Gaza Orphan Sponsorship

We are supporting more than 21,000 orphaned children in Gaza with an unconditional monthly stipend through our Orphan Sponsorship Programme. This means we do not place any restrictions on how families choose to spend their money, trusting that they know best how to meet their most urgent needs. Wherever possible, we also ensure families with orphaned children are included in our seasonal distributions, receiving Ramadan and qurbani food parcels, Eid gifts, and winter survival items.

These families come from all over Gaza, including North Gaza, Gaza City, Rafah, the Middle Area and Khan Younis – but almost all are now forcibly displaced. Israel has declared over 86% of Gaza as off limits to Palestinians, so most people now live in severely overcrowded pockets of western Gaza and the Middle Area.

The Orphan Sponsorship Programme is the most reliable way Islamic Relief can provide support to people in Gaza in the current dangerous and changeable situation.

Electronic transfers enable us to get your donations directly into the accounts of the families of orphaned children, despite bank closures and bypassing the high fees charged by informal money lenders. It also avoids placing families and our staff and partners in further danger as they do not have to make an additional journey to physically collect the funds.

We use the UN World Food Programme’s payment system to get your donations to families. It sends families a code via SMS, or through a mobile app, which they can use to withdraw cash or make electronic payments at supermarkets registered to the system.

The system allows Islamic Relief to see which families have redeemed their codes, and has become a helpful tool in checking in on the welfare of families enrolled in the programme.

Without a reliable electricity supply, people in Gaza have had to find other ways to keep their phones and other devices charged, with a heavy reliance on solar power.

While the blockade has created severe shortages of most basic items and inflation has skyrocketed, this does not mean there is nothing at all in Gaza’s markets.

In reality, the availability of items and their prices change day to day. Our staff have described an exhausting routine of heading out first thing each morning to see what basic items might be available.

The situation is extremely difficult, especially as many people have lost their livelihoods and banks are closed. Families receiving a monthly stipend through our Orphan Sponsorship Programme can rely on having that money to spend, whenever the items they need are

The situation has improved slightly of late, with some commercial goods now entering Gaza. More items are available, and prices have slightly reduced, though they remain very high in relation to pre-October 2023.

Almost 90% of Gaza’s population has become displaced, often multiple times. In this situation, our staff and partners are doing their utmost to check in with families enrolled on our Orphan Sponsorship Programme as much as possible.

We stay in contact with families by phone and through WhatsApp groups. Our team is also in regular contact with the guardians of orphaned children to check that they have redeemed their monthly stipend via our payment system. If families have not redeemed their stipend and are uncontactable, our staff reach out to their families and neighbours for more information.

Tragically, 175 children and young people enrolled on our Orphan Sponsorship Programme have been killed since October 2023. This number includes people over the age of 18, who were enrolled on the Orphan Sponsorship Programme as children.

If a sponsored child is killed in Gaza, we continue to support the family to avoid adding to their hardship. With the sponsor’s agreement, we commit to a period of continued support through sponsorship.

Regardless of where they live, orphaned children are vulnerable and in need of support, but those enduring life in Gaza right now face a mountain of additional challenges.

To help orphaned children and their guardians cope, we have made the monthly stipend they receive unconditional, meaning it can be used to buy whatever they need most at any given time.

This is different to other countries and territories, where the monthly stipend can generally only be used to cover costs associated with education and healthcare.

Yes, donors will receive updates on the child they’ve sponsored. It is our aim to provide annual updates, but the situation on the ground has meant that there can be delays in gathering this information and sharing it with donors.

Islamic Relief has been supporting vulnerable people in Gaza throughout the current crisis, and for decades. Israel’s assault has turned Gaza into the most dangerous place in the world to deliver aid, targeting and displacing humanitarian workers. Despite the huge challenges, our staff and partners are doing everything they can to keep providing aid.

At the moment, as well as through our Orphan Sponsorship Programme, we are providing cash assistance as part of the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and providing maternal healthcare. The latter includes scans, medication, and the delivery of babies, including through surgery.

We are also continuing to support people through emergency distributions, when possible. Distributions delivered since the crisis began include hot meals, water and hygiene kits.