Capital: Panama
Area: 75,517 km²
Population: 3.2 million (July 2006)
Ethnic groups: mestizos, African descent, Spanish descent, mulattos, Amerinidian
Official language(s): Spanish
Religion(s): Roman Catholic, Protestant, Islamic
Currency: 1 balboa = 100 centésimos / 1 US dollar = 100 cents
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
It was in the early 1980's that, through Nils Peter Sieger, contact could be made between Adela de Royo, the Panamanian First Lady at the time, and SOS-Kinderdorf International. The aim was to realise an SOS Children's Village as a model for the long-term care of orphaned children in this country too. Heinrich Müller was the SOS-Kinderdorf International representative, who took on this task with the co-operation of representatives from the state family welfare institution (DINFA).
Through the support of a group of local and foreign people, who were impressed with Hermann Gmeiner's idea, it was possible to found the National SOS Children's Village Association in 1981. It was already possible to start construction of the first SOS Children's Village, on the north-western edge of the capital, Panama City in the same year. It was built on one of the first pieces of land that had been returned to Panama as part of the Torrijos-Carter-Agreement (1977), an agreement made between the USA and Panama to regulate sovereignty of the Panama Canal and the land around it. Hermann Gmeiner officially opened the SOS Children's Village on April 20th, 1982, the same day it went into operation.
In the mid-1980s, the country suffered an economic crisis brought about by the political situation and the escalating conflict with their most important trading partner, the USA. In order to earn enough money to feed their families, more and more couples were finding that both of them had to go to work. Single mothers had to move to the cities to find work. The children and youths suffered under these conditions, as they often had nobody to care for them properly or even had to be left behind. SOS Children's Villages reacted to this situation, which is still the same today, by building more SOS Children's Villages and additional facilities over the decades.
As part of the 10th Ibero-American summit meeting in Panama City, numerous First Ladies and Prime minister's wives visited the SOS Children's Village there on November 18th, 2000. This much-publicised visit allowed the guests, including then-Panama's President, Mireya Moscoso and Queen Sofia of Spain, to show their commitment for tomorrow's generation and their appreciation of the SOS Children's Village work.
At present there are in Panama three SOS Children's Villages, three SOS Youth Facilities and one SOS Vocational Training Centre.
Contact:
Asociación Aldeas Infantiles SOS de Panamá
Camino Real de Bethania 604
Panamá City
El Dorado
Panama
tel +507-261-29 87, +507-261-30 44
fax +507-229-49 03