World Day of Way Orphans is observed every year on January 6 to raise awareness about children who lost their parents to war and other conflict. 

These children are more vulnerable to health, economic, and political instabilities. They are often left on the verge of malnutrition, displacement, mental health breakdown, insufficient healthcare or education, and also subject to child abuse.

UNICEF defines an orphan as “a child under 18 years of age who has lost one or both parents to any cause of death”. In a press release from December 31 last year, the UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, “Year after year, parties to conflict continue to demonstrate a dreadful disregard for the rights and wellbeing of children. Children are suffering, and children are dying because of this callousness. Every effort should be made to keep these children safe from harm.”

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The day was initiated by the French organization, SOS Enfants en Detresses , to help children left orphaned due to war or conflict. Its relevance has only grown since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, with many children losing one or both of their parents, and countries struggling to meet their basic demands. 

UNICEF’s Fore said in the press release, “Ultimately, children living through war will only be safe when parties to conflict take concrete action to protect them and stop committing grave violations,” said Fore. “As we approach the end of 2021, I call on all parties to conflict to end attacks against children, uphold their rights and strive for peaceful political resolutions to war.”

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In observance of this day, here’s a list of a few inspirational quotes, curated by Jagran English. 

1. “Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms, but once you do, everything changes.” -David Platt

2. “Orphans, are the one who has no parents, but have many parents. But having ones parents is more valuable than the other having many parents (it doesn’t depend on numbers, but the feelings matters).” -Siddwin S. Shetty

3. “God is pleased with no music below so much as with the thanksgiving songs of relieved widows and supported orphans; of rejoicing, comforted, and thankful persons.” -Jeremy Taylor

4. “There are many in the world dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love.” -Mother Teresa

5. “Families don’t have to match. You don’t have to look like someone else to love them.” -Leigh Anne Tuohy

6. “Children without failies are the most vulnerable people in the world.”

7. “Orphans are the only ones who get to choose their fathers, and they love them twice as much”

8. “God is pleased with no music below so much as with the thanksgiving songs of relieved widows and supported orphans; of rejoicing, comforted, and thankful persons”

9. “What sad faces one always sees in the asylums for orphans! It is more fatal to neglect the heart than the head.”

10. “It is not a good honor to disrespect an orphan, because they once had a family like yours.”