Who decides which families receive Qurbani meat?

Human Appeal works with local imams and community leaders in each country of operation. These leaders have deep, direct knowledge of who in their community is struggling, and they compile beneficiary lists based on observed need — including elderly individuals, families with disabilities, and those living in extreme poverty.

What criteria are used to select Qurbani beneficiaries?

Priority is given to people in genuine hardship: elderly couples and individuals living alone, families caring for members with disabilities, and households living in extreme poverty who would otherwise have no access to meat during Eid al-Adha. Selection is made by local community leaders with firsthand knowledge of those families.

Do the same families receive Qurbani every year?

In many cases, yes. For families in persistent poverty or ongoing conflict zones, need does not disappear between Eids. Community leaders review and update their lists each year, keeping families on the list as long as they remain in need, and adding new families whose circumstances have changed.

How many families does Human Appeal reach with Qurbani?

In 2025, Human Appeal reached over 1.17 million beneficiaries through its Qurbani programme across more than 18 countries. In 2026, the programme operates across 41 countries. The number of families reached each year depends on donations received.

Why do charities use local leaders to identify Qurbani beneficiaries?

Local imams and community leaders have direct knowledge of the families around them — who is elderly and alone, who has lost a breadwinner, who is caring for a child with a disability. This on-the-ground knowledge is far more accurate than any centralised database, and it ensures that distributions reach those who are genuinely most vulnerable.

Who Receives Qurbani? How Human Appeal Chooses Beneficiaries

Giving Qurbani through a charity involves a question that donors rarely ask but that shapes everything: who decides which families receive the meat? The answer matters. It determines whether the distribution reaches those who are genuinely most vulnerable, or whether it ends up with people who simply happen to be nearby. At Human Appeal, that process begins not in a central office, but in the community itself.

Who Identifies Beneficiaries?

The people best placed to know who in a community is struggling are the people who live and lead within it. Human Appeal works with local imams and community leaders in each country and region of operation — people with deep knowledge of the families around them, the trust of their neighbours, and the standing to identify need with accuracy and sensitivity.

These leaders compile lists of families and individuals they know to be in genuine hardship. They are not distant administrators filling out forms — they are the person who knows that the widow at the end of the street has not had meat in months, or that the elderly couple in the corner house has no children nearby to help them celebrate Eid. That kind of knowledge cannot be replicated by a database.

Who Gets Prioritised?

The families and individuals that community leaders put forward tend to share certain characteristics. They are people for whom the Qurbani distribution is not a bonus — it is the difference between an Eid with food and one without.

Elderly couples and individuals living alone are a common priority — people who may have lost their spouse, whose children have moved away or passed, and who have limited income and limited mobility.

Families with members who have disabilities often face compounded financial pressure. When a family's primary earner is unable to work or requires additional care, the household budget contracts accordingly.

Families living in extreme poverty — those for whom meat is a rare or unaffordable food — are the core of every Qurbani distribution. In Yemen, Gaza, Somalia, and parts of South Asia, this means families for whom Eid al-Adha would pass without the central element of the tradition: the sharing of meat.

How Many Families Are Reached?

The number of families who receive Qurbani in any given year depends on the donations received. The more people give, the further the distribution can reach. Human Appeal maximises the reach of every donation — using local sourcing, efficient logistics, and existing community infrastructure to ensure as many families as possible are included.

In 2025, Human Appeal distributed Qurbani to over 1.9 million beneficiaries across more than 20 countries. In 2026, the programme operates across 41 countries. Each of those distributions represents a family — or an elderly person living alone, or a household caring for someone with a disability — who received meat for Eid because someone, somewhere, chose to give.

Do the Same Families Receive Qurbani Each Year?

In many cases, yes. Community leaders update their lists each year based on who is still in need. For families living in persistent poverty or in ongoing conflict zones, need does not simply disappear between Eids. A family in Gaza or northern Yemen that received Qurbani last year is likely to still be struggling this year. The relationship between the distribution and the community is not a one-time transaction — it is an ongoing recognition of persistent need.

Lists are reviewed rather than frozen. If circumstances change — if a family's situation improves, or if new families fall into hardship — the list reflects that. The local imam or leader who compiles it is the person best positioned to make those calls.

What Receiving Qurbani Means

For the families on these lists, the arrival of Qurbani meat is not a logistical event. It is Eid. It is the smell of cooking meat in a home that may not have had it in months. It is children who get to experience the celebration the way it is supposed to feel. It is the older woman living alone who does not spend Eid wondering if the holiday will pass without her.

The three shares of Qurbani — one-third for the family, one-third for relatives and neighbours, one-third for those in need — exist precisely because the tradition understands that Eid is not complete unless it reaches the people who would otherwise be left out. The distribution is not a programme layered on top of Qurbani. It is Qurbani, done as it was always meant to be done.