the MAs. #iseeyou
campaign has been launched in most MAs
in Asia, through their social media channels.
MA Philippines has demonstrated impressive
cross-functional collaboration between
advocacy and communications, for developing
campaign material and engaging with media
outlets for advocacy purposes.
Networking, Partnership Building
and Collective Advocacy
Two regional events to influence policy and
bring renewed commitment to child rights were
organised in Bangkok.
18 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
Participants from
SOS Thailand and IO
Asia at Child Rights
Now side-event
• Child Rights Now: Joining Forces organised
a side event during the Asia Pacific Forum
on Sustainable Development (APFSD). The
Forum brings together engaged Member
States, United Nations bodies and other
institutions, major groups and other
stakeholders. APFSD was held in Bangkok,
Thailand from March 27-29, 2019. The
Forum focussed on “Empowering People
and Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality”.
However, there was lack of any discussion
on children’s rights. This gap was filled by
the side-event which was held as a part of
Child Rights Now! (CRN!), a Joining Forces
initiative to push for renewed political
commitments to and accountability for
children’s rights.
The main output of the CRN is the global report
on the status of child rights, titled “A Second
Revolution. Thirty years of Child Rights,
and the Unfinished Agenda”, which was
launched in New York in June. 17 national child
rights progress reports across several regions
including five countries in Asia – Bangladesh,
Cambodia, India, Nepal, Philippines –
contributed to this global report.

• Asia Children’s Summit: Two regional

intergovernmental bodies, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South
Asia Initiative for Ending Violence against
Children (SAIEVAC) along with two coalitions
of child rights organisations, Child Rights Young participants
speaking at the Asia
Coalition (CRC) Asia and Joining Forces, Children’s Summit
a coalition of six child rights organisations
including SOS Children’s Villages; jointly
organised the Summit in Bangkok, Thailand
in November 2019. SOS Children’s Villages
was represented by three young people from
Nepal, Vietnam and Indonesia.

• An MOU was signed between South Asia

Initiative for Ending Violence Against Children
and IO Asia in March to collaborate on
“Alternative Care and Child Protection”.

• SOS was invited to attend the Open

Session of the 19th meeting of the ASEAN SOS participants at
the Asia Children’s
Commission on the Promotion and Summit
Protection of the Rights of Women and
Children (ACWC), held in Brunei in October
2019. This was for the purpose of exploring
a partnership between ACWC and IO Asia, to network on child rights/protection/care and
promote the rights of children without and reached at least one formal partnership with
at risk of losing parental care, in the East a government or civil society organisation for
Asia region. advocacy purposes.

• A previous MOU signed with Child Helpline
International (CHI) and IO Asia was revived
this year. Six MAs – Bangladesh, Indonesia,
Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are
exploring potential partnerships with Child
Helplines in their respective countries, as a
part of the regional collaboration.
• In MAs, a mapping of all the networks,
partnerships and collaborative advocacy
actions that MAs are engaged in currently
and have the potential to engage in future
was conducted by IO-Asia. All MAs except
Laos have joined at least one national level
Child and Youth Empowerment
A number of events were held in MAs-
Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam,
to promote child and youth participation.
The first National SOS Children’s Forum in
Vietnam was held in August 2019, where
children and young people lobbied with policy
makers for the recognition of FLC, among
other asks. SOS Children’s Villages, Nepal
also organised a National Youth Conference
to hear directly from young people about their
needs, expectations and challenges in finding
employment and leading integrated lives after
leaving care.

Annual Report 2019 19

 Mobilising People
for Quality Care
An effective and engaged workforce is a
pre-requisite for fulfilling the mission of the
organisation. Our committed and dedicated co-
workers work hard to provide a loving home for
children without parental care. It is important
therefore, to keep co-workers motivated and
engaged, only then can we create a movement
to mobilise people for quality childcare. To
put it into practice, the HROD function took
initiatives such as enhanced performance
management system, job classification,
parents’ pension and leadership training.
Performance Enhancement
Partnership (PEP)
PEP is about achieving organisational mission
by promoting and facilitating collaboration
between teams through constructive feedback
and communication among teams. With the
20 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
introduction of PEP, IOR Asia has graduated
to the next level of Performance Management
System (PMS). In 2019, PEP was introduced in
two MAs, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
Managing and Rewarding
Performance
Good performance has to be rewarded. But
how can we achieve it scientifically with
transparency while maintaining internal equity?
In an effort to implement this, the concept
of job classification and compensation band
system was introduced in Asia.
Compensation band system involves
grading jobs, allocating different levels to
them and classifying into job families with
similar characteristics. The main benefit
that accrues from this exercise is that it can
offer career development to the co-workers.
Compensation can be linked to performance
and it can be offered objectively, scientifically
and logically.

Mother’s Life after Retirement

When mothers retire, they are entitled to get a
pension equivalent to 60% of their last drawn
basic salary, a place to stay in a retirement
home and medical benefits. These are
mandated under HR standard 10. However, the
practice varies across regions.

Currently, a new draft framework to guide

Mothers’ pension benefits is under discussion.
Some recommendation are to bring the
Mothers’ salary at par with the salary of a
Kindergarten teacher. Secondly, the medical
responsibilities could be transferred to the
external service providers, subject to local
needs and realities.

In Asia, the MAs feel the need for a retirement
home. Given the local realities, not all MAs have
external service providers that can provide
medical services. This can be considered only
on a case-to-case basis. Moreover, services
provided by external stakeholders might
become complicated for Mothers in Asia as
they hail from humble background.
Prevention and Protection Against
Sexual Harassment, Exploitation
and Abuse (PSHEA)
Major funding agencies are asking for minimum
standards on prevention and response, and
stricter reporting, need for transparency such
as number and nature of incidents along with
the organisation’s response. This aligns well
with the SOS Children’s Villages as it has zero
tolerance for any form of sexual harassment,
abuse and exploitation.
The PSHEA policy development is under
progress. The Integrity and Safeguarding team
leads the process. This will be completed by
2020 and after that, every MA will be required
to formulate a national PSHEA policy, which
Retired Mothers,
SOS Nepal
would include the minimum provisions stated
in this policy and will take into account the
requirement of the national law.
SOS Children’s Villages Leadership
Development
Journey: To 2020 and beyond
Change Management for Lasting
Impact and Quality
The organisation’s needs are evolving with
the changing needs of the programme
participants, higher donor demands, changes
in the fundraising sector (e.g. high competition)
and need for new ways of cooperating within
the federation. The leaders have to lead the
organisation through these changing times.
HROD of IOR Asia is working to strengthen
leadership capacities of the Regional
Management Team (RMT).
Change is not an easy thing to cope with
for most people. The leadership within the

Annual Report 2019 21

 Federation has to manage a few key challenges:
• L eading change to improve impact towards
our target group
• L eading continuous improvement of our
programmes (in line with the SOS Care
Promise) to ensure high quality care that
addresses the needs of our target group
•B  uilding effective and highly performing
teams and supporting their development and
retention
•M  anaging various stakeholders and
communicating effectively with internal and
external stakeholders to advance our mission
• Influencing others and creating followers
towards shared goals
•E  nsuring sustainable income through
fundraising innovation
•P  reparing to lead in crises to prevent
crises and ensure they are managed
professionally
• L eading the digital transformation process to
create an agile and digital organisation
22 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
The RMT of IO Asia attended a two-day training
on leadership conducted by Katty Vaughan,
Mr Van Crane Sabine and Ms Silvia Rechberger
from CCL, Belgium.
The highlights of the leadership training
included understanding about polarities, how
they can influence decisions, how can positive
influence be exercised, what are the different
influence tactics and, different approaches of
managing change as an individual.
The RMT underwent a series of exercises to
better understand what change is, what their
individual style to change is and how best they
can adapt and lead change.
Simplifying SOS to
Become a Simpler, Agile
and Digital Organisation
SOS Children’s Villages has taken concrete
steps towards becoming a leaner and more
effective organisation by simplifying systems
and processes and leveraging the benefits
of technology. Incorporating technology into
programme and other functions has led to
more efficient, integrated processes.
The Asia region worked to improve
digitalisation as well expanding the use of
technology for development. The region
is shifting to new platforms and upgraded
versions of software. The Dynamic ERP 365,
a new platform, will integrate financial data
as well as co-workers data. The rolling out of
the second version of Programme Database
is one such initiative. The implementation of
Salesforce, to connect donors more effectively,
is the other such project. Concurrently, IO
Asia continued to build MA capacities on data
protection, cyber security, and IT standards.
Streamlining of systems and processes,
especially financial, also took place. The region
is moving towards simpler, more transparent
and efficient financial management, while
working to enhance performance and improve
professionalism among the co-workers.
Towards Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)
Standards and Efficiency
• IT Infrastructure: In Asia region, we have
moved towards enhanced data security
through centralised management of mobile
and desktop devices and have taken steps
to meet with international standards of
compliance.
Annual Report 2019 23

Under the MA Data Highway Project (Cisco
Meraki Solution) 187 Networks in 11 MAs have
been built on Cloud Managed Infrastructure
Solution (Cisco Meraki Solution). It offers
smooth and secure access to communication
and ICT Services. It enables the MA to centrally
monitor security gateways for all locations. It
allows IO Asia to manage thousands of mobile
and computer devices on the network. The MA
co-workers can connect into the local network
using the Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Voice Over IP (VOIP) Phone has been
implemented in three MAs of the region. VOIP
technology allows the use of broadband internet
to make voice calls. VOIP will lead to clearer
voice quality and savings by cutting down on
the cost of calling over landlines. Currently, 335
co-workers have access to VOIP in 84 locations
across Bangladesh, Nepal and Vietnam.
Over 2,400 users from 11 MAs have migrated to
Global Office 365. Now each one has access to
all global applications through a single sign-on
process.
• ICT Standards Compliance: In Asia, 11
MAs have reached 90% compliance of ICT
Standards as per the global ICT Minimum
standards. It means critical measures on
Information Security, Business Continuity
24 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
and Network Management services
have been taken to provide a good ICT
work environment to support business
requirements.
• Information Security: IO Asia has been
working to enhance digital security and
protect co-workers from hacking and cyber-
attacks. A two factor authentication has
been introduced to secure user account in
the regional office. Bitlocker tool has also
been introduced to encrypt the hard drive to
protect data.
• Improving systems in MAs: SOS Vietnam
has upgraded their server and implemented
the Human Resource Information System
(HRIS). SOS Nepal has also implemented
the HRIS. This application helps the MAs to
automate and simplify the manual process
of leave, attendance, and payroll process
including Employee master along with other
HR processes.
SOS Philippines has implemented systems for
a turnkey procurement system and a document
management system. The MA has initiated a
local solution Purchase to Payment System to
automate the process of requisition, voucher,
cheque printing, budget Vs actual comparison
and importing data into Navision avoiding dual
entries. The local solution is functioning at all the
facilities and the national office.
SOS Philippines has implemented the project
to digitise all the documents such as child
records, contracts, agreements and financial
documents. This will help in archiving, quick
retrieval and financial auditing. Auditors do
not have to travel to multiple locations thereby
saving time and costs.
• Connecting Donors More Effectively with
Programmes: The Salesforce CRM tool
supports five MAs – Thailand, Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, Philippines and Vietnam – to manage
their donor registrations and interactions.
It helps them manage donor data and serve
 donors efficiently with automated processes.
Salesforce is integrated with Microsoft Azure
for Data backup and enhanced functionalities.

• Integrating Technology into Programmes:

In 2019, ICT for development projects
increased access of programme participants to
computers, built digital skills, improved learning
about a wide range of subjects through text
messages and increased employability.

The Digital Village project improves access

to computers and internet by families and
children. The children use the computers to
complete their school projects. The project
emphasises on imparting training on cyber
abuse and cyber security to keep both children
and caregivers safe. Text2Change Project, which is delivered
through text messages is being implemented
A Community Computer Lab has been set in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This
up at for FSP families covered under CV programme educates programme participants
Dhanghadi, Nepal. 761 children studying in on various subjects such as child protection,
the local school along with their teachers are child development, hygiene, health and
directly benefitting from the computer lab. financial management.

The International Certification on Digital In Vietnam, a new module on Gender and

Literacy programme builds digital skills to
improve employability. Other initiatives to
improve employability included:
•T raining on Advanced ICT certification
Training programme (CCNA, MCSE, CCNP)
of 14 Youth in SOS Vietnam
Development has been added to this project
and it is currently reaching almost 650
programme participants. The modules include
self-confidence and development, gender
sensitivity, prevention against abuse, financial
independence and savings.

•S
 OS Children’s Villages Nepal partnered with
Makarios Private Limited. in collaboration
with Korean International Cooperation
Agency (KOICA). The partnership provided
an opportunity to nine young people to learn
3D Animation, 2D Animation, 3D Modelling,
Character Design, Game Design, 3D
Rendering, Commercials, Full Length Films,
Architectural Floor Plans. In addition, 11
young people have qualified for an advanced
programme on animation including VFX.
•M
 ore than 100 children from 13 CVs in SOS
Vietnam are learning English language online
to prepare them for job opportunities.
• Capacity Building: Regional ICT Workshop
was held in SOS Philippines. The focus
was on information security, meeting ICT
standards, measures towards data protection
and scaling up digitalisation.
Trainings on Cyber Security were conducted
in SOS Bangladesh and reached 500
participants to create awareness on issues
related to Cyber security – threats, risks and
ways and means to reach the children, youth,
parents and teachers.
In SOS Vietnam 140 co-workers attended ICT
refresher training on various ICT projects.

Annual Report 2019 25

 Ensuring Financial
Health, Integrity and
Viability
Finance and Controlling (F&C) in IO Asia have
worked to increase transparency, accountability
and efficient use of funds in the region. In a
bid to increase transparency, internal audits
have been used as a diagnostic tool to validate
financial compliance. In 2019, financial systems
were strengthened and capacities on financial
processes were built within the region.
Internal Audit
This year, internal audits were conducted in
four MAs – Thailand, Laos, Philippines and Sri
Lanka. Out of these four audits, two were cross
functional audits and were conducted in SOS
Sri Lanka and Philippines. In future, there are
plans to conduct more cross functional audits.
F&C organised a two day workshop to build
understanding of GSC co-workers on cross-
26 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
functional audits. This workshop was attended
by 17 participants from different units. The
workshop was conducted by trainers from the
Institute of Internal Auditors and they covered
topics such as tools & techniques of audit and
risk based audit.
In order to strengthen, the internal audit
mechanism, a co-worker was appointed as the
Internal Auditor for Asia.
Integrity Compliance and Legal
The Integrity, Compliance and Legal (ICL)
practice promotes integrity and corruption
prevention in the Federation and in the region.
In 2019, seven cases were reported in the
region. The NDs of 11 MAs along with RMT of
IOR Asia learned more about the concept of ICL
at the AND Meet. The NDs also discussed how
to assess and manage risks to the organisation.
Strengthening Financial Systems
and Processes in the Region
The F&C function endeavoured to strengthen
the financial systems and processes in the
region. The function along with their MA
counterparts worked to submit the yearly audit
reports and the annual budget on time. Asia
was the only region to meet the global deadline.
D-365 Financial System
D-365 is a cloud based Microsoft financial
system which will soon come into use in SOS.
The pilot phase of implementation will begin in
2020. Two members of F&C team, one each
from the regional office and SOS Bangladesh
contributed to the development of the Planning
and Budgeting Module of D-365. The co-
workers helped to customise the product by
identifying the gaps between the requirements
and available solutions.
Social Liability
International Finance and Audit committee
(FAC) decided in 2018 that social liabilities
must be calculated by all MAs and reflected
in their Financial Statements of 2019. It was
an important measure to take stock of social
liabilities in the Federation.
The social liabilities include the pension of
mothers and aunts when they retire. It is the
responsibility of the MA to plan for the pension
fund. The planning for this fund needs to be done
well and should be aligned with the country law.
In order to have a better understanding of the
extent of liability, all MAs in the region used the
services of an actuarial to scientifically determine
the liabilities related to mothers and aunts’
pension. This exercise had to be completed
and the total liability be reflected in the audited
financial statement of 2019 of every MA.
A user guide has been developed to support
MAs in awarding this work to an actuarial and
to explain the scope of the work to different
stakeholders. It is a joint project of F&C and
HROD to ensure that the actuarial valuation is
done for each MA. A forum has been developed
so that F&C and HR colleagues from MAs
and GSC can share challenges etc with each
other. IO Asia supported the MA in discussions
with the actuarial and assisted in developing
and finalising the TOR. In MAs where a local
actuarial could not be found, MAs were
supported to find an international actuarial.
Regional Capacity Building
The sixth Asian Finance Heads’ Workshop was
held from May 20-24, 2019 in Phnom Penh,
Cambodia. Finance heads of 12 MAs and 2
Tibetan Association representatives attended this
workshop. The workshop theme was Come and
Learn Together. The workshop was designed in a
manner to encourage participation, exchange of
experience and knowledge transfer between MAs.
The workshop focussed on change in external
audit guidelines, social liability of SOS Mother
and Aunts valuation and its impact on balance
sheet impact. The development of the new
software Dynamic ERP 365 was also discussed,
ICL was discussed in detail with the Finance
Directors. Learnings from previous internal
audit findings were shared with the group and
they subsequently discussed how these could
have been prevented.
Annual Report 2019 27
 A full day session was organised by an Finance Manual
external consultant (EY) on internal audit The first ever Finance Manual in the region was
and risk management. It is important to do approved in August 2019. It came in to effect
risk assessment in advance to put in place from September 1 2019 to facilitate day-to-
preventive measures. In managing risks, three day transactions. The Finance Manual is to be
steps are followed: preventive, detective and used as a foundation for strengthening internal
corrective to protect the organisation from controls systems and to document the policies
any harm. and procedures of operations.

FINANCIAL INDICATORS OF ASIAN MAs

Cost Per Child Per Month in Family Like Care (FLC)

FLC – R.Cost/Child/Month in Euro – Jan to Sept 2019

600

500
496

400 390 393

300 264 277 282

204 210 215 197
200 164 155

100

0
FBC

Bangladesh Cambodia China India Indonesia Laos

Mongolia Nepal Philippines SriLanka Thailand Vietnam

Total Contribution of International Funds vs Local Income

Local Income & International Funds – till Sept 2019 – EUR

18,000,000

16,000,000

14,000,000

12,000,000

10,000,000

8,000,000

6,000,000

4,000,000

2,000,000

0
h ia na ia sia s lia al ine
s a d am F sala
des bod Chi Ind one Lao ngo Nep ank ilan tn TH
gla Cam Ind Mo lipp SriL Tha Vie har
am
Ban Phi D
TCV

Local Income International Fund

28 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia

Invest for Funding
Growth to Become
Self-Sustainable
In a challenging political and economic
environment, characterised by political
disruptions and market fluctuations,
the region continued to move towards
self-sustainability. The local fundraising
efforts were strengthened in MAs new to
fundraising such as SOS Bangladesh and
Cambodia. Persistent efforts in two MAs;
SOS Philippines and Vietnam paid off and
both the MAs successfully raised funds from
the local markets and met the targets. SOS
Thailand and Indonesia further expanded the
individual giving programme by tapping into
major donors. Digital fundraising campaigns
contributed to a steady pipeline of leads
that were converted into committed donors.
Corporate partnerships, continued to support The Regional Office worked to position
our programmes in the region and institutional the Family like Care model and other care
funding continued to grow in the region. options provided by SOS Children’s Villages
at two external advocacy events held in
The MAs in Asia also gave high quality service Bangkok. Through well designed booth and
to their international sponsors, ensuring donor publications, the work of SOS in Asia was
satisfaction and retention. showcased. The important events, learnings
and accomplishments of the region were
Asia region contributed to the global Brand highlighted on the collaboration platform.
Refresh project, providing feedback at several
critical steps of the process. The MAs in the The reputational risks faced by the
region participated in the global advocacy organisation in the region were managed by
campaign #iseeyou. IO Asia supported IO Asia along with the MAs and International
the MAs to adapt the campaign to the local Office in Austria.
context. Fundraising MAs were also supported
in developing innovative campaign concepts Asia region also serviced a high volume of
and content, text, images and videos, which content requests, text, images and video from
contributed towards generating good leads and the Promoting and Supporting Associations
subsequent donor acquisition. (PSA).

Annual Report 2019 29

 Regional Local Fundraising Overview Exchange Programme Survey
2019 FDC, IO Asia conducted a survey to find out
The fundraising MAs in Asia raised 26.2 mn the needs and thematic areas for capacity
Euros. All MAs, except India, met their targets. building in the region. Nine MAs responded
to the survey. This will feed into planning
FDC Local Estimated trainings and workshop including peer to
MA
Actual 2019 peer exchange and learning. The top subjects
SOS India ¤13 M where the MAs need capacity building
SOS Thailand ¤6.5 M are digital fundraising, partnerships with
corporate and foundations, face to face
SOS Indonesia ¤3.6 M
fundraising, donor care and retention. They
SOS Philippines ¤1.3 M need support with formulating FD strategy
SOS Vietnam ¤1 M along with communications for external
stakeholders.
SOS Sri Lanka ¤0.8 M
Total ¤26.2
The other questions included how the MAs
FDC Asia Exchange Programme could support each other in the region.
Survey Highlights
Setting Up a Winning Fundraising
Programme
Turning around FD in SOS Philippines
In the beginning of 2019, SOS Philippines had
almost 5,000 committed donors. 95% of these
donors were acquired in 2018 when the MA
received IF4C funds. Due to the sudden growth
in the number of committed donors, a stronger
retention programme was established in 2019
to ensure that at least 70% of the donors are
retained by the end of the year. Because of this,
the MA managed to receive 680,000 Euros
from all of these donors who were previously
acquired.

The MA raised 500,000 Euros from new

committed donors in 2019. Almost 100% of
the new committed donors were acquired
through face-to-face fundraising. The MA
continued its approach of partnering with
two face-to-face fundraising agencies.
Almost 4,000 new committed donors have
been acquired by the agencies. Alongside
the agencies, the MA also maintained and
expanded its in-house face-to-face team to
18 fundraisers. In comparison, there were ten
facers in 2018. Because of this expansion, the
in-house team was able to acquire 1,500 new
donors in 2019, which is 500 more donors as
compared to 2018.

30 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia

SOS Philippines also launched its in-house lead
generation and conversion campaign in 2019.
It started slowly and stopped in the middle of
the year due to internal challenges, but the
campaign was revitalised and continued to run
again in the third quarter of 2019. By the end of
the year, a total of 100 committed donors have
been acquired along with 50 sporadic donors.
In corporate fundraising, the MA was able to
exponentially increase its performance from
60,000 Euros in 2018 to 274,000 Euros in
2019. 50% of the corporate income in 2019
came from one partner, Herbalife, which the
MA managed to influence in giving more. A
strategic corporate fundraising approach was
put in place by the MA in 2019, from product
development to thorough prospecting and
to offering programme exposure to partners.
These approaches helped the MA reached its
income target from corporate partnership.
Filling the Jar of Love: SOS Vietnam
SOS Vietnam has been raising funds in the
country, in spite of not being a sustainable path
Target Vs Achievement 2019
INCOME
Unit: Euro
1,029,822
743,000
Target Achievement
country. Its signature campaign, Jar of Love,
which has been running for four consecutive
years has been quite successful in getting
visibility as well as donations.
SOS Vietnam has three channels of fundraising
– face-to-face, tele-facing and digital
fundraising supported by tele-facing team. The
face-to face team works by setting up booth
in super markets, malls and other places of
high footfall. With their efforts, the face to face
team has got 1,926 committed givers and 178
sporadic donors.
Annual Report 2019 31
 In 2019, the MA ran three digital fundraising
campaigns; Jar of Love IV, a lead generation
campaign, Every Child Needs a Family and
Envelope of Love, a campaign selling SOS
merchandise.
Jar of Love IV focussed on “family is a
miracle”. It was a campaign to get more
committed givers. SOS Vietnam invited a
business family to become ambassador of
this campaign and held a press conference
with participation of 50 journalists and media
persons. The campaign raised 5,721 Euros and
got 216 committed givers.
Every Child Needs a Family campaign focussed
on how the lack of a family placed children in a
disadvantaged position. This lead generation
campaign was run on Facebook and the
tele-facing team converted the leads into
committed donors. Through the campaign they
got 454 committed givers and 139 one time
donation. The campaign raised 9,870 Euro.
Envelope of Love is selling merchandise such
as calendar and red envelopes to raise fund for
SOS children through the Lunar new year.
Attracting Major donors: SOS
Thailand and Indonesia
SOS Thailand has been systematically
upgrading the individual donors to middle
donors in 2019. It started with the database
analysis and research, planning for cultivation/
solicitation process as well as stewardship
strategy with events and donor involvement.
The overall conversion rate is 15% and the
individual donations have been completely
upgraded.
SOS Indonesia, joined a philanthropy
community called Filantropi Indonesia to
reach Indonesia’s potential major donors.
Through this community, they participated
in a 10 day event Filantropi Muda x
Pekan Donasi Online Indonesia to attract
Indonesia’s young philanthropists to donate
on the spot or through the online platform.
32 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia
The MA received a major donation from
a High Net worth Individual to support
implementation of digital village in Flores.
The MA upgraded another major donor by
getting her to increase the gift size. The
MA also organised events at the Children’s
Villages for major donors.
Corporate Partnerships
At the regional level, IO Asia has an ongoing
partnership with Radisson Hotel Group (RHG)
Asia Pacific called Make a Difference. As part
of this campaign for every hotel room booked
between 22 October 2018 and 31 March 2019
in a participating hotel in the region, USD
1 was donated to SOS Children’s Villages.
Besides this, RHG also sponsors children
across the region.
Institutional Partnerships
In 2019, 11 donor grant applications were
submitted for a total amount of 9.9 million
Euros. Major institutional donors included
Department for International Development
(DFID, UK), European Commission, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Government of Iceland,
UNICEF, UN Trust Fund, UBS Optimus and
The Big Heart Foundation. Currently, nine IPD
projects are being implemented in Cambodia,
India, Nepal and Philippines with a total grant
size of 2.26 million Euros.
IO Asia has been participating in PSA
Programme Partnership Network Meetings.
As a result, PSAs have now started to
reach out to Asian MAs with IPD funding
opportunities. In order to be better prepared
to avail increased opportunities, with the
support of IO Asia, MAs have put into place
IPD operational plans with well-defined
metrics.
Digital Fundraising Campaigns
In 2019, five MAs ran 12 digital fundraising
campaigns with the support of IO Asia.
These campaigns were lead generation
campaigns focussing on generating leads
that were converted into donors by the tele
 Digital Fundraising
Campaigns in 2019
These campaigns were run on Facebook in 2019,
interested people voluntarily shared their contact
details though a lead form. They were then contacted
over phone and converted to become donors.

9 digital campaigns in
4 countries
SriLanka, Cambodia, Vietnam & Bangladesh

18,406
Leads Generated
1 Euro
Cost per lead
An average click to lead
conversion of 3.1 %
1392
Donors

An average cost of acquiring

a donor is 22 Euros
5 in SriLanka
2 in Cambodia
1 each in Vietnam & Bangladesh

facing teams of the country. Campaigns in

Bangladesh and Philippines are currently
running. The results will be available by the
end of Q1.

SOS Indonesia ran two crowdfunding

campaigns along with the ultra marathon.
International Child Sponsorship
Funding from international donors continues
Run to Run to
Care Bali Care Aceh to be a major part of our funding and
providing a high quality services to our donors
Number
7,947 265 would ensure continuous funding for our
of leads
programmes. The child sponsorship teams
Donors 7,947 265
in each MA provided high quality service to
Cost per donor 7.45 50.36 international sponsors in 2019. The region was
Income: placed second globally, in terms of providing
141,473.64 12,408.97 quality reports to the sponsors. All MAs, except
Crowdfund
one, scored above 75%. Vietnam, Thailand,
Total Income 153,309.42 26,269.09
Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh continue to
Total Expenses 59,214 13,826 do well – scoring over 90% for the last three
ROI 2.59 1.96 years, while the Philippines and Mongolia have
Figures in Euros improved scoring over 90%.

Annual Report 2019 33

 SOS Booth at the
Asia Children’s
Summit, Bangkok

Communications in Asia MA
SUPPORT
In 2019, IO Asia worked with the MAs to Capacity building
for 4 MAs,
build capacities, develop content for campaign content
PSA
for 5 MAs SUPPORT
EMERGENCY
campaigns, respond to PSA requests, COMMUNICATION 1,300 infohub
MA support during requests
manage reputational risks, further advocacy natural calamities 4 videos produced
for PSAs
objectives and position the region in the
Federation.

This year, in support of furthering CRISIS

BRAND COMMUNICATION
the advocacy goals, a media and REFRESH AND Communication 10 Reputational
POSITIONING
communications strategy was Risk Alerts

developed. During two external events

in Bangkok, communication support
was provided in preparing materials for FEDERATION
FACING COMMS ADVOCACY
the booth, finalising press release with the 40+ articles on #ISEEYOU
campaign Media
other organising partners, advising MA’s Sharepoint
Average views: Advocacy
Strategy
communications team to provide on-site 120
GSC
support as well as guiding the documentation SUPPORT

of the events.

IO Asia also supported the global Brand

Refresh project by doing user surveys to
provide feedback for the global process.

The global advocacy campaign #iseeyou was

launched in September 2019. Nine MAs from
Asia participated in the campaign, preparing
campaign material that were locally relevant.

34 Investing in Alternative Care and Families in Asia

 Editorial Team

REPORT LEAD
Mr. Anup Tiwari
Mr. Rajneesh Jain

WRITTEN & EDITED BY

Ms. Amelia Andrews

CONTRIBUTIONS BY
Advocacy Unit
Construction Unit
Finance & Controlling Team
Fund Development & Communications Team
Governance Team
Human Resources & Organisational Development Team
Information & Communication Technology Team
Programme Development Team

PHOTOS BY
SOS co-workers
SOS Children’s Villages International,
International Office Asia,
SOS Enclave, Sector 29, Faridabad - 121008,
Haryana, India
Tel: +91 - 129 - 4295555; Fax: +91 - 129 - 4295566
Email: ioasia@sos-kd.org
Website: http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org

Design: Pealidezine; peali.duttagupta@gmail.com