Our Refugee Empowerment Program

Can you imagine being forced to flee your home because of war or violence? This is the reality for 37,000 DAILY. In 2019, 70.8 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

Our Refugee Empowerment program doesn’t just focus on immediate relief and aid for refugees, it is about allowing refugees to have a chance to heal and rebuild their lives. Our Refugee Empowerment Program is an extensive tapestry of resettlement, care, education, and life-rebuilding aid programs and facilities for thousands of refugees.

Healing the Minds and Bodies of Refugees

In the past year, 57% of the world’s refugees have come from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan.

In Zakat Foundation’s free Sigharuna Kibaruna (Our Little Ones) Clinic in Turkey, we treated hundreds of Syrian refugee children suffering sensory and brain trauma from physical injuries sustained in the ongoing war. We administered specialized care to other children for severe emotional trauma suffered from the violence of war and the unthinkable catastrophes they have witnessed with their innocent eyes.

Giving Refugees a Home

Our Refugee Empowerment Program has given countless refugees a safe, stable place to live. In our Muhammad Ali Safe House in Turkey, we have given apartments to refugee widows and children from Syria so that they can focus on healing from the traumas of civil war. We offer critical aid in the form of stipends, transportation, and most of all: education.

Relaunching Disrupted Lives with Education

Imagine giving thousands of thousands of vulnerable children and dislocated refugees the chance to go to school.

In a world-first, we have taken our commitment to educate Syrian refugees to a deeper level. We established Zahraa University as an institution for higher education that is exclusively for Turkey’s Syrian refugees. In 2018, we were able to confer bachelor’s degrees to our first graduating class of 35 recipients.

At least 3,292 refugee children attend Zakat Foundation-sponsored schools in Turkey at both

the primary and secondary levels. Zakat Foundation education programs employ some 300 teachers and staff, all refugees. We have seen host countries flourish when refugees are given a chance to build a better future through education.

Empowering Refugees with Vocational Training

Zakat Foundation of America is committed to sustainable livelihoods for refugees worldwide. It allows refugees to achieve self-sufficiency so they can thrive. Often, highly educated refugees are forced to take jobs with low-pay due to language barriers or lack of access. Here is just a snapshot of how we assist refugees with employment that gives them the freedom to rebuild their lives:

In the United States, we work with refugees to find internships, retraining for licensing qualifications in their fields, and English language training. Then, in partnership with appropriate agencies, we help them find employment in their areas of expertise.

In Kenya, refugee survivors of trafficking and abuse fleeing from East and Central Africa find refuge in the RefuSHE safehouse in Nairobi. Its girls, ages 13-23, receive safe housing, formal secondary education and counseling for gender-based abuse and sexual assault.

It is only by your generosity that any of these projects are possible. For this, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Rebuild lives today.