World Orphans Day, 11th November 2019

World Orphan Day was established to draw attention to the plight of orphans and to encourage people to actively participate in raising awareness and support this vital cause.

There are 153 million orphans worldwide

Sadly, due to conflict, natural disaster, poverty and marginalisation, 5,700 become orphans every day. According to UNICEF, if orphans were a country of their own, the population would rank 9th in the world, behind Russia.

Most of the world’s 153 million orphans are children who have lost at least one parent and live with the remaining parent or another family member. As the most vulnerable members of society, orphans face hunger, disease, exploitation and cycles of extreme poverty that they will never break out of. Unless we help.

How we’re helping orphans

At Human Appeal, we offer one-to-one orphan sponsorship, so you really can make a difference to one child.

Last year alone, through our Little Human’s orphan sponsorship programme, we sponsored 11,959 children across nine countries, including Iraq, Lebanon, Macedonia, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen. That’s 11,959 children in total, working towards a brighter future.

How orphan sponsorship is helping Aliya

At just ten years old, Aliya lives with her grandmother and two siblings in Mogadishu, Somalia. After losing her father in the civil war, Aliya’s mother abandoned her children, leaving Aliya’s grandmother to support them.

The family were living in terrible conditions. Their home was made of metal sheets and comprised one room with no sanitation facilities or clean, running water. Although Aliya’s grandmother started a small grocery store, the income wasn’t enough. Sometimes the family did not eat.

Thanks to the generosity and compassion of their sponsor, Aliya and her family are now living in better accommodation. She is in school and receiving vital healthcare. The sponsorship money supports the income from the grocery store, so Aliya has also benefited from new schoolbooks and a school bag and is working her way towards a brighter future. Her dream is to become a doctor one day.

How you can help a child

You can be the proud sponsor of a little one in any of the countries we work in. Your sponsorship will ensure the child receives education, healthcare, nutritious food and clean water – all for just £35 a month.

You can also rest assured that, by sponsoring an orphan through Human Appeal, your child will be nurtured in a safe, loving environment. We believe all children have a right to personal dignity and protection from abuse and we recognise our special duty of car to safeguard every child we sponsor.

There’s no better way to celebrate World Orphans’ Day than by sponsoring an orphan with us.

Sponsor a child with Human Appeal.