In August 2005 Islamic Relief extended the Orphans Sponsorship programme to Ethiopia.

Sponsorship provides orphans and their families with enough money to cover their basic needs including food, shelter, healthcare and education.

Drought has caused food insecurity in Ethiopia for the last 30 years. Between 5 and 7 million Ethiopians cannot produce enough food for themselves and their families.  Many families also have difficulty accessing water, healthcare, sanitation facilities and education.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has seriously affected Ethiopia and almost 5 million children have been orphaned by the disease.

Project Objectives

• Ensure than orphans have access to education, healthcare and water;
• Improve the food security and nutritional status of orphans;
• To raise awareness of the UN’s Convention of the Rights of the Child and ensure that this is practiced;
• Establishing an association for orphans and their families so that they can communicate their needs.

Project Activities

"Islamic Relief is striving for a fairer world. Our mission is to help the poor and needy to live sustainable, self-reliant lives within safe and caring communities. Our work is guided and shaped by the core values of accountability, humanitarianism, neutrality and impartiality, inclusiveness, integrity and co-operation, all of which are also integral to the Islamic faith."
Dr Hany El Banna - Founder of Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief was established in 1984 and our unique approach is the result of these many years of hands-on experience.

1. Where possible we adopt a community partnership-based approach; encouraging community involvement, understanding and ownership of projects.
2. We run the majority of our field projects ourselves, giving us direct insight into the problems faced and how best to solve them.
3. We aim to empower those we help in order to achieve sustainable results.
4. Though our emergency response teams are quick to respond to emergencies around the world, we continue to support communities long after the initial media interest has died down.
5. We recruit staff locally to benefit from their local knowledge. This ensures that we are culturally sensitive and allows us to reach communities and areas other organisations cannot.
6. Where necessary we coordinate our work with other reputable aid agencies, local organisations and governments.

Millennium Development Goals

Islamic Relief is committed to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which have been agreed by the world’s leading development institutions in an effort to meet the needs of the world’s poorest by the year 2015. 

The goals:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

For more information about the MDGs, please visit: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/