E-Library

The ultimate challenge: Global Food Crisis In this issue we look at one of the most serious challenges faced by the world today: the global food crisis. As a consequence of shortfalls in supply, higher levels of demand and rising fuel prices, the cost of food is rising rapidly. The effect has been most acute on the poorest. In these most vulnerable communities rates of malnutrition amongst children are rising and without assistance, the lives of thousands of children are at risk. Islamic Relief works in some of the countries worst affected by the food crisis. In Ethiopia, we are working [...]

15 years of serving the needy 1999 was significant not only for marking our fifteenth year of existence, but most importantly for marking a milestone in the scale and quality of our work. We could not have imagined 15 or even 10 years ago, working from a single small office in Birmingham that in 1999 Islamic Relief would take a leading role in alleviating three major humanitarian disasters and a host of smaller crises with activities including shelter, relief and development programmes with seven figure budgets and hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries. Office http://www.islamic-relief.org/ Available upon request Citation Islamic Relief Worldwide [...]

Islamic Relief South Africa Making a world of difference Islamic Relief South Africa was founded in Johannesburg in 2003. Additional field offices have since been opened in Cape Town, Durban and Pietermaritzburg. The organisation is registered with: The registrar of companies as a section 21 for non-profit company (registration number 2004/025107/08) in September 2004 The non profit organisations directorate of the national department of social development (043-357-npo) The South African revenue services as an approved public benefit organisation. (pbo 930018104) As a registered PBO, all donations made to IRSA are tax deductible. Contact us today for a tax certificate as per [...]

Unfair trade rules continue to lock millions of people in the developing world in poverty. Two billion people – a third of humanity – work hard to support themselves yet still struggle to survive on £1 per day or less. Through Fairtrade we are trying to help tip the balance in favour of poor farmers and workers. You can help by taking action in Fairtrade Fortnight (23 February – 8 March 2009) and throughout the year. In this guide you can read about the difference Fairtrade is making for producers and find out what you and your community can do to [...]

How faiths and aid agencies work together against poverty and disaster Aid agencies are sometimes also called NGOs (non-governmental organisations). This means that they don’t work for governments, but they do often work with governments, to fight poverty. Islamic Relief is just one of many, many aid agencies and NGOs working to help people across the world. It started in 1984, when a young medical doctor in Birmingham – Hany El Banna – wanted to help the victims of famine in Africa. He started fund-raising with a friend and the first donation was from a young boy for just 20p. Over [...]

Leaving behind their loved ones and the comfort and safety of their homes, aid workers of every race, creed, colour and background work selflessly on every continent and make a difference to the lives of complete strangers. Putting aside all thought for their safety and comfort, members of the NGO community offer assistance to those devastated by natural man-made disasters. They are the ambassadors of goodwill whose intervention into the lives of millions and whose devotion to duty reminds the world that the spirit of sacrifice lives on. Without the support of the international humanitarian community, disadvantaged and vulnerable communities would [...]

Rebuilding shattered lives On Saturday 8th of October 2005, the world awoke to a devastating earthquake hitting Northern Pakistan and India. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale and penetrating just six miles below the earth's surface, the quake caused an enormous loss of life with current death toll estimates surging past 74,000. Entire villages have been wiped out by the quake, with hundreds of homes destroyed making this one of the world's worst disasters of recent times. An estimated 75,000 people have been injured and up to 3.5 million individuals left homeless. Office http://www.islamic-relief.org/ Available upon request Citation Islamic Relief Worldwide [...]

In striving to be the best Muslim, we aim to perfect our ritual acts of worship, but also to live our lives by the principles and spirit of Islam. Every day we struggle to uphold principles of justice, fairness and honesty in our dealings with family, friends and colleagues. But our responsibilities are not restricted to only those directly around us. All creations of Allah – nature, animals, humans – have rights and we are duty-bound to ensure we are meeting our responsibilities to them. One responsibility we have is to less well off people in the developing world. Fairtrade is [...]

  Just over 5 months have passed since Cyclone “Aila” hit Bangladesh( 25 May 2009) but sufferings still continuing in the severely affected districts of Khulna and Shatkhira where more than 201,982 displaced people (70% of severely affected people) are still living in temporary places and shlters. According to the government estimate 1149 million US dollars is needed to assist in the recovery and reconstruction after Cyclone Aila. In addition to the government’s allocation, international humanitarian agencies have only contributed 20 million US dollars (as of 31 Oct’09). According to a recent (Oct’09) study done by the South Asia Association of [...]

Islamic Relief stressed the importance for strengthening disaster response system Islamic Relief Pakistan Country Director Fadlullah Wilmot stressed the need for strengthening the disaster response system through institutional capacity building for a timely response to deal with major disasters. He was talking to media persons in two-day disaster management exhibition held in Peshawar on Thursday (April 21, 2011). A two day disaster management exhibition was being arranged by Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management (CDPM), University of the Peshawar in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The purpose of exhibition was to appreciate efforts of various organisations and line agencies [...]