SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria.

The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficulties and supports children and young people without parental care or at risk of losing it.

She financed the first SOS Children's Villages programme in Germany (Hilbringen / Saar) with her private assets and she used her political and business connections to promote the idea.

Seven years later, the organization founded programmes in Africa in the Republic of Ivory Coast, Kenya, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.

[15][16] Each 118 national SOS Children's Villages association carries out the international organizations’ missions, protocols, and policies.

The highest decision-making body is the General Assembly responsible for electing the President, Vice-President, and other members of the International Senate.

The International Senate's work is coordinated by the Management Council, comprising eight representatives from member associations chaired by the President.

Campaign to encourage research and assessment on alternative child care and to advocate the need to protect the human rights of children from various violations committed against them.

The campaign is based on global research called the 'Care Effect' claiming that children growing up without adequate parental care are particularly vulnerable to different forms of human rights violations such as child labor, violence, and sex trafficking.

Exceptions are countries marked with an asterisk (*), in which SOS Children's Villages maintains representative offices which focus on fundraising and building awareness.

[28] The first prominent supporter was the German-British businesswoman Béatrice von Boch-Galhau, wife of the largest shareholder of the ceramic manufacturer Villeroy & Boch.

[citation needed] Prominent supporters include Nelson Mandela; the Dalai Lama; international footballers Kakha Kaladze, Andriy Shevchenko, Vincent Kompany, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cesc Fàbregas and Javier Zanetti; opera singer Anna Netrebko; writer Henning Mankell; Belgian tennis player Kim Clijsters; French writer and actress Anny Dupérey; Sarah, Duchess of York; English Child Actress Georgie Henley; former model Princess Salimah Aga Khan; actress and singer Cher; businessman and television host Mike Holmes; Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and entertainer June Carter Cash; and Johnny Cash whose memorial fund is towards the work of SOS Children's Villages worldwide.

[29] SOS Children's Villages also receive significant funds through Genworth Financial's Putts4Charity initiative, which they run on golf's European Tour.