Every day around 5,700 more children are orphaned. In any community, orphans are always one of the most vulnerable groups, often facing hunger, disease, exploitation and psychological distress. Helping them to break out of the extreme cycles of their poverty is the aim of our programme. On your behalf, we help 22,000 vulnerable orphans in 10 countries break out of that poverty. Supporters sponsor an orphan on a one-to-one basis, helping to cover the costs of their food, shelter, healthcare and learning materials. To qualify for this help, the child must stay in school to ensure they gain the education and skills for a better tomorrow.
Our unique sponsorship programmes provide end-to-end support because we take personal and professional pride in ensuring your mercy has maximum impact. We know the importance of a solid education to realise a child’s potential so we require all participating children to be enrolled in, and attend, school.
We are committed to empowering children and supporting their future. We understand the critical role a child’s family plays so we also extend support to guardians and widows. By the time a child reaches the age of 18, our support continues as they pursue further education and professional training.
Orphans receive your mercy safely and securely
We’re on the ground in hard-to-reach places to identify and serve the needs of vulnerable orphans. Our rigorous checks and risk assessments are how we find and assess those most in need of mercy.
We’re hands-on when we deliver and administer aid so that we can ensure that your mercy gets precisely to where it’s intended, and exactly as it’s intended. Our operational expertise gives us a global advantage in using our experienced teams to bring the backbone of sponsorship where it’s most needed.
We’re careful stewards of your mercy to ensure our operations are efficient, accountable and transparent. We also safeguard the vulnerable children and communities we support using rigorous protection policies and procedures with safeguarding officers in each country. Your mercy doesn’t end when a child we’ve sponsored comes of age. The education requirement within our sponsorship programme means these children develop the skills and talents to, in turn, go on to serve others as well. For some, that means coming to work with us at Human Appeal—a powerful testimony of the transformation your mercy can bring.
Human Appeal ensures that your mercy brings immediate relief and endures for the long term to break the cycle of poverty.
As our Orphans and Child Welfare Programme Manager for Pakistan and a Global Safeguarding Advisor, Shazia has the support and resources of the entire Human Appeal organisation. She ensures that your donation helps to fund the orphan sponsorship programme in an ethical and impactful way. Her expertise spans 26 years of experience across 20 countries, specialising in child rights, safeguarding, gender and inclusion. Let’s hear from Shazia on how your mercy helps to protect and safeguard some of the most vulnerable children across our global Ummah.
I work with orphaned children directly, and I write policies, procedures and strengthening safeguarding standards so that every child is protected and not exposed to further risk. Right now, I’m rolling out safeguarding programmes, policies and processes. I’m also working on our Safeguarding Manual, Safeguarding Policy review, risk assessments, child protection standards and complaint response for incident handing. These updates are now being rolled out across the entire Human Appeal family.
So how does Human Appeal safeguard children?
We conduct a thorough risk assessment of all our programmes before we even start. We have a mitigation plan to help staff implement programmes with care. During recruitment, we check staff police records and references, and introduce them with thorough training on safeguarding, child protection, whistleblowing and compliance.
We have a designated child protection coordinator in every country we work in, who ensures that our Child Protection Policy is followed.
Locally in Pakistan, we’ve introduced an impartial, confidential complaint response mechanism at every household that we work in, so that they always know how to raise complaints. Each project has a clearly visible complaints number that our beneficiaries can use as a reference.
We also take into consideration safeguarding during aid distributions, ensuring that the most vulnerable people don’t have to travel far to benefit from our project.
We hold regular staff safeguarding sessions, as well as child protection training for widows. We also provide child-friendly info packs to each sponsored orphan’s caregiver so that they are empowered to understand protection issues.
And the reason we do all this? Because it’s what helps us to change an orphan’s life, without putting them at risk. It’s the most rewarding part of my job when I see a sponsored orphan, or their mother, not only living a happier and safer life, but empowered to be independent thanks to our careful programming.
“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.”
Source - Tirmidhi
I’m from a middle-class family like many others. Life has improved after we started to receive orphan sponsorship.
Before that, conditions were a bit difficult. My husband was martyred when my oldest daughter was 5 years old. The second was three. The youngest was two. Financially, I didn’t have income to cover our expenses. I had to get help from charities. Psychologically, we faced so many things. There was a lot of pressure raising the little girls.
My oldest daughter remembers her father. When he passed away, she was about to start grade 1. She suffered psychologically. She knew she lost her father. I tried my best to take her to parks to change her mood. Her uncles also showed some support to her.
My daughter always asked her father to take her to school and to show her friends here is her dad. After his loss, I became the man and the woman of the home. I was taking her to school. I convinced her with religion that this is fate. He is gone but he is in Paradise. You are carrying his name and such things.
After sponsorship, the girls’ financial condition has improved. We paid our debts. When collectors demand payment, it is doable. Every time a sponsorship payment is received, I fulfill a need.
With the first sponsorship they received, I furnished their bedroom. There is a big change for the child before and after sponsorship. You feel your child wants things but don’t know how to express the need. After sponsorship, the situation improves.
My daughter Nagham paints for her hobby. Painting materials are very expensive. You don’t always manage to afford it. I can afford them with sponsorship payments. My oldest daughter loves poetry and reading. I buy books for her. I like her educating herself. The young one also loves making shows and reading. I buy storybooks for them. That’s not possible without sponsorship.
Since the sponsorship was secured, the girls’ mental health has improved because their needs are being met.
Their education level has improved. They have more motivation to study and memorise Quran. Every aspect of life I link to religion. Anything linked to religion always goes right.
They receive appreciation certificates. They are honoured at school. They are top graders.
I’d like to thank Human Appeal for the aid it provides to us. Without such support, we wouldn’t live the life we have now. I hope the sponsorship continues because my daughters need such support. I pray sponsorship continues until they are self-dependent.
