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 7th October 2024 reported that:

• More than 41,600 Palestinians killed, many of them women and children, 
• 96,600 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 monthly donation for a year = £130 per month.
• Annual donation of £1,560.
  • To make a monthly or annual donation, you can set up either a Standing Order or a Direct Debit. You can find out how to do that here.
  • Please state clearly in your email or letter to us that your donation is for this appeal, so that we can ensure your donations go directly to orphans in Gaza.
• Other one-off donations – please donate using the button 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 August 2024 till mid-October 2024, the following activities have been achieved:

• Providing  almost 11,000 orphaned children with a package of clothes.
• Providing 4,500 orphans and their guardians with a food parcel.
• Providing 620 orphaned babies (i.e. below two years of age ) with key nutritional and hygiene items.
• Providing a health check-up for almost 1500 orphaned children.

These emergency activities supporting orphans will continue.

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

Thank you.