# UNHCR launches Zakat app to unlock Islamic giving for refugees

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/12/30/unhcr-launches-zakat-app-to-unlock-islamic-giving-for-refugees/
- Published: 2020-12-30T14:53:38+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced the launch
of GiveZakat, an app to help users calculate and pay their Zakat. Money donated 
through the app will be used to support refugees and internally displaced people.**

Zakat is the obligatory giving away of 2.5% of an individual’s wealth each year 
which forms one of the five pillars of Islam.

The app allows users to choose which country their zakat will be spent in and produces
bespoke reports, showing donors how and when their money has been used. The app 
also includes a blog section, sharing the stories of the families donors are helping.

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![](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2020/12/image-2.png)

Khaled Khalifa, Regional Representative at UNHCR, said [in a statement](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/newly-launched-givezakat-app-set-unlock-power-islamic-khaled-khalifa/?trackingId=YL3Jotr3T6C5YPJcm0bLlQ%3D%3D):

> “Zakat alone can be a game-changer for refugees and IDPs, many of which are poor,
> needy, debtors and wayfarers, rendering them eligible to receive Zakat… We wanted
> to make sure that Zakat donors have access to a user-friendly digital platform
> to easily understand how their Zakat (and Sadaqah) donations can make a direct
> impact in the lives of the world’s most vulnerable refugees and internally displaced
> families.”

On 18th December, UNHCR launched a “supplementary appeal” for its 2021 Covid response.
The UN agency is seeking $455 million to support interventions for refugees, including
cash assistance, prevention and response to gender-based violence (GBV), and promotion
of mental health and psychological well-being.

The app is available to download now on [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.unhcr.zakat&hl=en%20%E2%80%8B)
and [IOS](https://apps.apple.com/lb/app/givezakat-refugee-zakat-fund/id1510296509%E2%80%8B).