The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recently launched a new mobile application to encourage Muslims around the world to give their Zakat and Sadaqah using their mobile phone, to support refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“GiveZakat” was launched to provide Muslim donors and philanthropists with a digital solution that simplifies the donation process, said Hossam Chahine, Head of UNHCR’s Private Sector Partnerships in the MENA region.
He pointed out that Islamic philanthropy is one of the most vital resources to support refugees and IDPs worldwide, “especially that more than 50% of refugees and displaced individuals around the world are from Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries.”
“As UNHCR is always looking for new ways to meet the increasing needs of refugees, and with lots of Muslims ready for giving to people in need and always asking us to consider Zakat, we launched the Refugee Zakat Fund in 2019.”
Chahine highlighted that UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund follows a 100% Zakat distribution policy, ensuring 100% of Zakat contributions are delivered directly to eligible families most in need.
The Refugee Zakat Fund is supported and approved by many of the most credible Islamic organizations and authorities as a legitimate channel for Zakat.
Among those organizations are the OIC’s International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), the Muslim World League (MWL), Dar al-Ifta al-Missriyyah in Egypt, The Fatwa Council of Tareem in Yemen, and The Council of Senior Scholars of Morocco.“GiveZakat” is the mobile digital arm of the Refugee Zakat Fund.
It was launched in 2020 to provide Muslims with a digital solution for their Zakat donation to refugees and displaced populations.It allows users to pay their Zakat and regular charity “Sadaqah” using a secure payment gateway.
App users will be able to choose the amount and the frequency for their giving and calculate their Zakat based on their assets and wealth, using the “Zakat Calculator.”
“GiveZakat”, available now on the “App Store” and “Google Play”, allows donors to stay up to date about their donation and to monitor where and how it was spent. The reporting section of the app enables donors and interested individuals to understand key details about online Zakat donations being made to UNHCR in real-time.
The information reported on the app includes the number of online donors during the current fiscal year, the total amount of Zakat they have donated, the destination of Zakat funds, and, most importantly, the number of families impacted.
To know more about the Refugee Zakat Fund, please visit https://zakat.unhcr.org/en/about.