SINGAPORE – A local charity is partnering with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to organise a fund-raising appeal during the holy month of Ramadan to provide aid, relief and shelter for families and children affected by the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
“An estimated 1.7 million people, more than half of Gaza’s entire population, have been displaced – half of them being children – resulting in acute shortages of safe areas and shelters. Significant casualties were also documented in Gaza, with tens of thousands of children reported injured,” the charity, Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF), said in a statement on March 19.
Donations can be made through various online platforms from March 20 to 26.
They can be made via:
1. PayNow
Donors can key in RLAF’s UEN 200910530ZRLA and indicate “GAZA2024” in the remarks.
2. Bank transfer
These can be made to RLAF at OCBC current account number 601313315001.
3. Cheque
Cheques should be made payable to RLAF and carry a donor’s name and contact number, and the name “GAZA2024”.
They should be posted to RLAF at Yusof Ishak Mosque, 10 Woodlands Drive 17, Singapore 737740; or to the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore at 273 Braddell Road, Singapore 579702.
4. Giving.sg’s online campaign
5. Mosques
Those who prefer to donate physically can do so at all mosques across the island, where there will be donation boxes labelled “Ramadan Appeal for Gaza”, only on March 22.
With no access to food, clean water and sanitation, children in Gaza are facing severe effects of disease and malnutrition, RLAF said. A household receives less than 1 litre of safe water per person each day, it added.
“Since mid-October 2023, more than 152,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported, with over half of these affecting children. The scarcity of food remains a critical issue, with over 90 per cent of children aged six to 23 months experiencing severe food poverty, having access to only two or fewer food groups per day,” the organisation said.
All donations will be channelled through Unicef, which is actively operating on the ground to provide humanitarian aid to victims and families.
As per regulations by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, the donations are not tax-deductible as they are for foreign charitable purposes, RLAF said.
This is the second round of fund raising organised by RLAF for affected communities in Gaza.
The first, held from Oct 19 to Nov 17 in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, raised a total of $8,114,422 – the highest raised by RLAF.
