Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief Worldwide is an international non-governmental organization founded in the United Kingdom in 1984. It has international headquarters in Birmingham and a network of national offices, affiliated partners, registered branches and country offices spread over more than 40 countries.
The charity typically assists more than 10 million people each year through emergency response, and development programmes in areas including education, health and livelihood support. It also advocates on behalf of those in need, focusing particularly in its campaigns on climate change, the rights of women and girls, and supporting refugees and displaced people.
Islamic Relief has been registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales since 1989 and is an independent, non-political non-governmental organisation. In 2024, Islamic Relief's income was £275.6 million.
History
Islamic Relief was founded in 1984 by Dr Hany El-Banna and fellow students from the University of Birmingham. From its first donation of 20p, the charity raised £100,000 to help those affected by the famine in Sudan. Since then, Islamic Relief has grown into an international humanitarian organisation with an annual income of hundreds of millions and a presence in more than 40 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America.----
1990s
In 1993, Islamic Relief worked with UK-based newspaper The Independent on an appeal to raise funds for relief efforts during the Bosnian War. The appeal raised £37,000 for Islamic Relief and supported aid delivery throughout the conflict, including during the Siege of Sarajevo.In 1994, Islamic Relief became the first Muslim non-governmental organisation to receive UK government funding when it was awarded £180,000 to support a training centre in North Kordofan, Sudan.
The following year, the charity was the first international relief agency on the ground delivering aid to the Chechen capital, Grozny, after war broke out in the territory. Islamic Relief supplied food, blankets, clothes and medicine to those affected by the fighting.
Islamic Relief became a signatory of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's Code of Conduct in 1999, committing to this international standard of how to provide aid to people affected by emergencies in a non-biased manner. Humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence are the code's core principles.
2000s
In 2002, Islamic Relief signed a Framework Partnership with the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department, recognising the charity's capacity to deliver aid to a high standard.Islamic Relief purports to have been one of the few international aid agencies assisting people in Iraq when war broke out in 2003, providing £9 million worth of aid to people in need.
In late 2004, Islamic Relief responded to the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami, assisting some of the hardest-hit communities. It was Islamic Relief’s largest-scale emergency response at the time and marked the beginning of the organisation’s work in Indonesia.
In 2005, Islamic Relief launched its biggest-ever operation in the United States, supporting those affected by Hurricane Katrina. That same year, the charity joined the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee. It remains a member, along with 14 other major charities.
2010s
In 2010, Islamic Relief launched a major relief and reconstruction operation in Pakistan after the country was hit by the worst floods in living memory at the time. Its work benefited some 428,000 people in more than 580 villages, the charity has reported.2014 saw Islamic Relief begin a partnership with the Lutheran World Federation – the first of its kind between global Islamic and Christian humanitarian organisations. The agreement formalised a programme of joint humanitarian project, policy, research and advocacy, focusing specifically on faith and protection issues.
The decade was punctuated by the conflicts in both Syria and Yemen which according to the United Nations has left a combined 29 million people as refugees.
2020-2025
The spread of COVID-19 impacted Islamic Relief's work around the world, delaying some projects and prompting new emergency responses to cope with the fallout of the pandemic. The charity continued to deliver aid in a safe manner, where possible, and transitioned some of its activities and events online.In 2020, the International Federation of Islamic Relief entities launched a new global governance framework, establishing an International General Assembly from which representatives from around the world elect Islamic Relief Worldwide's board of trustees.
In 2021, Islamic Relief was recertified against the prestigious Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability, a rigorous standard made up of nine commitments designed to ensure charities best meet the needs of the communities they serve. At the time, Islamic Relief was one of only five UK-based charities to hold the full independent certification, which will last until May 2025. The charity was first certified against the CHS in 2017.
In 2022, Islamic Relief marked World Refugee Day with a joint conference with the LWF, and another of its close faith-based partners HIAS, on 'Welcoming the Stranger'.
In 2022, the charity responded as devastating flooding swept across Pakistan. Islamic Relief provided food, water, shelter and other emergency items to affected people, continuing to support communities in the months that followed the disaster. By the end of the year, Islamic Relief had assisted over 1 million people and raised over £10 million to support communities affected by the flooding.
In 2023, Islamic Relief launched major responses and appeals to address crises, including the Türkiye-Syria earthquake, the outbreak of conflict in Sudan and the unprecedented escalation in violence in Gaza.
The charity also published its new 10-year Global Strategy, laying out how it would seek to achieve three core outcomes: saving lives and reducing vulnerability to humanitarian crises, empowering communities to tackle poverty and vulnerability, and advocating for change to eliminate the global and local root causes of inequality.
In 2024, Islamic Relief continued to deliver aid in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria as their differing humanitarian crises deepened. The organisation also scaled up its support in Sudan as the crisis reached catastrophic to become the largest displacement crisis anywhere in the world. Islamic Relief reached more than 1.1 million people in Sudan with humanitarian support in 2024.
Islamic Relief's work
Vision and mission
Islamic Relief's work is guided by the values and teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah, the prophetic example. These shape the organisation's five key values: ikhlas, ihsan, rahma, adl, and amana.Islamic Relief serves communities in need regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, working to provide lasting routes out of poverty and to empower individuals to transform their lives.
It envisages a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled, and people respond as one to the suffering of others. It is committed to the principle of Do No Harm, striving to ensure aid is appropriate for the communities it serves, and to understand and minimise any potential negative impacts of aid delivery.
Humanitarian programmes
Islamic Relief responds to humanitarian crises around the world, aiming to reduce the impact of conflicts and natural disasters. The charity focuses on rapid response, providing emergency relief and protecting vulnerable people. It also helps communities and governments to prepare for future incidents through disaster risk reduction programmes.Some of the major emergency interventions launched by Islamic Relief have included providing life-saving aid during the Bosnian War in the 1990s, providing medical assistance during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and managing refugee camps in Darfur, Sudan. The charity has also responded to devastating natural disasters including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 and a severe drought in the Horn of Africa in 2011.
In 2024, Islamic Relief reported that it had reached 14.5 million people across 38 countries in 2024 through emergency response, development and campaigning projects.
The charities current emergency appeals include supporting communities uprooted by violence in Gaza and Sudan, and delivering vital food aid to 2 million people at risk of famine and disease in Yemen each month. Other current appeals include supporting communities devastated by earthquakes in Afghanistan and Myanmar, and floods in Pakistan.
Islamic Relief also runs annual seasonal programmes, including and , and a winter programme through which blankets, fuel and other essentials are provided to help people in need survive the colder months. These programmes reach millions of people each year.
Development programmes
Islamic Relief's development programmes aim to empower individuals and communities to emerge from poverty and become more self-reliant. The programmes focus on providing solutions to the challenges faced by those in need, and include climate adaptation, livelihood support, and orphan sponsorship.In 2011, Islamic Relief began a Programme Partnership Agreement with the UK government's Department for International Development, now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, recognising the charity's capacity to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals. Islamic Relief's development strategy has been consistently aligned to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The charity reported that in 2024, more than 4.6 million people received life-changing support through 407 development projects. Those assisted through these projects included more than 97,700 orphaned children through the Orphan Sponsorship Programme, while seasonal Ramadan and qurbani programmes helped ease the hunger of more than 1 million and 3 million people.
Islamic Relief also supported over 1.6 million people with healthcare interventions and provided better access to water,