World Orphans Day 2022: AMA shows support and solidarity for vulnerable children

Today marks World Orphans Day, a day designed to pay tribute to orphans around the world and to raise awareness on their plight.

On this day, AMA reaffirms its support for orphans around the world, many of whom have lost their parents as a result of war or famine.

According to UNICEF, around 5,700 children are orphaned every day. This amounts to there being around 153 million orphans worldwide. The staggering number is due to lives being lost in natural disasters, disease or the lack of medical care or access.

AMA seeks to support orphans around the world through various projects, such as organising regular visits to orphanages and distributing packages containing essentials and food, to facilitating psychosocial support sessions for those in need.

Imraan Choonara, AMA’s CEO, believes that special attention needs to be paid to orphans, not just on this international day, but every day, in an effort to help them better their future.

“Growing up, I was always able to use my father as a stabilising force in my life, he was there to lean on and that was the beauty of a parent…as a child you know that someone is always there for you, to look after your food, clothing and shelter. But who does an orphan have to do that for them?” he says.

“This is why I believe when you sponsor an orphan, it’s as if you are coming and stabilising them and letting them know that someone somewhere in the world is thinking about them,” he added.

Choonara also says that it is the collective responsibility of people globally to support orphans, in order to allow young people to grow, develop and achieve rather than focus on just surviving.

In Lebanon, where AMA has a strong presence, there are currently over 1.5 million Syrian refugees, who were forced to flee from the ongoing violence.

Many of these children who have come from Syria to Lebanon have been orphaned. Coupled with displacement, this often leaves children in an extremely vulnerable position, with no access to safety or necessary facilities, including schooling, food or medical care.

Orphan Hope

One of AMA’s projects concerning the support of orphans is the Orphan Hope campaign, which provides food, clothing, toiletries and medical facilities as well as shelter to orphans.

According to Hussain Choonara, AMA’s regional director, this is particularly important as many of the children are orphaned at a young age leaving them in a vulnerable position.

“In some of the countries we operate in, we see orphans heading their household at age five or six, they have to scour the streets to look for food,” he says.

“We also know there is a huge reward for looking after the orphan, as per what the Prophet (pbuh) said. The prophet was also an orphan and we can see how some of our projects such as the Aman School make a huge difference to young children,” he added.

Through sponsorships which are aimed at supporting young orphans, AMA has seen first hand the positive change our projects have made for young people, from boosting their confidence to allowing them to enter the education system and dream big.

Driven by Islamic principles and teachings, AMA is continuing to work hard to ensure that orphans are looked after in the countries we operate in. This is based on the teachings of the Quran, where Muslims are instructed to take care of orphans, provide for them, and honour them with dignity.