Child sponsorship is an effective way of giving that establishes a connection between a donor and a vulnerable orphan.

Around the world, many children living in poverty are placed into orphanages, even when they have a living parent or relative. This is because their carers fear they will be unable to provide them with a good life. However, when placed in an orphanage, a child is deprived of parental love, family support and a community to belong to.

Islamic Relief’s Orphan Sponsorship Program provides a caring and beneficial alternative. By providing a fixed and consistent funding amount on an ongoing basis, we help carers feel confident in their ability to provide for their child. It also ensures security for the child. A space where they can be raised within vital family structures.

Therefore, by sponsoring a child, you ensure they stay in the best place for them – their family. You will also receive an annual update on how your support assists the sponsored child and their family.

No, it is not. The child you sponsor will have a family of their own. However, sponsors play an important role in the eyes of the child and their family by providing funding that ensures their basic needs are met.

Islamic Relief sponsors any orphan regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, background or belief. Rather, we focus on each orphan’s circumstances. Children with the most needs are prioritised for sponsorship.

Orphans can include children who have a mother, but no father. This is because the Islamic term for orphan is “Al-Yateem”. This refers to a child who has no father, including those who have lost both parents. The child will remain an orphan until the age of maturity/understanding.  

Due to Islamic Relief’s humanitarian mandate and based on our extensive experience with the communities we work in, we include children with a father whose whereabouts are unknown. These include children who have lived without a father for at least two years or more. For refugees and internally displaced people, at least one year.

In line with the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child (CRC) of which nearly all countries are signatories, Islamic Relief has extended this classification to define a child as any human being under the age of 18. However, if the donor wishes, they can continue to sponsor a child beyond the age of 18.

You can sponsor a child in 27 countries across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.  

These countries are Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia (and Herzegovina), Chechnya (Russia), India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kosova, Lebanon, Mali, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine (Gaza), Palestine (West Bank), Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria refugees (in Lebanon), Turkey, Yemen.  

Among these countries, areas where orphans are most in need are Afghanistan, Yemen Gaza, Syrian refugees, Indonesia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.

Sponsorships for Gaza orphans can only be taken offline. If you wish to sponsor an orphan in Gaza, please contact our office for further information. You may also ask to apply for orphan sponsorship by visiting one of our local offices or attending one of our events. 

The sponsorship program targets the most disadvantaged orphan families in the countries we serve. It chooses beneficiaries based on open and transparent agreed-upon criteria, after a target area or community has been identified. The standard scoring criteria cover the following points:

• Income: We prioritise those with the least income.  
• Size of family and age of children, as well as disability. We prioritise families with a high dependency ratio (i.e. no. of dependents vs no. breadwinners) and families with children and caregivers who are persons with disabilities  
• Housing conditions. We prioritise those living in the poorest conditions, especially those with families who do not own their home  
• Health. We prioritise children with the poorest health status, including those who are malnourished  
• Double orphans. We prioritise orphans who have lost both parents, as they are often more in need.  
• Area of living. We prioritise families living in hazardous conditions (near wastewater drainage, unhygienic areas etc).  
• Employment status of the guardian. Unemployed mothers or guardians are prioritised over working.  

No. Generally, you cannot choose the gender, age or location of your child. This is to ensure that female and male orphans of all ages and backgrounds have the same opportunities to become sponsored.  

Yes, it is possible for your school or group to collectively sponsor a child.

If you have an Australian bank account, you can continue to sponsor a child through Islamic Relief Australia. However, if you no longer have an Australian bank account but move to a country where we have a presence, you can continue to sponsor a child through that Islamic Relief office. Do let us know and we will assist with this transfer.  

If you move abroad whilst sponsoring a child, you should contact Islamic Relief Australia who will put you in touch with the relevant team at Islamic Relief Worldwide or the local Islamic Relief in the country to which you have moved, so you can continue supporting the same child. Islamic Relief Worldwide or the local office would need to register you as a new donor and set up your payments.  

We understand that some non-orphan families within the same communities may be worse off than orphan families. However, we are unable to include them in the Orphan Sponsorship Program at the moment.  

There is a likelihood that they may be included in other Islamic Relief programs, such as livelihoods, healthcare or education projects. These can be supported through a one-off or regular donation.

Based on our own experience and independent reports by respected agencies, such as UNICEF, we find this dependency does not happen in the overwhelming majority of cases. Many families use the sponsorship funds to invest in their livelihoods, such as buying livestock or setting up small-scale businesses.  

From every $1.00, 80c of your donation goes directly to your sponsored child. The rest is used to provide social support to families, carrying out by our dedicated staff on the ground.

The operational expenses entail the extensive field office work Islamic Relief conducts to ensure best practices are in place for your sponsored orphan. Orphans are monitored through both regular home visits, conducted by our social workers, and group gatherings, to ensure that they are receiving the full benefits of sponsorship. We are able to use monitoring gatherings for awareness sessions on the sponsorship process, how to maintain good health, the importance of education, and various other topics.   

We pride ourselves on transparency and we ensure that your money goes towards the project you intended – we know that we are accountable to you, our beneficiaries and ultimately Allah. Every year Islamic Relief prepares financial accounts, which are audited by independent accountants.   

We look to cover the most basic needs of the orphan and their family, mainly in terms of nutrition, health and education. The sponsorship funds come as cash transfers, which empowers them to utilise the funds for their immediate needs.

The sponsorship money must be spent in ways that fulfil the children’s physical needs. This means using the funds to provide provisions such as food, water, health care, clothing and shelter. The funds also ensure education for the sponsored children throughout their childhood, covering the costs of school fees, uniforms, school books and pencils.

The child’s guardian receives the sponsorship money every quarter, distributed in March, June, September, and December.

We frequently monitor the children and their guardians to ensure they continue to receive the full benefits of sponsorship. This may include health checks and education progress checks (for school-aged children).

Once your sponsorship begins, you will receive a Welcome Pack that includes a profile of the child/family including a photo.

You will receive an initial report providing some basic information on your sponsored orphan. This usually happens within 4 weeks after the first payment has been received. We will then aim to provide an update on the orphan’s situation annually, focusing primarily on their health, nutritional needs and education.

Please note that on some occasions, there may be delays in reporting back on the orphan you are supporting, due to the situation in the countries where they are residing.

We aim to send you a report on your sponsored orphan every year – this annual progress report is written by the field officers who are responsible for visiting the orphans and contains information about the child and the progress that they are making at school etc.

All sponsors receive a biography (biodata) about the child you sponsor upon confirmation of the first donation payment. We email sponsors the biodata up to two weeks after initiating sponsorship.   Afterwards, progress reports are mailed to sponsors once a year. You may contact the donor care team at [email protected] if you do not receive updates.  

Yes, please contact our supporter care team on 1300 308 554 to arrange this.  

The minimum time for sponsoring a child is two years. This allows us to plan ahead and maintain a consistent level of service to the orphan.  

Sponsorship will continue until the family are able to support themselves and no longer need to rely on the sponsorship. We will assess the family’s situation regularly to ensure the neediest families are supported.   

Donors also have the option to stop the sponsorship when the orphan reaches the age of 18. However, they can also choose to continue the sponsorship beyond this age. This can help the orphan further their education. It can also help in continuing to provide essential supports if the orphan has special needs or lives with a disibility.  

We request that you give us three months’ notice before cancelling to give us time to find another sponsor. If this notice is not provided, you will be required to make a payment to cover the three months.  However, if you are unable to do this due to exceptional circumstances, the child will be supported by Islamic Relief for a further three months until another sponsor is found.  

If donations are missed for three months in a row and not repaid, Islamic Relief will have to cancel the sponsorship. We will also need to find a new sponsor for the family to ensure support is continued.

We inform donors immediately if monthly donation is missed. Sometimes, this could be due to technical issues. If the donor makes up for these missed donations, then the sponsorship will continue.

Islamic Relief has a duty to ensure that all our sponsored orphans are receiving their donations, and this can only be done when the income is received. We have a duty of care to those we serve and can only do this with the support of the donor. Should any changes in circumstances occur for the donor, they should inform Islamic Relief as soon as possible.

We may cancel a sponsorship for multiple reasons. Reasons can be that the income of a family is significantly raised, the family moves without leaving contact details, we find out the sponsorship funds have been spent inappropriately, the child dies, or the child becomes married (Islamic Relief stands against early marriage).   In these cases, we will contact you to discuss the reason for cancellation and transfer your sponsorship to a different child.   We may cancel a sponsorship if we discover a sponsor has been having inappropriate or unauthorised contact with the child they sponsor. In these cases, the sponsorship will be cancelled immediately. We will contact the sponsor to let them know of their cancelled sponsorship and that they will also be unable to sponsor another child through Islamic Relief. 

Simply sign up as you did when first registering after informing the Islamic relief office. Islamic Relief reserves the right to refuse to accept a donor onto the orphan sponsorship program who has previously shown their lack of ability to make regular donations and will encourage them to donate through other funds.  

The three-tier system was first rolled out over 20 years ago, and was based on the cost of living at the time. Over the years, it became clear that there was a preference to sponsor orphans in the lower tier, leaving many orphans in the higher tier unsponsored. To correct this, we have introduced a fixed rate for orphan sponsorships across all available country options.

Furthermore, the cost of living has increased across the globe, and therefore, the costs that were relevant at the time of inception are no longer applicable. More and more, what we have seen is that orphans across all regions will benefit from the increased support. Developing a unified price handle allows us to support the most needy orphans, and uplift them with a value that can truly cover their basic necessities, and more.

To our knowledge, Islamic Relief is perhaps the only charity to offer a true one-to-one orphan sponsorship program, where the donation continuously goes to the same orphan. This allows for the life of the same orphan to be continuously transformed long term. This means that the change isn’t short term but they are able to truly rise above their circumstances. It ensures orphans gain the opportunities they deserve, and build a better life for themselves and their families.  

It is a common practice of some charities to direct orphan sponsorship funds to support groups of orphans as a whole through communal programming. This allows for lower prices that help supplement the needs of orphans and provide uplifting programming, but do not offer the opportunity for transformative change for individuals. 

We believe that the Orphan Sponsorship Program model is cost-effective. There is no evidence to suggest that the many-to-many model is more cost-effective.  

However, we are always looking at ways to improve our sponsorship program. We look at the strengths of the current Orphan Sponsorship Program and complement it with proven livelihood components.

It’s important that the people we support are empowered to become self-sufficient.  At the moment, Islamic Relief Worldwide is undergoing a feasibility study to explore the 2-to-1 (shared sponsorship) model. 

Yes. The sponsor and orphan are free to exchange correspondence via the Islamic Relief Australia office in Sydney. Sponsors may email a letter to the Child Sponsorship Officer, or call our office to discuss further.  

Unfortunately, Islamic Relief Australia does not share such personal details with either a sponsor or an orphan child.   

We trust and respect our donors and supporters, and value enormously their generosity and charitable spirit. However, as an organisation, we have a duty of care to minimise as much risk as possible.   

In this case, there is a risk, albeit very small, that these personal details might be obtained by the wrong person or persons, usually through illegal means. This can then pose further risks for the orphan and sponsor alike.   

Ensuring the safety and protection of all children living in the communities where we work is the highest priority for Islamic Relief Australia. If unmonitored communication takes place, we cannot fully guarantee that a child will be protected from inappropriate content or suggestions.    

Similarly, Islamic Relief Australia is fully committed to ensuring our supporters’ generosity is safe and secure. There are potential risks within unmonitored communication we must avoid. For example, digital details being stolen and taken advantage of by entities such as cybercriminals acting under aliases.   

Islamic Relief Australia apologises in advance if this disappoints or offends any supporter, but this position is taken with the best interests of everyone in mind.  

Children love to receive gifts from their sponsors. However, as we cannot guarantee the safe arrival of such gifts, we only encourage small things like postcards or pictures, which we scan/digitise and transmit to our colleagues in-country.  Please don’t send physical parcels of any size, as Islamic Relief Australia cannot send these. Islamic Relief Australia cannot guarantee such gifts will arrive or arrive intact.  Sometimes items get lost in transit, frequently arrive damaged and could be held by customs. We do not want to see your support wasted.  

Following security checks, you may visit your sponsored child to witness firsthand the difference your sponsorship is making in their life. The sponsor must cover all costs of the visit.

In line with our Child Protection Policy, visits must be facilitated by an Islamic Relief representative. It also must take place at an Islamic Relief Office. Where, in addition, the Child Welfare officer at the country field office will also supervise the visit.

The Islamic Relief Child Protection Policy is in place to ensure the safety and welfare of vulnerable children and their families. Please contact our office on

1300 308 554 for further information regarding visitation to your sponsored child.