Welfare Project:
SUPPORT FOR ORPHANS and VULNERABLE CHILDREN
South Africa R 420 000

Iqraa Trust is providing R 420 000 for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s (OVC) Program being implemented countrywide in South Africa by Islamic Relief Worldwide (South Africa).

Iqraa Trust’s involvement will give a major boost for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s program which aims to cater for the needs of at least a 1 000 orphans and vulnerable children households annually thereby effectively providing relief for some 5 000 people via the program.

The regional launch of the OVC program in KwaZulu-Natal took place on Saturday, 8 December 2007 at Umbumbulu on the Natal South Coast.

It is estimated that there are more than two million orphans in South Africa and growing. The OVC Program was started by Islamic Relief Worldwide in 2003 and already caters for 468 orphan and vulnerable children households. The program moves away from the traditional approach of care for children in orphanages and accords with the approach being advocated and advanced by governments, NGO’s and concerned sectors of civil society of promoting community care for orphans and vulnerable children.

Iqraa Trust supports the program because it is effective in involving the community or the neighbours in the provision of support for the children whilst they continue to remain in their parental home which could be in a rural area or even in an informal settlement.

The program is also comprehensive in that it not only tries to cater for the needs (including education and health care) of the child but also addresses the needs of the household thereby contributing to the creation of a supportive environment that will be conducive to the well-rounded development of the child.

This solution of community care is also advocated because children’s last memories of their family and a familiar structure are important for their stability and psychosocial well-being. It is also the best assurance that siblings will remain together.

The OVC Program is being implemented with the assistance and cooperation of the Social Development Department of the Ethekwini Municipality.