Give an orphan a future: Over 40 years of honouring a sacred duty

Caring for orphaned children is not a momentary act of charity, it is a continuous obligation with lasting spiritual reward.

2026 marks 40 years since Islamic Relief launched our Orphan Sponsorship Programme. We have spent 4 decades building brighter futures for children who have lost one or both parents.

Thanks to the generosity of sponsors and donors, our teams around the world have been able to help save and transform the lives of vulnerable children, supporting them through their childhood and into adulthood.

“The Prophet (Peace Be Upon him) said, “I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for ihm, will be in Paradise like,” putting his index and middle fingers together.

Salih al-Bukhari 6005

Throughout 2026, we will be celebrating our Islamic Relief’s work supporting orphaned children, sharing stories from around the world of how children have flourished with the support of their donors.

Empowering orphans

Islamic Relief aims to combat the main issues faced by children across the globe. With your donations to our orphans fund, we provide child-friendly safe spaces, provide essential healthcare, water and food aid, as well as a quality education.

We empower communities, provide family livelihood support, and develop long-term solutions to poverty and critical issues such as human trafficking, child labour and early/forced marriage.

Four decades of support

First launched in 1986, as part of the Muslim Yateem and Widows Fund, what is now the Orphan Sponsorship Programme began by supporting children in Afghanistan. Over the years, the programme has grown and expanded to 85,500 orphans across 27 countries. including Gaza, Sudan, Albania, Kenya and Pakistan.

In October 19997, the programme moved closer to what it is today.  Under the title, Orphan Welfare Programme, it helped provide support for children’s basic needs such as food, clothing, as well as long-term support in education, healthcare, and income generation for their guardians.

In 1999, one-to-one sponsorship began in the West Bank and Gaza, where we provided orphaned children and their families with food, housing, clothes, health and education, while sponsored children also received educational support.

In 2003, Islamic Relief was one of the few international aid agencies to deliver aid during the war in Iraq.

Over the years, our Orphan Sponsorship Programme has evolved to what it is today – a major global endeavour supporting more than 85,500 orphans across 27 countries.

We’re not only transforming lives; we’re giving orphans a future.

“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is… giving wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans…”

Surah AlBaqarah (2:177) 

Your support makes a world of difference

Supporting orphaned children has been an integral part of Islamic Relief’s mission to alleviate poverty around the world.

In recent years, we have continued to expand our Orphan Sponsorship Programme in places like Gaza where it is a lifeline for children in need – Islamic Relief now sponsors more than 21,000 orphaned children in Gaza.

With your help, we can do more.

There are millions of children around the world living in poverty, where simple necessities and rights are out of reach. Instead, their life is incredibly challenging, with the risk of illiteracy, disease, child labour, lifelong poverty and even death. You can change this, sponsor an orphan today.