In March 2003 Islamic Relief (IR) extended the Orphans Sponsorship Programme to Kosova.

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

Over 10,000 people were killed during the 1996-1999 conflict in Kosova and most of these were men. The loss of the family breadwinner has left thousands of orphans and widows destitute.

At the moment, local authorities provide around €60 a month to families in Kosova’s poorest communities. However, in most of these families there are more than three orphans and this small income is not enough to cover the costs of basic household necessities such as food, clothing and heating. As a result, many children are weak and malnourished, which has made them more vulnerable to illness.  

Education has also become more expensive in Kosovo, which has led to huge numbers of children dropping-out from school.

Project Objectives

• To reduce child poverty in Kosova’s poorest communities;
• To ensure that all school-age orphans attend school;
• To improve the physical and mental health of sponsored orphans;
• To provide opportunities for orphans to build their social and life skills;

Project Activities

• Monthly distribution of sponsorship;
• At the beginning of each school year, sponsored orphans receive a school bag filled with books and stationery;
• Visits from Orphans Welfare Staff;
• Sponsored orphans also benefit from IR’s seasonal Ramadhan and Qurbani food distributions;
• All sponsored orphans have the opportunity to go to IR's annual summer school;

"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/