Press Room

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NetHope Welcomes SOS Children’s Villages International as their Newest Member

May 13, 2010

Washington, DC—SOS Children’s Villages International, a non-governmental social development organisation that has been active in the field of children's rights and committed to children's needs and concerns since 1949, has become the 29th member of NetHope, an information technology collaboration of leading nongovernmental organizations specializing in humanitarian development, emergency response, and conservation.

NetHope enables members to extend their communications infrastructure and Internet-based applications in developing countries around the world. Members share knowledge and collaborate on information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, leveraging their power for capacity-building and creating best practices in the field.

SOS Children’s Villages International CIO Thomas Rubatscher said, “We were searching for even better ways of how to apply ICT in the best interest of our children and for possibilities to reduce costs by cooperating with other NGOs. NetHope is the perfect organization to achieve these goals. We are looking forward to a fruitful exchange with the NetHope members!”

NetHope CEO Bill Brindley said, “We are very pleased to welcome SOS Children’s Villages International into the NetHope family of ICT professionals. Their addition increases our members’ collective capacity, which will serve to enhance NetHope’s unique ability to deliver value to make the humanitarian sector more effective and productive as it serves those in greatest need.”

For more information about NetHope or SOS Children’s Villages International visit www.nethope.org or www.sos-childrensvillages.org.

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About NetHope

NetHope, Inc., which started in 2001, is a new-generation collaboration of ICT professionals from 29 of the international community’s leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) representing over $33 billion (USD) of emergency relief, human development and conservation programs in more than 150 countries. Through member collaboration and by facilitating public-private partnerships with major technology companies, NetHope enables members to leverage their technology investments to better serve their end beneficiaries. For more information, visit www.nethope.org.

About SOS Children’s Villages International

SOS Children’s Villages is a non-governmental organisation helping children in 132 countries, respecting varying religions and cultures and working in the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Founded in 1949, the mission of SOS is to work with children without parental care and families in difficult living conditions. Currently SOS cares for 73,000 children in SOS Children’s Villages and for 450,000 children in Family Strengthening Programs. Furthermore SOS runs various facilities and programmes for education, medical services and emergency relief from which 750.000 children benefit. For more information, visit www.sos-childrensvillages.org.