A backpack, notebook, or school uniform can remove a practical barrier between a child and the classroom. Through Back to School 2025, HDF and its local partners provided learning essentials to 21,848 children, according to HDF’s Back to School 2025 Impact Report.
The report records work across more than 20 countries, reaching children affected by poverty, displacement, and conflict. Packages were adapted to local needs and included combinations of backpacks, stationery, uniforms, shoes, lunch items, creative materials, Qur’an sets, calculators, and hygiene supplies.
21,848 children equipped to learn
The campaign focused on three practical goals: reducing the cost barriers that keep children from school, supporting children at greater risk of exclusion, and helping families prepare for a new academic year.
HDF’s report provides the following confirmed regional totals:
- Kenya: 4,200 children
- Somalia: 4,082 children
- Libya: 1,556 children
- Afghanistan: 1,286 children
- Yemen: 832 children
- Sudan: 808 children
- Palestine: 643 children
The remaining reach included children in Egypt, Jordan, Türkiye, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Togo, and Pakistan, as well as Syrian refugee communities. HDF should publish the complete country-by-country table once the locations behind the report’s “more than 20 countries” total are reconciled.
Support for children in Gaza and the West Bank
In Palestine, HDF’s report records support for 143 children in Gaza and 500 children in the West Bank. Children received combinations of backpacks, pencils, notebooks, uniforms, and other school essentials.
The supplies did not replace damaged schools or remove the restrictions families faced. They addressed a specific need: giving children practical materials they could use wherever learning was available.
Across other locations, the form of assistance reflected local circumstances. In Kenya, HDF reported supporting 4,200 children through school and partner distributions. In Somalia, 4,082 children received supplies. Programs in Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, and other countries provided locally selected packages for the school year.
What the school packages contained
Package contents varied by country, school, age group, and identified need. Across the campaign, HDF reported providing:
- Backpacks
- Notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, and sharpeners
- Uniforms and shoes
- Lunchboxes and water bottles
- Crayons, drawing pads, clay, and paint
- Qur’an sets, calculators, and hygiene kits in selected locations
This distinction matters: not every child received every listed item. The campaign combined different materials to create packages appropriate for each distribution.
Education as a shared trust
In his message accompanying the report, HDF CEO Shaykh Abdirahman Kariye wrote: “Education is more than books and pencils. It is a sacred trust, an amanah, and the foundation of a strong Ummah.”
That trust includes reporting clearly. Donors should be able to see how many children were reached, where distributions took place, what each package contained, and which local partners helped deliver the work.
Educational support can also carry benefit beyond the day of distribution. Children continue using the materials through their lessons, while families receive relief from part of the cost of preparing for school.
Read the report and continue the work
Read the full Back to School 2025 Impact Report for HDF’s program objectives, regional summaries, reported totals, and photographs from the campaign.
Support HDF’s Global Back to School campaign and help provide school supplies to children facing financial and humanitarian barriers to education.
May Allah ﷻ accept every contribution, bless the children and families supported, and make their knowledge a lasting source of benefit.
