Islamic Relief works in over 40 countries worldwide, providing life-saving humanitarian aid to those in need, and fighting poverty through sustainable development projects. Inspired by faith, we serve everyone in need regardless of gender, race or religion.
We help impoverished communities access basic services, including education, water, sanitation, and healthcare. Through livelihood projects, skills development and mentorship, we help communities break the cycle of poverty.
Our integrated approach to projects helps transform lives worldwide.
By the Grace of God and your generous donations, we are grateful to share the impact of the work you have supported this year.
Because of you, we are reaching 3.3 million people in 2022 and implementing more than 170 projects to help bring relief and break the cycle of poverty.
Every donation you made this year helped fill someone’s heart with happiness. Thank you for your continued generosity and care!
3.3 million people
170 projects
Our Key Focus Areas
Life-saving humanitarian response
Long-term sustainable development
Advocacy and campaigning on local to global root causes
Our Intended 5 Year Impact
More lives saved and vulnerability to humanitarian crises reduced
Communities empowered to tackle poverty and vulnerability
Global and local root causes eliminated through systemic change
In order to achieve our vision and mission, Islamic Relief Canada has developed four key strategic goals. These goals are carefully thought out and referenced quarterly by a senior leadership team that is led by the CEO, to ensure the organization is on track to meeting our goals. Relevant and carefully crafted key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to monitor progress against the strategy. The goals are further disseminated to departmental objectives and with respective KPIs which are monitored on a quarterly basis.
Islamic Relief Canada aims to execute quality, impactful programming, whether responding to emergencies or addressing long-term development needs.
Within our multi-year strategy, Islamic Relief Canada’s 2022 annual plan includes programmatic sectors determined in close collaboration with our country office colleagues, who are present in our countries of operation.
We recognize that country contexts are dynamic, so we remain flexible in responding to the sectoral needs as they shift while still maintaining constant development efforts on the ground. For example, in the face of a looming and dire food security crisis in East Africa, Islamic Relief Canada determined with the relevant country teams to shift anticipated development funding to address the immediate, life-saving needs.
This is achieved through increasing the quality of our community engagement, fundraising efforts, making connections with new communities, and improving our donor stewardship. This can be measured by the number of active donors, amount raised annually and percentage increase of our reach across the Muslim and Canadian charity sector.
This is achieved by investing in volunteers and youth to enhance their skills and capacity. This can be measured by an increase in leadership skills for leaders, higher volunteer engagement scores, and the number of youth who take on formal leadership roles.
This is achieved by designing our programs to focus on the long-term effects and impact, keeping the communities involved at the centre of our projects, and using our resources to research and advocate for tackling the root causes of poverty and inequality. This can be measured by an increase in long-term development projects, amount received in institutional funding, and our advocacy effort score.
This is achieved through cultivating a vibrant organizational culture, inspired by our Islamic values and focused on learning, innovation and operational excellence. This can be measured by the percentage of staff engaged, innovative initiatives implemented, and reduction from inherent to current risk of the top 10 organizational risks.
Ebad Rahman obtained his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science prior to that. He is an experienced corporate lawyer who specializes in commercial law and corporate matters. Ebad has been a dedicated member of Islamic Relief Canada’s board since 2016. His dedication and commitment to excellence in humanitarian work led to him assuming the role of chairman in 2021.
Dr. Hany El Banna was the founder and President of Islamic Relief Worldwide. Since he stepped down from IRW he has also founded several charities, including the Humanitarian Forum and the Muslim Charities Forum. He is also a board member of the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA). He has visited over 60 of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries on behalf of these organizations. Dr. El Banna has been with Islamic Relief Canada since its incorporation in 2005, serving as the chairman until 2021.
Dr. El Tantawy Attia worked in the Reactor Physics and Nuclear Analysis Departments of the Ontario Power General for more than 27 years before retiring in 2003. Dr. Attia has been an active member of the Muslim community, previously serving as President of the Muslim Investment Group and the Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation. He also currently serves as the Executive Director of Toronto Masjid.
Naseem Mithoowani is a practicing lawyer in the GTA, along with serving as an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, and as a parttime adjudicator at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. She is known for her courageous and bold approach to challenge the treatment of minorities in Canada and has won high-profile legal cases in recent years. In addition to the exemplary legal work that she does defending minorities and underrepresented communities, she is also an active member of several community, political and religious organizations.
Dr. Hany El-Banna, O.B.E, M.D.MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr. El-Tantawy Attia, Ph.D. MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Aarif Pathan was a staff physician in the Department of Internal Medicine at William Osler Health Corporation in Toronto from 2003 to 2008 before returning to Edmonton where he has been practicing Family Medicine in private practice. He is dedicated to promoting healthcare in underprivileged communities in Edmonton. A longtime donor and volunteer for Islamic Relief, he also has a passion for mentorship and has coached community league soccer and basketball.
Dr. Raza Khan was trained at the University of Toronto (MD) and performed his residency at the University of Ottawa in family medicine. His full-time practice is in Brantford, Ontario where he has been practicing in family medicine since 1997. In addition, he also serves as a Director and Spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Hamilton, President of the Muslim Association of Brantford, as well as the past ViceChair of the Canadian Relief Foundation.
Afnan Attia is currently the Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at Morneau Shepell, an HR services company based out of Toronto, Canada. She graduated from the Schulich School of Business at York University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Afnan has volunteered with various Islamic notfor-profit organizations, and in addition to joining the Board, Afnan has recently co-founded The Female Finance Project, a not-for-profit that is dedicated to offering financial education and empowerment for women.
Dr. Hany Soliman, M.D
Dr. Hany Soliman is a Radiation Oncologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. He is actively involved in medical research and education. He was brought up in the Toronto area and has a bachelor of science and medical degree from the University of Toronto. He has been involved in the Muslim community at a grassroots level and has a passion for charitable work.
The Islamic Relief Canada Board of Directors are responsible for ensuring that all the organization’s agreed charitable objectives and activities are within Canadian law.
Their work includes setting the strategic direction and agreeing on the financial plan. The Board acts on advice and information from regular meetings with the Chief Executive, Chief Financial and Chief Governance Officers.
In early 2021, the Board also appointed a Chief Governance Officer to support the Directors in implementing best governance practices. As a result, several improvements took place during the year, in addition to a board assessment that helped the Board to identify critical areas for improvements. The majority of the recommendations have already been implemented, and the rest are in progress and being actioned.
The Board holds quarterly meetings to review the overall progress – on the basis of reports from the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team – and to assess the organization’s financial position and risks. During these meetings, they:
The Board has delegated specific responsibilities to two regular committees:
Members of each committee are appointed by the Board, and the chair of each committee reports back to the Board at quarterly formal meetings.
The FARM committee is made up of two members of the Board of Directors, of which the Treasurer is the chair of the committee, in addition to three other independent members who have the relevant expertise in Finance, Investment and Audit and Risk Management.
The committee oversees the preparation of the annual budgets, as well as annual and quarterly financial reports. It reviews the assurances provided to Directors about the control environment in operation during that year, and considers reports from our external auditor and investment managers. This committee meets four times a year and anytime an emergency occurs.
The Governance and Nominations committee comprises board members and generally oversees the selection, recruitment and onboarding process of new board members.
The Governance and Nominations Committee is supported by the Chief Executive and Chief Governance Officers. It meets as and when needed, reporting directly to the Board of Directors. In the year 2021, the board assessed several potential candidates and nominated one person for membership. This committee meets four times a year and anytime an emergency occurs.
We at Islamic Relief Canada believe that effective risk management is key to successfully delivering our strategic priorities and achieving our ambitions for the people we serve.
The top 10 risks of the organization are reviewed quarterly by the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee (FARM) and annually by the Board of Directors. Our Chief Governance Officer oversees the quality and compliance to risk registers of the organization and provides quarterly reports to FARM and the Board.
In 2021, an updated Risk Management Framework was reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. Top key risks were identified, including:
During the year, a comprehensive cybersecurity maturity assessment was conducted by a specialist firm which resulted in a number of recommendations, of which some have already been implemented, and others are planned to be underway over the next two years.
“Regardless of programmatic challenges and risks that arise, Islamic Relief Canada remains adaptable to any context...”
Islamic Relief Canada remains committed to upholding the highest standards of safeguarding, tailoring our measures to reflect the environments in which we work. All safeguarding reports are taken seriously and in accordance with our procedures. We are committed to taking a clear survivorcentred approach and offer support routinely to those affected.
We continue to strengthen our safeguarding policies and procedures. Our complaints policy was reviewed and approved by FARM, and a new serious incident protocol was introduced and ratified by the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors are committed to ensuring that everyone we work with is protected and supported in the event that any abuse takes place. Further work and improvement are constantly being carried out to ensure that we have the best systems and processes of protection, prevention, detection, and support mechanisms in place.
There are common challenges when implementing and operating programs across many of our countries of operation, from Ethiopia to Lebanon and Afghanistan, to name a few. Insecurity and inflation remain key challenges, particularly when operating within fragile crises.
Our country teams address insecurity through the sensitive management of relations with the relevant local authorities and communities. They coordinate movement within project areas and adhere to context-specific security standard operating procedures.
In terms of inflation, we analyze the level of risk and plan accordingly. For example, if an analysis illustrates a potential rise in the price of specific commodities during an emergency, we strive to initiate procurement as quickly as possible and secure a reasonable price with a supplier for the remainder of the project.
Regardless of programmatic challenges and risks that arise, Islamic Relief Canada remains adaptable to any context, trying our absolute best to mitigate risks and respond in a timely manner.
We believe in putting the world’s most vulnerable first and that an equitable approach is vital to responding to the needs of each community.
In collaboration with communities, rights-holders are chosen using a vulnerability and selection criteria process to ensure we reach the individuals and families most in need. The participation of rights-holders before and during each project ensures that the support is specific to their needs.
Our aim is to decolonize the language we use in our nonprofit work by taking a rights-based approach. We do not use the term beneficiary, as a beneficiary is a person who receives benefits or an advantage from a benefactor, a term based on colonial practices.
Rather, we seek to use a human rights-based approach, which recognizes that inequality, discriminatory practices, and marginalization deny people their human rights and keep them in cycles of poverty. This approach focuses on working alongside the most marginalized communities and individuals to develop their capacity to know, exercise, claim, and seek redress for their rights.
The rights-holders we support have a right to access the resources and services we provide. We pledge to always uphold the dignity of those we serve and continuously do better.
We understand the respective priorities and vulnerabilities of unique groups, including protection risks and accessibility needs. Our responses prioritize the dignity, safety and unique needs of these individuals and groups to mitigate risks and ensure an equitable approach for all.
We take steps to consider how the time and location of an aid distribution impacts people differently, ensuring access for disadvantaged groups such as female-headed households or people with disabilities. This means incorporating measures like designated lines for women, transportation support, or door-to-door delivery.
Putting each community at the heart of our response is imperative. Our projects are rooted in participatory community engagement to better understand and account for the needs, barriers, capacities, and opportunities of women, men, girls, and boys.
An example of this is directly involving women and girls in the selection of a water well location or bathroom facilities. This supports the unique safety concerns they may face, and facilitates their ability to partake in economic activities and attain a greater quality of life.
Children Orphans
30% women
Women
Elderly
13% persons with disabilities
People with disabilities
Female-headed households
22% boys
25% men
24% girls
When floods strike vulnerable communities, fires rip through markets or the threat of famine leaves families starving, Islamic Relief is on the ground responding immediately. In 2022 we were able to respond to numerous emergencies around the world and continue our ongoing efforts to provide life-saving relief to nearly 1.4 million people.
Our emergency responses assess the urgent needs of the community and implement tailored life-saving humanitarian aid. We work efficiently to ensure the most vulnerable have access to food, clean water, shelter, and basic services such as education, sanitation, and healthcare. When the cameras leave, we are still on the ground, rebuilding communities and helping them recover from tragedy.
Afghanistan has been ravaged by conflict and political insecurity for decades, which has left 24 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Compounded by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck southeast Afghanistan on June 22, 2022, and destroyed 36,000 homes, the need for aid is heightened more than ever.
Our earthquake response in the Barmal district of Paktika province provides 147 transitional shelters, 161 hygiene kits, 140 food packs, as well as construct 48 latrines for vulnerable households. In Herat, Kandahar and Balkh provinces, over 3,500 families facing food insecurity are receiving food packs containing:
Internally displaced people, returnees, and host communities in Behsood, Surkhrood, and Khewa districts, as well as Jalalabad city of Nangarhar province are receiving protection and WASH support. These communities are actively taking part in child protection training and awareness sessions, as well as being provided protection services, new clean water systems and latrines, water storage bins, hygiene items, and dignity kits.
70,803 rights-holders
4 ongoing projects
Combating Famine with Emergency Food Support
Emergency Highlight
Your Zakat helped here!
Countless people are experiencing famine-like conditions in places like Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Conflict and violence, climate change, and Covid-19, along with compounded economic shocks have left 274 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
As part of the Humanitarian Coalition, donations made to Islamic Relief Canada between June 15 to July 17, 2022, were matched by the Government of Canada to implement projects in Somalia and Kenya. Government-matched funds are providing 3,000 families with unconditional cash transfers and 18,000 individuals with emergency water trucking across both countries.
Our teams on the ground are also reaching vulnerable people across Ethiopia and South Sudan through food packs, hygiene kits, cash grants, water facilities, livestock treatment, training, and awareness campaigns in protection, nutrition, and hygiene. Together with the contributions of our global Islamic Relief family, we have been able to reach 431,362 right-holders affected by famine and drought in East Africa.
6 ongoing projects
116,172 rights-holders
Emergency Highlight
Your Zakat helped here!
Islamic Relief is distributing emergency shelter, food, hygiene kits, household kits, tarpaulin sheets, psychosocial support and conditional cash grants through 5 emergency projects in response to recent mass flooding events in Pakistan. As part of the Humanitarian Coalition, donations made to Islamic Relief Canada between August 1 to September 28, 2022, were matched by the Government of Canada. Global Affairs Canada also provided funding to help support our response to the flooding.
When deadly floods struck Balochistan, Islamic Relief reached the districts of Pishin, Quetta, Dadu, Sindh, and Nushki to distribute shelter kits, cash grants, hygiene kits, and kitchen supplies. 9,000 vulnerable families in the DI Khan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are receiving cash grants, nutritional supplements, menstrual hygiene kits, and psychosocial support.
In Sindh and South Punjab, our team is distributing food packs and non-food items, including tarpaulin sheets and hygiene kits, to 1,760 vulnerable families in Sindh and tents to an additional 244 families in South Punjab.
5 ongoing projects
137,341 rights-holders
Your Zakat helped here!
Ambaarhi is a widow and mother of 3 young children residing in Dodo Khan Laghari in the Sindh province. In her province alone, flooding has destroyed nearly 1.5 million homes and impacted 14.5 million people.
They are not just numbers. The floods have washed away familiar faces, close-knitted families, livelihoods, and the dreams of millions. For Ambaarhi, she believes she is living in a nightmare. She repeats in shock, “The flood destroyed our house.”
Knee deep in the very water that took her home, Ambaarhi peers back at where her house used to stand. Filled with worry and grief, she said, “Ever since we lost our home to the floods, my children and I spent 7 days out in the open. We had nowhere to go.”
For those 7 nights, “No one came to our help. We have been sitting in flood water, and this water will take our lives.” Caged by water in a pseudo prison, Ambaarhi braced herself for the coming days. “News of more flooding is making me anxious. Where would I be able to find more shelter?”
After consecutive days of flooding and relentless nights of dimming hope, the answer to her call finally came.
Through Islamic Relief’s emergency flood response, Ambaarhi and her family received urgent food packs, hygiene kits, and temporary shelter. She shares, “Islamic Relief is the first organization that has reached our village with lifesaving aid and shelter.”
For families like Ambaarhi’s, the thousands of food packs, hygiene kits, and shelter support you have funded act as a lifeline.
Islamic Relief Canada is a member of the Humanitarian Coalition (HC), an association of the top 12 leading aid organizations to provide Canadians with a simple and effective way to help during international humanitarian disasters.
In response to emergencies, member agencies unite to raise funds by mobilizing media, businesses and individual Canadians – all with the purpose of saving more lives together. The Canadian Government exclusively awards any matching funds during emergencies to the Humanitarian Coalition, allowing us to get your donations doubled when it’s needed most.
Additionally, through the Humanitarian Coalition’s Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund (CHAF), member agencies who are better positioned to respond to an emergency can be awarded extra government funding.
In 2022, Islamic Relief Canada launched three joint appeals through the HC, two of which had government matching funds. We were also awarded CHAF funding for one emergency response:
Joint Appeal & Government Matching Fund
psychosocial support
food packs nutritional supplements cash grants hygiene kits
Joint Appeal & Government Matching Fund
food packs hygiene kits
cash grants emergency
water trucking
Bangladesh Flash
Joint Appeal & Government Matching Fund
CHAF Funding for Islamic Relief Canada
multipurpose cash grants
food packs hygiene kits
shelter repair hygiene kits
cash grants emergency
water trucking
hygiene awareness
Joint Appeal
food hygiene kits
cash grants household kits
28 Countries
80 Projects
Islamic Relief employs an integrated approach in our emergency response and development work, and that is why we design our projects to combine multiple sectors: food security, education, health, livelihood, protection, shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Our development projects address a number of crosscutting issues at the same time, bypassing short-term interventions and high running costs to instead provide longterm sustainable and community oriented solutions. This ensures both an amplified impact and sustainable change.
Livelihood
Protection
Education
Health & Nutrition
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Empowering families to run their own businesses and implement innovative food solutions, as a vital key to bringing communities out of poverty.
To support the livelihoods of farmers in Palestine recuperating from devastating attacks that uprooted their olive groves, economic strife, unemployment, and unstable weather, Islamic Relief facilitated the planting of new olive trees and the cultivation of new olive groves.
This project supports farmers financially to improve their income-generating capacity and increase green areas and environmental protection in Palestine. Farmers are being provided with 30-70 seedlings and cash grants to install simple irrigation networks and purchase essential equipment to enhance the cultivation conditions in accordance with agricultural standards. Orientation and training sessions are also being provided to farmers, namely on agribusiness operations, crop protection, and environmental sustainability.
29 Projects in 2022
303,608 Rights-Holders
2,788 individuals
Boucary Sangalba is a farmer and the chief of Koreiberi village. In June 2020, when armed bandits attacked the village, his entire community moved to Douentza, located more than 40 km away.
Islamic Relief began its multi-year project in his village in August 2020, at a time when the harvest was incredibly poor.
Boucary shared, ”This project was of paramount importance to us because it came at a time when we had nothing from our harvest. Armed bandits had taken our animals away, and our women’s vegetable gardens suffered from lack of water.”
During the agricultural season, he spent his time in the farmlands, cultivating millet and rice plots. A time-consuming and gruesome manual task completed by using a hoe.
Thanks to the agricultural equipment provided by Islamic Relief, his work was filled with ease! Boucary expressed in gratitude, “Thanks to the tiller donated by Islamic Relief, my farmland has been plowed for rice and millet cultivation!”
The most rewarding aspect of these projects is that the community reaps the benefits for years to come, “We are happy for all these achievements in our village and I am sure that the communities of this village will benefit from these achievements for many years. With the micro-dam, the communities will be able to produce lots of rice and other crops like millet will also benefit from the water retention. The future for our village looks very bright in terms of food security and economic empowerment.”
For entire villages like Boucary’s, your gift benefits them for years to come, helping them generate livelihoods and reach economic empowerment.Your Zakat helped here!
Saving lives by providing urgent medical support, access to health and psychosocial services, and implementing innovative food solutions globally to improve food security, sustainability and nutrition.
This project works in Tataouine to empower women both economically and socially whilst focusing on improving their health. We created eight women’s groups to increase their access to sustainable livelihoods through production tools, training, and marketing support. This project builds microprojects for 50 families to aid them in increasing income generation.
Additionally, this project emphasizes women’s health in rural communities. Activities include raising awareness of reproductive health, women’s rights, and gender-based violence while training rights-holders on first aid techniques. Through our partnership with health caravans, composed of specialized doctors, midwives and nurses, we can provide high-quality health and medical care and detect illnesses such as breast cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
8 Projects in 2022
450,492 Rights-Holders Project Highlight
2,737 individuals
Lana lives in the Naher El Bared, a Palestinian Refugee camp in Northern Lebanon with her parents and two older brothers. Since birth, she has suffered from various health conditions, leaving her unable to walk as well as others. Her father works hard as a day construction worker but can’t afford the medical costs needed to help Lana.
When Lana’s family came across the Islamic Relief Canada’s pediatric clinic, Naher El Bared Center, Lana’s life was changed. What has been a lifetime of misdiagnosis was cleared up by a doctor who was able to provide advanced examinations, x-rays, and scans whilst referring her to specialists. This is a level of healthcare typically unavailable in refugee camps.
Today Lana visits the clinic regularly, proudly walking with her mother’s hand. She has received quality care that would have otherwise been just a dream for her parents.
Because of your support, a 3-year-old girl’s future has been restored. Lana can now proudly walk on her own, and her parents rest with ease knowing their child has the support she needs.
Building safer and more equitable communities by fighting gender-based violence, inequality and poverty and advocating for human rights, equitable access to education and dignity for all.
This project supports orphans through online schooling, providing regular classes in English, German and Turkish, IT, math, and Quran recitation. The English courses are facilitated by a team of our Inspire volunteers from Canada, who continue to deliver these courses on weekends using innovative methods!
We are increasing access to education for orphans in rural areas and those with disabilities in order to prepare them for higher education and employment. Additionally, this project supports single mothers through online schooling in similar fields, with the aim of increasing their opportunities for employment.
22 Projects in 2022
188,757 Rights-Holders
Your Zakat helped here!
RIGHTS-HOLDERS
145 individuals
The Al-Ahmad family has spent every day in incredible stress. The family relies on the children to work and help pay their debts. Nahia, the matriarch, is devastated that her children’s educations are impacted by their need to work, leaving little time for education.
Unfortunately, children are often vulnerable to dropping out of school to work to pay rent and support their families.
Islamic Relief’s project to support Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan changed this family’s life. Through this project, we were able to alleviate the stresses in their life.
Nahia and her husband could attend psychosocial support sessions, which guided them on how to deal with stressors. Nahia shared, “Without these sessions, I would be in a very bad situation.”
The Al-Ahmad family was supported with rent assistance, ensuring the children could focus on schooling. Nahia was incredibly grateful to our educational team for providing tools such as tablets and school bags, alongside remedial classes in Math, English, and Arabic.
She expressed her gratitude to donors like you, “May Allah reward them with all the best, and I hope they can continue with projects to save our lives.”
By supporting our protection and education projects, you are breaking the cycle of poverty, providing ease to parents and ensuring every child is granted access to a high-quality education!Your Zakat helped here!
Working to ensure greater water equality, sanitation and hygiene are achieved to improve the essential health of communities.
13 Projects in 2022
190,814 Rights-Holders
Health and quality of life in Kosovo are increasingly threatened by the poor quality of water and scarcity of water reserves. The protection, conservation and monitoring of water quality is a major environmental challenge.
Islamic Relief Canada’s response supports families that lack drinking water by increasing their access to water sources through the construction of water wells in 28 family homes and 15 schools. Each family receives a consultation from a technical expert to find the best location for the water well within their homes, so they can have direct access for their day-to-day usage and farming needs.
This project includes awareness sessions on the best hygiene and sanitation practices, as well as training on how to maintain their water wells and prevent the spread of Covid-19.
2,390 individuals
Anju Begum is a widow and mother of 4 young children. After the passing of her husband, she knew she had to be resilient for her children and learn how to provide for them now as the sole breadwinner.
Anju began tailoring, working from her small home whilst keeping chickens to support their limited income. Her greatest barrier was access to water, she shares, “I face various challenges, but my greatest is water collection which I have to do 3-4 times daily. There are no safe water sources nearby.”
Water collection is an integral part of daily life, a task often shouldered by women. Unfortunately, there is great risk associated with reaching water sources that are far and never guaranteed to be clean. Not only is their safety at risk, but their health due to the lack of sanitation and hygiene at water sources.
After Islamic Relief constructed a tube well in her neighbourhood, Anju was selected as a rights-holder to access the water well. She is now able to collect water from this well daily, which has increased her ability to focus on educating her children and creating a dignified livelihood.
She shared her prayers, and gratitude for donors like you, “I would never be able to afford a tube well like this. May Allah bless Islamic Relief and the people who have sent this support to us.”
Through supporting water, sanitation, and hygiene projects you are ensuring the most vulnerable are protected from the risks of collecting water and ensuring families can access the most essential needs of life.Your Zakat helped here!
With your support, our Orphan Sponsorship Program has helped transform countless lives, families, and communities around the world.
We’ve grown exponentially – just over ten years ago, we were sponsoring 198 orphans around the world. Today, this number is over 22,000. Alhamdulillah!
Each donor is paired on a true and direct 1-1 basis with an orphan in need. Your monthly cash sponsorship is transferred to our field offices on a quarterly basis for immediate distribution to the same orphan, to uplift their life and help change their future.
Your monetary sponsorships protect the well-being, safety, health, education and social environments of orphans. We work hard to ensure the well-being of the children in our care, through yearly assessments conducted by our field officers, in addition to periodic check-ins to ensure the children are safe and looked after.
This allows them to be individually supported, improves family stability and helps sustainable development for the entire community. It’s your generosity that helps fill the gap in their lives. You’ve shown them that they are not alone.
11,937 male orphans
22,143 Orphans Sponsored Because Of You
10,206 female orphans Total
Over the last 5 years we have seen immense growth in our Orphan Sponsorship Program. Because of donors like you, since 2018 we have nearly DOUBLED the numbers of orphans we are currently supporting around the world!
Tunisia
177 orphans
Sudan
852 orphans
Sri Lanka
259 orphans
South Africa
202 orphans
Somalia
1,417 orphans
Turkey
Afghanistan
1,824 orphans
$13,756,565
Total Funds Allocated
Albania
180 orphans
25 Countries
Yemen
1,691 orphans
522 orphans
Palestine | Gaza
2,849
Pakistan
1,449 orphans
*Includes orphans sponsored in Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir
Bangladesh
1,804 orphans
Bosnia
368 orphans
Chechnya
275 orphans
Ethiopia
448 orphans
India
480 orphans
Indonesia
408 orphans
Iraq
410 orphans
Jordan
341 orphans
Kenya
797 orphans
Kosova
138 orphans
Lebanon
410 orphans
Lebanon | Syria Orphans
961 orphans
Niger
1,360 orphans
Malawi
442 orphans
Mali
2,079 orphans
“It’s been 6 years since Islamic Relief sponsored my son. In the beginning, I was really not confident because this was all new to me. After seeing Islamic Relief’s programs, I started getting more involved.
I used to have nothing. My house was not safe or livable. I wasn’t able to fight for myself or my situation. I used to work before, serving in people’s houses and so many odd jobs but I became so exhausted.
Now I operate as a volunteer organizing programs, going to people’s houses, assessing their needs, and making sure they receive help. Through Islamic Relief, I’ve been able to gain confidence in myself.
I do this for the people who have nothing. Like them, I once had nothing.
However, because I’ve held their hand, God has held my hand. It is only because of the prayers of the community I have come to this point.
Now, at the age of 32, I started my own education. I started from Grade 9 again because I want to move forward in life. It’s really for my children and other mothers around me.
All praise to God for the way things are now. I would like to thank Islamic Relief, and you, from the bottom of my heart.”
34 Projects in 2022
Islamic Relief Canada is committed to reducing poverty both around the world and right here at home in Canada. We work with local grassroots organizations to empower individuals in order to build healthy communities from coast to coast.
From responding to emergencies like wildfires and floods, empowering youth to create better futures, providing mental health counseling to resettling refugees, providing warm meals, and so much more, we do it all through your support.
81,387 Rights-Holders
$6,916,100 Total Funds Allocated
3 YEAR GROWTH Total Projects
22 48 34
2020 2021 2022
By attending BridgeTO tutoring regularly, three times a week, Ilhan got individualized support to excel in her mathematics courses, which is required for admission to all of the competitive business and accounting programs in Ontario.
“BridgeTO opened my eyes to greater opportunities out there.” she shared. Through BridgeTO, she met tutors and industry professionals and had the opportunity to attend events which further showed what the reality of Ilhan’s dream could be.
Ilhan attributes her success to her positive mindset and diligence in academics as important factors to who and where she is today. She is grateful for the love, support, and special mentorship from her BridgeTO tutor and founder, Sammer.
In 2020 Ilhan was successfully admitted to a very competitive accounting and financial management program. What was only a dream has quickly become a reality.
When Ilhan met Sammer from BridgeTO Youth back in 2018, she didn’t know how much the trajectory of her life was about to change.
She introduces herself as, “A Black Muslim girl, growing up in a marginalized community where the odds are set against you.” Although the odds were stacked against her, she grew up knowing she wanted to live a life bigger than the one presented to her.
Before BridgeTO, Ilhan believed her path would be similar to her older siblings, however, she always felt that she did not have the same passion for sciences as she had for accounting.
BridgeTO is a grassroots organization supported by Islamic Relief Canada that works with marginalized BIPOC youth. They work to build the path to success in the transition between high school graduation and adulthood. Their activities are focused on providing guidance and support through access to free tutoring, mentoring, scholarships, learning equipment and opportunities to shape the future of these promising youth!
When you support our programs in marginalized communities, you support youth like Ilhan, ensuring every child has equal opportunities to achieve their goals and dreams!
Supporting vulnerable communities in reducing poverty by improving living conditions, access to basic necessities, equal opportunity to skills, and employment. Building resilience in the face of disasters by providing families urgently needing assistance with life-saving food, water, shelter, medicine and other essential items whilst supporting long-term recovery for communities.
60,455 Rights-Holders
8 Projects in 2022
Catastrophic flooding and storms in British Columbia have left thousands displaced, trapped, and in need of immediate assistance. Countless families are left without access to food and safety supplies. Due to the widespread mudslides and broken infrastructure, Vancouver is left disconnected from the rest of British Columbia, and the province has declared a state of emergency.
Islamic Relief Canada responded immediately, providing emergency relief to communities affected by the devastating flooding and mudslides in Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna and Fraser Valley. Our teams on the ground are providing evacuees with essential food items, hygiene supplies, and other essential items.
1,000 individuals
Supporting programming catered to marginalized communities, such as people of colour and Indigenous groups, in the sectors of health, livelihood, protection, and food security. We support programming that uplifts communities, engages community members in volunteer work, raises awareness, and creates opportunities to address pressing community needs.
17,722 Rights-Holders
22 Projects in 2022
We focus on providing tools and resources to increase the capacity of the youth to respond to crises in their lives and thrive in their physical and mental health. Through mentorship, we offer organizing skills, resources, political education, funding and recreational programming to harness the vitality, creativity and power of Black and marginalized youth in Regent Park. This project particularly serves Black and marginalized youth in Regent Park.
RIGHTS-HOLDERS
133 individuals
Supporting projects that build safer and more just communities for women and girls through gender-sensitive projects that increase access to education, food security, maternal health, nutrition, and sustainable income.
3,210 Rights-Holders
4 Projects in 2022
Building capacity at the Amal Women’s Center for Transitional Services offers psychosocial support. The Amal Women’s Center provides free access to culturally-competent social workers and counsellors.
Our project aimed to increase capacity through improving service delivery, this is done by evaluating, developing and formalizing the transitional services, both pre and/or postinterventions. This is in response to the increased need and unique circumstances brought on by Covid-19. Through this project, we benefit the clients of the Amal Center for Women and indirectly, their families. RIGHTS-HOLDERS
400 individuals
• Ramadan Food Program
• Qurbani / Udhiya Program
• Aqiqah Program
• Eid Gifts Distribution
$5,583,695
With your support, we distributed food packs in impoverished communities to provide relief during the blessed month of Ramadan. Through this effort, we also distributed your Zakat al-Fitr, Fidya, and Kaffara payments in the form of food supplies to the poorest of the poor.
Food items are procured locally within each country whenever possible to ensure that they’re appropriate for the recipients and beneficial to the economy.
While the contents vary according to region, local diet customs and availability, each food pack usually contains:
177,932
People Were Sustained this Ramadan Because of You
Average Food Pack: 65 lbs family of 5-7
fish
Sudan
4,142 individuals
South Sudan
5,772 individuals
Somalia 4,142 individuals
Palestine 17,556 individuals
Pakistan
21,370 individuals
Niger
10,902 individuals
Lebanon
12,414 individuals
Syria 8,641 individuals
Yemen 15,333 individuals
Afghanistan 21,272 individuals
Bangladesh | Rohingya Refugees
21,529 individuals
Ethiopia
5,209 individuals
Canada
29,650 individuals
Figures above represent Islamic Relief Canada’s portion of the larger Ramadan project funded by our global partner offices, which reaches over 1.6 million people in 36 countries. Donations from Islamic Relief Canada are allocated between countries based on any funding gaps, to ensure all countries are supported.
Eid al-Fitr Gifts for Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, Gaza & Canada
3,003 children Recieved Your Eid Gifts!
Eid al-Adha Gifts for Somalia, Gaza & Canada
2,802 children
Recieved Your Eid Gifts!
Qurbani & Udhiya is among the first programs started by Islamic Relief in 1986 and recurs every year when Muslims around the world commemorate Eid Al-Adha and sacrifice livestock to feed the needy.
Over 30 years, we’ve developed a very efficient, cost-effective and reliable process. In the countries we work, the entire Qurbani process from start to finish is regulated to the highest Islamic, ethical and humanitarian standards.
Our offices organize everything in advance to fulfill your sacrifice, including buying high-quality animals from local farms and on Eid, ensuring your sacrifice is done humanely, hygienically and without waste.
444,426 People Felt the Joy of Eid
This Year Because of You
Meat Packet: 2-5 kilograms family of 4-8
Afghanistan
16,000 individuals
Yemen
52,500 individuals
Syria | Northern Syria
11,000 individuals
Sudan
16,000 individuals
Bangladesh | Rohingya Refugees
14,000 individuals
Bangladesh 26,360 individuals
Canada
11,334 individuals
Somalia
18,800 individuals
Palestine | Gaza
13,300 individuals
Pakistan
19,000 individuals
Aqiqah
A total of 5,892 Aqiqah sacrifices were made this year to celebrate the births of our donors’ newborn children, with quality fresh meat distributed to vulnerable families in Ethiopia.
We utilized a community-led approach in the process of sacrifice and distribution to involve community organizations and volunteers along with staff and provide dignified paid labour opportunities for those in need.
Bosnia
1,500 individuals
Ethiopia
13,400 individuals
Jordan 1,000 individuals
Kosovo
4,500 individuals
Lebanon
2,160 individuals
Mali
106,000 individuals
Niger
111,680 individuals
5,892
Follow Your Donation is an entire approach to elevate your experience as a donor with Islamic Relief Canada so that you can truly know the difference your donation makes.
This means videos, reports, publications, blogs, and emails to help you see the impact of your donations, the people you’ve helped, and all the incredible stories that happen along the way.
The hard-earned trust of our donors is the foundation that makes our work possible.
For every $1 we spend: Follow Your $1 Donation
0.84 goes directly into helping people in need
0.04 towards administrative costs
0.12 to raise more funds
For every 1 cent that we spend on fundraising, we raise an additional 10 cents +
That’s an extra 90 cents on top of your $1
Your donation is almost doubled.
Islamic Relief works incredibly hard to maintain one of the lowest admin costs and yet still adhere to the highest of standards when implementing our work. When it comes to our overhead costs, we invest in two key areas:
Fundraising costs are an important investment to generate more income, which means we are able to help even more people. Through this, we leverage the reach of our teams, communities, partner organizations, and digital platforms to create a bigger impact every year.
Payment Processing Fees
We do our utmost to maximize the value of your donation to help your dollar go further. This means getting the best value for money to help deliver aid on the ground as well as raising more funds for the people who need it the most.
It costs money to deliver aid and to do it well, especially in an international humanitarian context. Doing so ensures our rights-holders get the best possible support and that the money goes exactly where it is needed, all the while remaining compliant with local and international regulators.
Our admin cost helps us increase the quality and efficacy of our work and avoid duplication of efforts or any waste. It allows us to adhere to the highest standards of oversight, compliance and accountability. Ultimately, it means increased accountability and transparency for you.
That is why information on admin costs and our annual audited financial statements are readily available on our website.
80+ projects 1.5 million people
Community Events
Digital Ads
Email Marketing Sponsorships
Direct Mail
In 2022, we invested 13% of our income to raise more funds, which helped to generate a total income of over $81 million last year alone. And over the past three years, our fundraising initiatives and investments has meant that the number of projects and rights-holders we’ve been able to support all around the world have nearly doubled.
170 projects 3.3 million people
Your donations are spread across various charitable funds, each one fulfilling a particular humanitarian and development need. In 2022, our largest charitable expenditures were for emergency relief, development work, as well as our orphan sponsorship program.
Each year our programs’ budget and plan are created with the needs of our rights-holders at the forefront, and each of our projects are developed from needs assessments conducted in the field, aiming to target the most pressing needs on the ground.
We strive to maintain a healthy split between responding to humanitarian emergencies to address urgent needs, and designing and implementing long-term development projects that address root cause issues to enhance food security, livelihood, education, and much more.
This graph shows our charitable expenditure of donations split by religious intent
* Emergency Response includes disaster as well as humanitarian responses
Over the last three years, despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, Islamic Relief donors demonstrated tremendous generosity, resulting in donation revenues growing over 25% since 2020. With a mission to mobilize Canadians to transform more lives around the world in the most trusted manner, this rise in donations was driven by the organization’s innovation and digital reach in this challenging time, increased consciousness of global humanitarian needs within our communities, as well as overwhelming responses to devastating events in regions that our donors hold close to their hearts.
We also experienced an increase in programming expenditures of over 40% in that timeframe. This is due to a number of factors, including timing of payments and fluctuating foreign exchange rates, more proactive cash flow management, shifting towards larger dollar value, long-term projects, as well as humanitarian disasters that occurred around the globe. Based on our strategy, one of our key strategic focus areas in the coming years is to maximize our impact through sustainable programs, while remaining responsive to urgent humanitarian emergencies. Therefore, when a disaster strikes, such as the Pakistan floods, our emergency response expenditure can experience a significant rise as we work to deliver urgent aid as soon as possible.
Our overhead costs, broken into fundraising and administrative costs, experienced modest growth over the two years, driven by strategic spending as well as significant inflationary pressures. As our organization matures, these expenditures allow us to maximize the impact our organization is able to make, and the rise in these costs is associated with the growth of the organization as we aim to fulfill our mission, as well as the trends in the economy in which we operate.
Our fundraising efforts ensure that we are continuously striving to grow, to be able to help even more rights-holders in need. Our admin costs allow us to invest in managing our risk, maintaining appropriate controls, and ensuring the highest level of compliance at our organization. Together, these costs are essential investments into the sustainability of Islamic Relief Canada and our work.
Thank you for your continued support and kindness for the world’s most vulnerable. Because of you, 3.3 million people felt relief in 2022.
Your support is so often the gift of life itself and we take special care to reach those who are most at risk. We’ve seen with our own eyes how their lives have been uplifted and transformed by what you give. We could not have done this without you, thank you.
A heartfelt and big thank you to our teams all around the world who work amidst very challenging circumstances, often at great personal sacrifice and risk, to deliver what is entrusted to our care with excellence and integrity.
To our incredibly dedicated volunteers, regional teams and staff, thank you for your tireless work and efforts to serve those in need. All your work does not go unnoticed, and we pray that Allah accepts from you in the greatest measure and rewards you manifold.
Jazakum Allah khair, and thank you for your support. We cannot do any of this without you!
Your brother,
Usama Khan CEO, Islamic Relief Canada
Whoever relieves the hardship of a believer in this world, Allah will relieve their hardship on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever helps ease one in difficulty, Allah will make it easy for them in this world and in the Hereafter...”
- Prophet Muhammad