Wedad was founded in 2017 to serve infants and toddlers who were abandoned by their biological parents. We strive to create public awareness about this issue through education, advocacy and research, and we work tirelessly to reduce the number of young children who would otherwise be dependent on the government and/or be homeless.
We keep detailed records and accounts of every abandoned infant or toddler that comes through our organization, and we provide this information to scholars and researchers with the hope that they can find additional solutions and draft policies to decrease the overall number of abandoned infants worldwide.
There are a few things that set Wedad apart from other organizations.
First, we are a child-first organization. We believe that each child has the right to life and that infants and toddlers who lose their parental care are still entitled to the same legal and societal protection that any child has. Everything that we do is to ensure that each abandoned infant or toddler gets parental care in a safe, loving and healthy home.
Secondly, since our focus is on infants and toddlers, we highly encourage breastfeeding. Not only are there proven benefits for babes to be breastfed, there are positive results for the mother, family, and society at large.
Third, our methods are grounded in research that centers around fostering abandoned infants. We work with world-renowned researches, scholars, and scientists who have helped us create detailed training programs for foster families. These foster “kafalah” families work with partners and employees to help the family and the child make a smooth transition into society.
Finally, our approach is long-term. We’re not just interested in the first few years of the child’s life, our goal is to get children placed into a loving, safe environment where they have a sense of family and ultimately grow up into responsible citizens and assets to society.