Qatar has always been an active donor to humanitarian and charitable work, as giving and helping others are considered integral parts of Qatari ethics and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation, especially when it comes to aiding others in their difficult times and improving their lives.
Last year, more than 21mn people in 70 countries benefited from Qatar Charity’s development projects valued at QR925mn, including initiatives that went beyond temporary aid to sustainable development, helping people alleviate their difficult situations and generate income.
Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) provided over $667mn in international aid to support humanitarian causes in 2025, benefiting more than 45 countries worldwide.
This aids various areas, including healthcare ($62.1mn), education ($74.1mn), economic development ($314.9mn), and humanitarian aid (more than $141.1mn), in addition to various sectors that enhance local development in the targeted areas. QFFD also signed agreements worth over $525mn in 2025 to benefit 17mn people globally.
Over the past decade, QFFD has pledged around $110mn to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and malaria in the affected areas across the world. Further, it has provided considerable aid in various forms to conflict-stricken countries to help alleviate the hardship of their people and achieve greater stability, including Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, and Gaza in particular, as well as Syria, Somalia, Niger, and Lebanon.
Qatar has always been quick to respond to international disasters and has adopted the good of humanity above all other considerations. In 2025, QFFD launched emergency aid for flood-affected families in Vietnam and Sri Lanka, and donated around $11mn for flood victim housing in Pakistan. In 2023, it provided massive aid to those affected by the 2023 Turkiye-Syria earthquake, donating 10,000 mobile homes for affected families.
Millions of dollars’ worth of supplies, including medical equipment, food and emergency supplies, were flown to countries such as Somalia, Lebanon and Nigeria to deliver quick relief to the trouble-stricken people there.
As the country is keen to maintain long-term, sustainable development for people across the world, education has been a major area of Qatari international contributions and donations.
For instance, the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation has impacted millions of out-of-school children and young people from 78 countries worldwide and helped get them back to school through aid, grants, and loans for educational infrastructure and skill-building. Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia are among the focus areas of such projects, in addition to the considerable contributions and effective projects for the refugee children.
Educational projects included a $2.5mn integrated educational complex in Sri Lanka, and partnerships for thousands of out-of-school children in Djibouti and Kenya. Further, the Educate A Child (EAC) initiative has helped over 14.7 million out-of-school children enrol in primary education classes around the world, giving them hope for a better life and the opportunity to realise their full potential. The initiative has outreach in around 77 countries worldwide, targeting less-privileged and vulnerable children to equip them with equal education and empower them.
Locally, the country has several government and non-government organisations and entities that support needy persons and their families, regardless of their nationalities or backgrounds, through various means such as food donations, education aid and debt relief.
On the popular levels, it has been customary during the holy month of Ramadan, religious occasions and other major festivals to see many Qatari households distributing free meals on the expatriate workers, give them packages of food, and some families and persons even distribute food supplies and clothes on the houses of the targeted needy persons, all done without announcement or brag or causing any embarrassment for the needy, as they see giving as an integral to continue the blessing from heaven.