Appeal for Gaza Orphan’s Futures

With the ongoing catastrophic bombardment of Gaza by Israel’s military forces, that began on the 7^th October 2023, UN OCHA’s Update on 25th March 2025 reported that:

• More than 50,100 Palestinians killed, many of them women and children. 
• 113,704 have been injured, with thousands more missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble.
• Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many of them multiple times, with no safe place to go.
• Palestinians in Gaza  face extreme deprivation, with limited or no access to health services, food, electricity or humanitarian aid. 
• Children have lost an entire year of education. 
• Schools sheltering displaced families have been repeatedly shelled, health-care workers and hospitals have been systematically attacked, and aid convoys have been continually blocked and even shot at.

Many more people are missing, presumably buried under the rubble, waiting for rescue or recovery. Al Jazeera news reports that in the midst of these deadly attacks at least 20,000 children have lost limbs, and estimates that more than 20,000 children have lost one or both parents in Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign of Gaza.

Welfare Association Programme for Gaza’s Orphans.

• Over the last 14 years, The Welfare Association (Taawon) has supported 4,261 orphans in Gaza.
• Welfare Association has just launched The Fund for the Orphans of Gaza, to support Gaza orphans’ healthcare (including mental health and psychosocial support – MHPSS), education, and recreational activities – for both the orphan and their caregiver until the orphan turns 18, as well as support for their basic needs.
• Based on a study by the Palestinian Orphans Home in 2022, Gaza was then home to 26,000 orphans. It is expected that as a result on the latest attacks on Gaza the number of orphans will exceed anything we have seen before.
• The vision of Welfare Association’s orphans programme has always been to empower orphaned children. To enable them to live a full life, pursuing their aspirations and dreams for a better future.
• This is possible with our holistic model of providing health and educational support to the orphans based on their individual needs, in partnership with a network of civil society organizations who specialise in these areas.
• As Welfare Association is a Palestinian NGO, we have always believed that the future of orphans in Gaza is our collective responsibility.

Please help the orphans of Gaza by sponsoring an orphan for one year: £130 monthly for 12 months, or £1,560 per year.

From the 4,261 orphans we have worked with:

• 1,425 orphans were enrolled in kindergarten.
• 3,456 orphans were enrolled in primary and secondary education and improved their academic performance.
• 1,012 orphans were enrolled in universities, and up to 2023, 273 had graduated.
• 465 orphans with disabilities and special needs were provided with equipment and therapy.
• 2,200 orphans were provided with medical and health care.
• 3,000 orphans and 1,100 families were provided with psychosocial support.

We use the UNICEF definition of orphan: “a child under 18 years of age who has lost one or both parents to any cause of death.”

What makes our programme holistic?

• We not only support the child, but also the caregiver. Whether it be a surviving parent, next of kin, foster family, or orphanage, we will support them in both basic needs as well as health support, medical / primary care, and mental health & psychosocial support.
• We support orphans’ education (school supplies, tutoring, tuition), coverage of health services, including mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and recreational activities.

Reporting

• All donors who support an orphaned child in Gaza will receive individual information about that child. If donors are able to commit to sponsoring the child for more than one year, and preferably until the child turns 18, you will receive a regular annual report.
• For those who are able to donate, we will send a report about the programme in general at the end of the first year, or the year in which you have donated.

We need your help to reach as many orphans in Gaza as possible, to help them to have a brighter future.

Regular Donations

• Regular monthly donation for a year = £130 per month.
• Annual donation of £1,560.
  • To make a monthly or annual donation, you can set up a Standing Order – You can find out how to do that here.
  • Please state clearly in your email or letter to us, or on your payment reference, that your donation is for the Orphans appeal, so that we can ensure your donations go directly to orphans in Gaza.
• Other one-off donations – please donate using the form on this page.

Due to the continued bombardment and destruction of Gaza, with no ceasefire in sight, and the severe deterioration of living conditions with extreme shortages of basic necessities for those surviving day by day in very poor shelter and make-shift accommodations, our WA teams in Gaza recommended the launch of the Gaza Orphans’ Programme, offering emergency services to orphans and their guardians, literally to help them survive.

Welfare Association has been able to gather and verify data for almost 18,900 orphans, from 8,017 families, 31% of these orphans are under 5 years of age.

From November 2023 until February this year, our programme team in Gaza has been working with Gaza’s orphaned children.

• A new Orphans Portal has been developed and is currently going through the final stages of testing, expected to be live in the coming weeks.

• The data of almost 20,000 orphans, during the bombing of Gaza, has been verified and added to the portal:
  • So far, the details of 19,522 eligible orphans under the age of 18 who have lost their father has been added, with a further 2,000 orphan’s data being gathered and validated, including field visits and medical checks, etc.
  • 67% of orphans included in this programme are under 10 years of age.
  • 922 orphans have lost both parents
  • 1,018 orphans have been injured directly during the war on Gaza, more than 600 of these children require medical care
  • 315 orphaned children have become disabled as a result of their injuries, and 122 children with existing disabilities, were injured in the military attacks on Gaza, and are in need of additional medical treatment

• We have contracted 8 specialised local NGO’s to provide services in fields of humanitarian aid, health care, and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).

• Our WA programme team in Gaza began providing emergency support to Gaza’s orphaned children from September 2024, and:
  • 16,183 orphans have received food parcels
  • 16,183 orphans have received clothing  
  • 14,084 children have been able to access health check-ups, and 7,083 have received medical care
  • 13,000 individual rehabilitation sessions been provided to 859 children with disabilities
  • Psychological First Aid sessions began in February 2025

Please donate to this appeal to help us to continue supporting the orphaned children of Gaza.

CURRENT SITUATION IN GAZA

With the collapse of the ceasefire and the renewal of the bombardment of Gaza, WA’s teams in Gaza have been able to continue the following services:

• For now food is limited. Our teams in Gaza have managed to continue to provide food sourced from within Gaza (i.e. items stored in Gaza prior to this current escalation), with higher prices paid to buy this food

• Mental health & psychosocial support and medical support is ongoing – these services are provided by the health/medical professionals we are working with, no goods need sourcing at the moment for this to continue

• WA teams in Gaza are also planning to start some educational services

Please help us to continue this critical work, supporting children of all ages in Gaza who have suddenly been orphaned as a result of the war on Gaza.

Thank you.