Orphans and children

An orphan sponsorship an effective way of giving that sets up a connection between a donor and a vulnerable orphan. The donor will receive an annual update on how their support is assisting the sponsored child and their family

No, it is not. The child you sponsor will have a family of their own, but sponsors play an important role in the eyes of the child and their family by providing funding so that their basic needs are met.

According to Islamic tradition, an orphan is usually a child who has no father. The child will remain an orphan until the age of maturity/understanding.

Due to Islamic Relief’s humanitarian mandate and based on our extensive experience with the communities with which we work, we include children who have a father whose whereabouts has been unknown for two years or more, or one year for refugees and internally displaced people.

In line with the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC) of which nearly all countries are signatories, Islamic Relief has extended this classification to define a child as any human being under the age of 18. However, it is still possible to continue to sponsor a child beyond the age of 18 in order to support the education of an existing orphan.

We understand that some non-orphan families within the same communities may be worse off than orphan families, but we are unable to include them in the OSP at the moment. They may, however, be included in other Islamic Relief programmes, – such as livelihoods or healthcare or education projects – which can be supported through a one-off or regular donation. Donors can also contribute to a General Orphans Fund (LINK TO FUND PAGE) if they would like their donation to go towards other children that are not necessarily orphans.

You can sponsor a child in 26 countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. These countries are:

Afghanistan
Albania
Bangladesh
Bosnia
Chechnya
Ethiopia
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Jordan (mainly Palestinian refugees living in camps)
Kenya
Kosovo
Lebanon (mainly Palestinian and Syrian refugees living in camps)
Malawi
Mali
Niger
Pakistan
Palestine (Gaza & West Bank)
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Turkiye (Syrian refugees in Turkiye)
Yemen

The sponsorship programme is for the most disadvantaged families in a target area. We must identify first those orphans who are living in a family with the lowest income. Limited resources mean that we must priortise when selecting beneficiaries. We use an open and transparent process to do so.
Selection for the Orphan Sponsorship Programme means choosing beneficiaries eligible for the programme based on agreed criteria, usually after a target area or community has been identified. The standard scoring criteria covers the following points:
– Income – Prioritise those with the least income. Income relates to any money coming into the household (i.e. salaries, pension, other sponsorship money, money from relatives etc)
– Size of family and age of children, as well as disability. Prioritise families with a high dependency ratio (i.e. # dependents vs # breadwinners) and families with children and caregivers who are persons with disabilities
– Housing conditions – Prioritise those living in the poorest conditions, especially those with families who do not own their home
– Health – Prioritise children with the poorest health status, including those who are malnourished
– Double orphans are scored more highly than single
– Families living in hazardous conditions (near wastewater drainage, unhygienic areas etc)
– Unemployed mothers are prioritised over working mothers

No, you cannot choose the gender, age or location of your child. We wanted to ensure that orphans of all ages/gender/backgrounds would have the same opportunities of becoming sponsored and felt that removing the element of choice would be the best way to do this.

It is possible to sponsor more than one child, but it is not possible to sponsor a school because not all of the children in the class or school may be eligible for sponsorship. However, if you do wish to support a class, school or project, we can review this on a case-by-case basis.

We believe that the Orphan Sponsorship Programme model is cost effective and have no evidence to suggest that the many-to-many model is more cost effective. However, we are always looking at ways to improve our sponsorship programme. We are looking at the strengths of the current Orphan Sponsorship Programme and complementing it with proven livelihood components. It’s important that the majority of the people we support are empowered to become self-sufficient. We are currently undergoing a feasibility study to explore the 2 to 1 (shared sponsorship) model.

Based on our own experience and independent reports by respected agencies, such as UNICEF, we find this dependency does not happen in the overwhelming majority of cases. Many families use the sponsorship funds to invest in their livelihoods, such as buying livestock, or setting up small scale businesses.

We look to cover the most basic needs of the family, in terms of nutrition, health and education. The cash transfer empowers the family to utilise the funds for their immediate needs. Based on our experience, sponsorship funds are life-changing for families, offering support and opportunities that they would otherwise not receive.

Once your sponsorship begins, you will receive a Welcome Pack that includes a profile of the child/family including a photo.

This is usually 3 months after you create your contract. We aim to send you a report on your sponsored orphan every year – this annual progress report is written by the field officers who are responsible for visiting the orphans and contain information about the child and the progress that they are making at school etc.

Inflation and the dramatic increase in the cost of living over the past few years has caused a major impact on people in many parts of the world. This has had a substantial effect on orphan families and their ability to cover even essential needs. To accommodate a higher cost of living globally while remaining true to our values of excellence and sincerity, Islamic Relief has to increase pricing and to ultimately make a greater impact for orphan families.

In addition to the increased cost of living, we consult regularly with our frontline orphans teams; these case workers are in regular contact with sponsored orphan families and the need for a price increase was a primary concern.

Our previous prices are no longer enough to sustain the orphans we support. They are struggling now more than ever to afford the essentials. For the sponsorship to truly support the child with their basic necessities, such as food, health, and education — the amount being provided to the family needs to increase. This helps to better account for their unmet needs, ensuring your sponsored orphans can attain quality food, continue their education and afford rent.

Based on needs assessments conducted on the ground across regions and thorough research conducted by our programmes team, the new price was determined to be sufficient to give orphan families the supplemental income required to cover essential needs while remaining affordable to our donors.

To our knowledge, Islamic Relief is perhaps the only charity to offer a true one-to-one orphan sponsorship program, where the donation continuously goes to the same orphan. This allows for the life of the same orphan to be continuously transformed long term, which means that the change isn’t short term but they are able to truly rise above their circumstances, gain the opportunities they deserve, and build a better life for themselves and their families.

It is a common practice of some charities to direct orphan sponsorship funds to support groups of orphans as a whole through communal programming. This allows for lower prices that help supplement the needs of orphans and provide uplifting programming, but do not offer the opportunity for transformative change for individuals.

The three-tier system was first rolled out over 20 years ago, and was based on the cost of living at the time. Over the years, it became clear that there was a preference to sponsor orphans in the lower tier, leaving many orphans in the higher tier unsponsored. To correct this, we have introduced a fixed rate for orphan sponsorships across all available country options.

Furthermore, the cost of living has increased across the globe, and therefore, the costs that were relevant at the time of inception are no longer applicable. More and more, what we have seen is that orphans across all regions will benefit from the increased support. Developing a unified price handle allows us to support the most needy orphans, and uplift them with a value that can truly cover their basic necessities, and more.

The amount directly received by the orphan is typically 80% but can be impacted by fluctuating exchange rates.

The operational expenses entail the extensive field office work Islamic Relief conducts to ensure best practices are in place for your sponsored orphan. Orphans are monitored through both regular home visits conducted by our social workers, and group gatherings, to ensure that they are receiving the full benefits of sponsorship. We are able to use monitoring gatherings for awareness sessions on the sponsorship process, how to maintain good health, the importance of education, and various other topics.

Yes, please contact our team at orphansponsorships@irworldwide.org to arrange this.

You can send letters and photographs to your orphan by sending them to: orphansponsorship@irworldwide.org. We will check the letters are suitable, remove contact details and forward to the relevant field office. Responses depend on your sponsored child. In some cases, the child or guardian may respond straight away; others may take several months to respond or may choose not to respond at all.

We also recommend that you keep your sentences relatively short and simple. Please bear in mind that only a few sponsored children speak English, so your messages will need to be translated into their local language by our field staff. Children like to know more about you, your family and friends, where you live, what the country is like, what pets you have, what animals are in the country, what sports you like – anything that makes the connection more personal.

It is possible to do this, but there are strict parameters: the guardian needs to give their consent; then the child and their guardian need to come to the local Islamic Relief office – and the donor must cover the transport costs of getting them to the office. The call must be made to the office; it can last a maximum of one hour; and it can only take place once a year.

It may be possible to organise supervised visits after gaining agreement from the local Islamic Relief office, the child, and their guardian. Please note that visits cannot be made directly to the orphan’s home in line with our Child Protection Policy, so the meeting is likely to be held in the local Islamic Relief office. You may only visit your sponsored child and their guardian once a year.

You would be responsible for your own travel arrangements at your own expense and risk. You would also need to pay for the travel, accommodation, and food costs of the child and guardian if they had to travel a long distance and stay overnight in the location of the Islamic Relief office.

It is a common practice of some charities to direct orphan sponsorship funds to support groups of orphans as a whole through communal programming. This allows for lower prices that help supplement the needs of orphans and provide uplifting programming, but do not offer the opportunity for transformative change for individuals.

If a child wants to send the sponsor any correspondence, this is sent to us electronically via the field office. We then forward it on, but the child is not obliged to do this. There may also be comments from the orphan directed to the sponsor in the annual progress report. We are working to make improvements to what we can offer to sponsors.

Yes, you may wish to increase the amount of funds your Orphan receives, especially during celebrations like Eid. This can be a continuous extra cash gift if you would like to set up an additional monthly contract, or it can also be a one-off extra cash gift. All you need to do is email us at orphansponsorships@irworldwide.org to arrange this.