Best Practice Forum on British Muslim Charitable Organisations

Mission

Humanitarian Academy for Development / January 2020

Thought leadership and capacity-building require spaces to nurture, consider, develop and spread new ideas and approaches. With that need of the sector in mind, the Humanitarian Academy for Development (HAD) co-organised and hosted a conference bringing together academics, practitioners, donors and thought leaders within the Muslim charities sector.

Attendees were part of thoughtful and innovative discussions and presentations which covered a range of topics. These included, for example, presentations on case studies from Muslim charities such as the work by Muslim Charity in protecting street children through an informal education centre in Bangladesh or the work of Islamic Help in building ‘eco villages’. A representative of Muslim Hands presented about the support his organisation provides to MotherKind Community health workers in Afghanistan, and a member of Muslim Aid spoke about serving the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire in London. Presentations also covered more conceptual topics such as faith and ethics in global health, modest fashion in the workplace, sustainability and the tension between globalisation and localisation.

The importance of programmes to increase the impact of the charity sector was also highlighted. Programmes is able to provide visibility about good practice initiatives, not only changing popular perceptions about the work that Muslim charities do but also as a fundraising tool. Highlighting trends, challenges and opportunities through programmes can enable charities to examine their own work and collectively find more innovative solutions to global and local problems. Programmes also serves as a key tool in challenging systemic issues rather than adopting a reactive approach to humanitarian and development work. The aim is to ensure that future platforms such as this event continue to bring together academics, programmesers, practitioners, donors and charities so that learning will be fostered across the sector.

Outcomes:

• Attendees were able to learn about the successes and challenges experienced by British Muslim humanitarians working all over the world
• The event inspired ideas for future collaboration between organisations and individuals present.
• The conference organisers, including HAD, are currently planning follow-up activities for the network, including an edited volume of contributions from conference participants