24 March 2006

Doha: Qatar Charity, the country's oldest humanitarian organisation, has embarked on a new project to find adoptive families for Qatari orphans, an organisation's member said here yesterday.

The Islamic charity, which has supported thousands of orphans worldwide over the past two decades, is financially aiding about 256 children and is working to find them a new home, said Abd Rabbi Bin Sahra, planning expert.

"This is a new project and very important one. We strongly believe that the family is the foundation stone of society and that each child needs to have a home."

Adoption of children on behalf of expatriate families is not allowed in the country, but orphans are financially supported by the government through governmental and independent organisations. Speaking to Gulf News, Bin Sahra said the majority of the children under the patronage of the organisation have lost their parents and live with relatives.

"There are very few cases of children being abandoned. We rather have cases of orphans who have lost their parents due to accidents or illness. In these cases, orphans are taken into an extended family structure, usually they live with their relatives. We support the relatives and children financially."

While in other countries the task of aiding orphans has fallen on charities in the absence of a government response, in Qatar the government is the main sponsor of such organisations. Donors also contribute in the form of either income-support or subsidies.

According to Qatar Charity, the cost of sponsoring an orphan here is 395 Qatari riyals (Dh398.9) per month. Services that are offered to the orphans include educational and health care. The learning of the Quran and Islamic values is also considered an important part of the children's education.

The charity, which is active in more than 40 countries with human development projects targeting women, children and the needy, is currently supporting some 17,000 orphans worldwide.

Like other Islamic societies in the aftermath of 9/11, Qatar Charity suffered from governmental restrictions and freezing of funds that brought the foreign activities, including sponsorship of orphans, to a halt for some time.

However the official said the organisation has started a five-year reform plan aimed at adopting a more transparent management system. "We are undergoing a lot of restructuring. Capacity building and transparency are main challenges," he said.

"We are young organisations unlike those in Europe and the US, where the civil societies and non governmental organisations have a strong identity and role," he added.

By Barbara Bibbo

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.