The Qatar Charity (QC) office in Somalia has distributed sponsorship allowances for the first quarter of 2015 to 500 indigent families from the total number of those sponsored by QC in Somalia, which is almost 10,000 people.  
The distribution coincided with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan to lessen the burdens of many of the needy, including orphans, indigent families, people with disabilities, students, teachers, preachers and Imams of mosques, who are all sponsored by QC.  
Among those participating in events of the QC office in Somalia was Hassan bin Hamza, chargé d’affaires of Qatar’s embassy in Mogadishu, who was keen to distribute some of the sponsorship allowances to needy families himself. He also expressed delight at QC’s initiative, stressing that it is commendable and
deserves to be supported.
Mohamed Hussain, director of QC’s office in Somalia, said: “QC saves no efforts to perform good deeds in all fields and seasons and attach considerable importance to the needy during such times and occasions. This drive highlights QC officials’ interest in satisfying Muslims needs and humanitarian
aspects in many countries.”
This year’s QC campaign is titled “Ramadan Al Basma” - Ramadan of Smiles – and involves a total estimated cost of QR58.2mn for projects to be implemented during the holy month within and outside Qatar. This exceeds the cost of last year’s campaign, which was with QR14.6mn. The campaign is expected to benefit more than 2,043,000 people.
QC’s projects to be implemented outside Qatar during Ramadan comprise several programmes at a total estimated cost of QR38.2mn, targeting around 1.5mn persons in 40 countries worldwide. Among these projects are those allocated for the displaced inside Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries, in addition to other significant projects aimed at meeting the humanitarian needs of people the world over.  
QC sponsors around 80,000 orphans across the world. In Somalia, the number of sponsored orphans is around 9,000. This ranks Somalia as the third country benefiting from the charity’s sponsorships.
During the month of Shaban, QC organised a trip to perform Umrah for a number of “outstanding and gifted students of good conduct” from among sponsored orphans in Somalia, Indonesia, Mali, Niger and Bosnia. In addition, Qur’an memorisation and achievements at school were the most significant criteria
considered for selecting the students.
The initiative aims at encouraging outstanding and distinctive students to attain higher levels of scientific achievement and good conduct.