BIL’s Chief Executive Officer Hugues Delcourt presented a cheque for €30,000 to Sophie Glesener, Director of SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde, to help fund the SOS Kindergarten of Dosso, Niger. Committed to promote education, one of the pillars of its corporate social responsibility policy, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg has been a strong supporter of SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde since 2016.

Quality education is essential during early childhood. Children’s ability to learn is active right from their first years of life, and is inextricably tied to the quality of care they receive and their home environment. Parents have a duty to protect their children, take good care of them, and bring them up in a healthy and stimulating environment that will allow them to develop and grow, without failing to guide them in their schooling. The Global Day of Parents, instituted in 2012 by the United Nations and celebrated each 1 June, reminds us of the importance of this role.

A kindergarten in Dosso that is open to all

Early childhood education remains a huge challenge in Niger, which is among the world’s least developed countries, where over 40% of children under five are seriously delayed in their growth due to malnutrition. This is the challenge faced by the SOS Kindergarten in Dosso, a city in the southern part of the country where children under five make up 49.5% of the population. The SOS Kindergarten mainly serves children in the local community, more than half of whom live in a condition of extreme vulnerability.

Since 2016, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg has supported SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde and its work to educate young children in Dosso. From 2010 to 2017, the kindergarten had 509 new registrations, and hundreds of these children have since moved on to primary school. Guided by teachers who receive continuing education in fields like child protection and child psychology, the children benefit from programmes designed to foster their learning and development, with citizenship education, training of fine motor skills and an introduction to language and music. The kindergarten also prepares them for primary school and helps meet their other basic needs, guaranteeing them balanced meals and medical check-ups, and encouraging parents to play an active role in their learning.

Amadou, a child full of life!

Last year, Amadou, an incredibly high-spirited kid despite his tough living conditions, started his final year of kindergarten. Hear his story and read the latest news from the SOS Kindergarten in Dosso on the Facebook pages of SOS Villages d’Enfants Monde and BIL.