The International Islamic Relief Organization, Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) marked World Orphans Day on Saturday, the 15th of Ramadan, at its Jeddah headquarters in the presence of several officials and dignitaries.
“Caring for orphans and helping to give them a safe and comfortable life is an obligation for everyone,” said Muhammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL) and chairman of IIROSA.
He said that MWL has not only sponsored thousands of orphans in the Muslim world but also sponsored a number of non-Muslims.
During the ceremony, Al-Issa delivered a speech confirming that MWL celebrates this day to affirm the root of conscience in Muslims. “IIROSA exerts great efforts to sponsor orphans. This is an institutional work that is based on organized communication around the world,” he said.
Al-Issa said IIROSA is also eager to sponsor non-Muslims. “Islam encourages Muslims to take care of all creations. Although captives are enemies, Islam inspires Muslims to take care of them.
This indicates the international message of Islam and the religion of mercy and humanity,” he said.
Secretary-General of IIROSA, Hassan Darweesh Shahbar, said the organization puts sponsors as its priority and for this purpose established specific departments to take care of orphans.
“IIROSA sponsors 87,570 orphans from different areas through 16 orphanages in the world that provide education, health care, vocational training and rehabilitation,” he said.
Abdullah Basfar, a well-known Islamic preacher, also delivered a speech during the ceremony in which he appreciated IIROSA’s role in providing sponsorship for the orphans and assuring the donors that their sponsorship reaches the beneficiaries rightly.
Rami Mohammed, representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said that the organization pays due attention to the issue of orphans and launched a program to sponsor tsunami orphans in Indonesia.
He said the foreign ministers of OIC member states have taken a historic decision during a meeting in Kenya in 2013 by identifying the 15th of Ramadan as World Orphans Day in Muslim countries in order to raise awareness about the problems orphans face.

Source: Arab News