The winter campaign in Qatar is an annual season of giving that returns every winter, in which donors provide food, clothing and shelter to people hit by the cold. This article gives the results of the seasons from 2018 to 2025 and the start of 2026.
Winter is often linked in people’s minds with a season of goodness and blessing, when they welcome the abundant crops that its heavy rains bring. But the winter season in Qatar has a special kind of goodness. People come forward alone and in groups, private entities and official bodies, to paint the finest pictures of compassion and giving by standing with their brothers and sisters hit by the winter cold, from Syrian refugees and displaced people to others affected around the world. The response of Qataris at every level has become, through seasonal campaigns, a source of the finest scenes and images of solidarity, meeting winter needs for food, clothing and shelter. It comes when the crisis of floods and heavy snowfall intensifies, so that the season may be one of warmth and peace for those affected and displaced.
In this article on the “winter campaign in Qatar” you will learn about:
- Winter 2024-2025: the “How Long?” campaign in 25 countries
- The harvest of 2025 and the start of 2026
- Winter 2023-2024: 7.5 million beneficiaries and the largest share for those affected in Gaza
- Winter 2022-2023: nearly 3 million beneficiaries during the cold season
- Winter 2021-2022: renewed hope and continued giving that reached nearly 2 million people
- Winter 2020-2021: “Warmth and Peace” reaches nearly one million people in 19 countries around the world
- Winter 2019-2020: more than 1.2 million people benefited from the “Warmth and Peace” campaign
- “Haq Al-Sham” 2020: a Qatari campaign to relieve more than one million displaced Syrians
- Winter 2018-2019: the hands of goodness in Qatar warm those affected in 10 countries
- The “Rescue Arsal” campaign: the efforts of donors that turned hardship into a gift
- “Aleppo Labbayk”: when the hearts and hands of the people of Qatar came together to help stricken Aleppo
Winter 2024-2025: the “How Long?” campaign in 25 countries
Qatar Charity launched the “How Long?” campaign to face the dangers of winter 2024-2025 in 25 countries around the world, including Qatar, at an estimated cost of about QAR 72 million. The campaign focused on crisis areas, above all Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Yemen and northern Syria.
In December 2024 the charity distributed to displaced people in southern Gaza more than 4,600 blankets and 18,000 complete bags of winter clothing, with shoes for children and adults. It also planned to distribute 6,000 food baskets, in cooperation with Mercy Around the World.
No announced results for this season were available when the article was updated.
The harvest of 2025 and the start of 2026
The charity announced that about 21 million people benefited from its humanitarian interventions, development projects and social care in 70 countries during 2025. The value of its humanitarian interventions in the first seven months of 2026 was more than QAR 236 million in 31 countries, benefiting about 5.8 million people, with Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and Syria at the top of the response priorities. These are general figures for all of the charity’s programs, not for the winter campaign alone.
Winter 2023-2024: 7.5 million beneficiaries and the largest share for those affected in Gaza
The donations of people of goodness left a deep impact during the 2023-2024 winter campaign, reaching 7.5 million displaced people, refugees and affected families in 14 countries around the world. It had a special impact on families affected in crisis areas such as the Gaza Strip, northern Syria and Yemen. The total cost was about QAR 188 million, figures that exceeded the campaign’s target at launch in both the value of projects and the number of beneficiaries.
QAR 68 million was allocated to aid in Palestine, benefiting 884 thousand people. QAR 48 million was allocated to displaced Syrians, benefiting 4.5 million people. And QAR 12 million was allocated to Yemen, benefiting more than 107 thousand people.
It covered the essentials, from food baskets, winter bags and covers to heating fuel, health services and water.
Winter 2022-2023: nearly 3 million beneficiaries during the cold season
Winter is a season of goodness and blessing, not only for its heavy rains but also for the support of the people of Qatar and their drive to help their brothers and sisters affected by storms and floods. By God’s grace, aid reached nearly 3 million people (2,982,521) among displaced people and affected families in 20 countries around the world.
Its total value was more than QAR 130 million (QAR 130,292,969). It included aid in many fields such as food, winter necessities, shelter, health care and education, as well as emergency relief campaigns.
Winter 2021-2022: renewed hope and continued giving that reached nearly 2 million people
The giving of the people of Qatar continued during the “Warmth and Winter” campaign of 2021-2022, which reached nearly 2 million people (1,909,232) in 17 countries around the world. The relief campaigns provided aid to affected families and eased their suffering in countries facing difficult winter conditions, especially in areas where people were hit by disasters, crises and wars, such as Syria and Lebanon. The total value of the aid reached about QAR 74 million (QAR 73,698,360).
Winter 2020-2021: “Warmth and Peace” reaches nearly one million people in 19 countries around the world
The 2020-2021 “Warmth and Peace” campaign aimed to deliver urgent aid to nearly one million people in 19 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and to provide them with urgent winter relief, focusing on the most affected, such as the displaced and refugees in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Bangladesh. It also helped those affected by the coronavirus crisis in refugee and displacement areas, remote regions and the hardest-hit areas.
The aid given to those affected included food to meet shortages in food stocks, and non-food items such as winter clothes, blankets and heating fuel. It also included needed medicines and medical supplies at the peak of seasonal diseases, in addition to protection and sterilization equipment against the coronavirus.
Winter 2019-2020: more than 1.2 million people benefited from the “Warmth and Peace” campaign
The efforts of the people of goodness in Qatar provided aid in several fields during the “Warmth and Peace” winter campaign, whose value exceeded QAR 57 million (QAR 57,256,970).
It benefited more than 1.2 million people (1,217,546), from the most affected groups in 13 countries around the world, including refugees, the displaced, affected families, orphan families, widows and the homeless.
The support campaign provided aid in 6 main areas: comprehensive relief, food supply, shelter and health. It also covered basic and winter needs, social cohesion and livelihoods.
The “Warmth and Peace” campaign focused on countries facing exceptional conditions, including those hosting huge numbers of refugees, the displaced and the affected, in countries such as Palestine, Syria, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar.
“Haq Al-Sham” 2020: a Qatari campaign to relieve more than one million displaced Syrians
Because the annual winter campaign could not meet the scale of the urgent humanitarian disaster after the largest wave of displacement Syria had seen in early 2020, Qatar Charity, in partnership with Qatari bodies, launched its solidarity campaign “Haq Al-Sham” in February 2020. The campaign aimed to provide urgent aid to ease the suffering of more than one million displaced Syrians, after the harsh conditions in the depth of winter pushed huge numbers into migration, bringing their number then to about 900 thousand Syrians.
With the launch of the campaign, representatives of Qatar Charity, along with Qatari influencers and donors, went to deliver aid to displacement camps inside Syria and to refugees inside Turkey.
The campaign provided food aid and livelihood support, including ready-to-eat canned food and hot meals, bread, bakery operation and kitchen operation. It also provided shelter supplies such as shelter tents and household supply bags.
It also included health aid such as medicines, building and running health facilities and treating malnutrition, along with building and running educational institutions.
It also supported water and sanitation by providing drinking water, equipping toilets and distributing personal hygiene bags.
Donations from donors in Qatar during the live broadcast of the campaign on Qatari media exceeded QAR 149 million, with contributions from individuals, families, companies and Qatari clubs.
Winter 2018-2019: the hands of goodness in Qatar warm those affected in 10 countries
Qatar Charity launched, at the start of winter 2018-2019, large relief projects for the displaced, refugees and families living in exceptional conditions and harsh weather in a number of countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Lebanon and Nepal. This included providing food, shelter and heating fuel, within the “Below Zero” campaign, through its regional offices or in cooperation with its partners from international and UN humanitarian organizations and local partners.
The efforts resulted in distributing basic winter supplies to more than 350 thousand people affected by the cold season and snowstorms, along with health needs for about 10 thousand beneficiaries, especially in Syrian refugee areas and in Gaza, Palestine.
The “Rescue Arsal” campaign: the efforts of donors that turned hardship into a gift
The “Haq Al-Sham” campaign was not the first popular wave of giving by the people of Qatar to support their Syrian refugee and displaced brothers and sisters during the severe winter cold. It adds to a series of relief campaigns going back years.
Everyone remembers the “Rescue Arsal” campaign, which the charity launched in mid-January 2019 to support the Arsal refugee camp for Syrians in northern Lebanon, and which grew to reach camps in other countries, including Jordan, Turkey and Syria.
Winter 2018-2019 was hard on our Syrian refugee brothers and sisters in the Lebanese town of Arsal and other areas, because of the damage that struck them after the snowstorm “Norma”. The “Rescue Arsal” campaign became a turning point through the great response from all segments of society inside Qatar.
“Aleppo Labbayk”: when the hearts and hands of the people of Qatar came together to help stricken Aleppo
The “Aleppo Labbayk” campaign left a deep impact that many remember. Qatari society in all its parts mobilized, ordinary people, institutions and ministries, to support the campaign, which was described as the largest donation campaign to help the Syrian people.
Qatar Charity, along with other Qatari charities, was among the main bodies overseeing the relief campaign.
Qatar Charity succeeded in reaching nearly eight million affected people, with total donations exceeding QAR 165 million.
Frequently asked questions about the winter campaign in Qatar
What is the winter campaign in Qatar?
It is a seasonal campaign that Qatar Charity launches every year with the support of donors in Qatar, to provide food, clothing, shelter and health care to the displaced, refugees and families affected by the cold, inside Qatar and in dozens of countries. Its figures and countries differ from one season to the next.
How many people benefited from the winter campaign in past years?
The 2023-2024 campaign reached 7.5 million people in 14 countries at a cost of about QAR 188 million. The 2022-2023 campaign reached nearly 3 million people in 20 countries at a cost of more than QAR 130 million, as this article shows for each season.
How can I take part in the winter campaign?
You take part through the donation page on the Qatar Charity website, and review the options available in the current campaign before completing your donation, because campaign projects and countries change every season.
Note: this article is updated every year. The latest update (October 2026) added the figures for 2025 and the start of 2026.
