Thousands of Syrian Orphans Receive Ongoing Support Through Life for Relief and Development (LIFE) USA Sponsorship Program

More than 16 million people require humanitarian assistance in Syria, and over 2.4 million children remain out of school, according to UNICEF. For orphaned children, the loss of a parent often collides with displacement, inflation, and the collapse of basic services. 

Families caring for orphans face impossible choices. Food competes with medicine. School supplies wait behind rent. In both northern Syria and parts of Rural Damascus, these pressures have deepened as prices rise faster than incomes. 

From July through September 2025, Life for Relief and Development (LIFE) delivered monthly cash assistance to 2,800 orphaned children across seven locations, including Azaz, Afrin, Al-Bab, Maarrat Misrin, Harasta, Darayya, and Al-Zabadani. The program provided regular financial support to help families meet essential needs during the school season. LIFE also facilitated health checkups, parenting sessions, and psychosocial activities to support children beyond material assistance. 

“Sometimes I had to choose which child would get shoes first,” said Um Mohammad, a widow and mother of three. “This support gave us dignity back.” 

Another mother described a transformation. “For the first time, I watched my daughter go to school without worry in her eyes.” 

Cash assistance, when delivered consistently and responsibly, allows families to decide what matters most in the moment. Through this program, LIFE helped families regain control over daily life, reduced harmful tradeoffs, and offered children something rare in a protracted crisis: a sense of steadiness.