Africa hosts the highest concentration of poverty on earth – 34 of the world’s 50 poorest countries are found on this single continent.

You can choose to sponsor a child in any one of 42 countries in 5 African regions:

SPONSOR A CHILD WEST AFRICA - Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Togo.

SPONSOR A CHILD EAST AFRICA - Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania.

SPONSOR A CHILD NORTH AFRICA - Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia.

SPONSOR A CHILD SOUTHERN AFRICA – Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SPONSOR A CHILD CENTRAL AFRICA - Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Uganda.

SOS mostly supports orphan children and abandoned children – providing homes and families for children who have nothing and no-one. However, the African HIV-AIDS crisis has had such a severe impact that SOS has developed a dedicated programme in Africa to address the issue. In 2008, the SOS African HIV-AIDS programme provided support for 44,000 African children who have lost one or both parents due to AIDS.

Claudine lives in Rwanda and she lost her father in the 1994 genocide and her mother to HIV-AIDS in 2003. At 17, she is the head of the family and her two younger sisters are entirely dependent on her for support. Her 10 year old sister, Esther was born HIV-positive and would not survive with medication.

Claudine says: “I was wondering after our mother’s death how I was going to provide Esther with the medicines she needed every day, as we were alone without support. But, things were easier with the help of the Family Strengthening Programme. I am very happy when I see her healthy, and I hope that this will be the same every day.”

The SOS Family Strengthening Programme provides not only medicines, but also the things the children need for school – uniforms, stationary and food.