Dakhla: SOS Children’s Villages Morocco opens its sixth village, first in the south
SOS Children’s Villages Morocco opened its sixth village in Dakhla on Unity Day, with room for over 100 children, its president Amine Demnati said.
Photo: Aga Khan Development Network
SOS Villages d’Enfants Maroc inaugurated the Village d’Enfants SOS Al Wahda Dakhla on Saturday, October 31, its sixth children’s village in the Kingdom and the first to open in the southern provinces.
Built over 20 months, the Dakhla site is meant to give children without parental support a safe, family-style home, while also offering educational, cultural and social services to young people across the region.
The ceremony coincided with Unity Day. Local authorities attended, along with association president Amine Demnati, members of its board of directors and the partners involved in the project.
Eight family homes
The village has eight family houses and four transitional housing units. According to the association, they can take in more than 100 beneficiaries, a capacity that may change depending on needs and available resources.
Its design drew on a needs assessment carried out together with local authorities and other stakeholders.
For learning and leisure, children have access to a media library, a tutoring room, a psychomotor skills room, and spaces for music, dance and visual arts. A cultural area adds a library, a screening room, a small theatre and a reading space.
Outdoors, the site includes a playground, a vegetable garden, a basketball court, a mini-football pitch and a running track. Some facilities, including a 100-seat conference space and multi-sport pitches, are also open to the local community.
Demnati said the project aims to meet children’s needs by providing them with a secure family environment, and he thanked the partners and local actors who supported it.
Support for single mothers from 2027
From 2027, the association plans to launch a Family Strengthening Programme in Dakhla for vulnerable single-parent households, aimed at preventing children from being separated from their families.
The programme is expected to reach 100 single mothers in difficulty and 200 children. It will rely on vocational training and on support for income-generating activities, with the goal of making families more financially independent and better able to care for their children.
Six villages nationwide
Founded in 1985 and recognised as a public-interest organisation, SOS Villages d’Enfants Maroc operates under the Honorary Presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa.
With the Dakhla opening, it now runs six villages in the Kingdom. Its programmes across the country support 1,585 children and young people and 419 families.
