The number of people sponsored by Qatar Charity (QC) in the Gaza Strip has steadily doubled, the organisation has said. 
In the last six months, their number has risen from 9,179 to 14,013, including 10,790 orphans, 2,380 poor families, 531 persons with special needs, 228 students and 84 teachers. 
The charity sponsors orphans in the Gaza Strip as part of its orphan care initiative, Rofaqa, after studying their economic and social conditions through social researchers at the level of the governorate.
The sponsored persons receive monthly cash assistance and benefit from QC’s various relief and seasonal projects and other care programmes.
The programme aims at mitigating the economic and social burdens borne by the neediest people, as well as striving to provide a decent life for them through additional care programmes covering various aspects, QC has said in a statement.
The mother of a newly sponsored child, Mohamed, thanked Qatari sponsors for sponsoring the seven-year-old child, who lost his father at the age of three. 
Basima Abdul Hamid, 55, extended her thanks to QC and the Qatari people for sponsoring her family of eight. She said her family was suffering due to the unemployment of her three sons and her husband’s inability to work as a result of a stroke.
The Gaza Strip suffers from difficult economic and social conditions due to the blockade, which has caused high rates of unemployment and poverty. 
The sponsorship is one the most significant programmes that QC implements across the world, including the Gaza Strip, to support the marginalised and neediest people in order to provide a decent life for them, especially the families of orphans.
In December 2017, Qatar Charity launched the second phase of the strategic plan for its Rofaqa orphan care initiative under the slogan Rofaqa Continues to Give. It aims to sponsor 150,000 orphans by the end of 2018. Currently, more than 147,000 orphans are beneficiaries of QC’s sponsorship programme.