Ircanada the war on hunger small

Delivering relief to conflict zones Working in conflict zones is dangerous and challenging. Gaining access to wartorn areas, delivering aid safely, dodging bullets and bombs. Our staff risk their lives every day, but not one of them would choose to stop, determined to save the lives of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

1.1 million Syrians have already been assisted by Islamic Relief – 800,000 inside Syria and the rest in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq / 90 field hospitals and clinics supplied with 1.8 million items of medicines and equipment / 18,000 people provided with hospital treatment / 30 ambulances supplied / 150,000 food parcels distributed / 150,000 items of clothes provided / 76,000 blankets and 30,000 mattresses supplied.

1.6 million people supported / 13 hospitals assisted / over $1.6 million of medicines and surgical equipment supplied / 1,000 blankets to hospital patients / 3,600 cans of meat to hospital kitchens.

Gaza City/ The Um Al-Qura Primary School was destroyed during this bombardment. It was one of 22 schools Islamic Relief rebuilt after the last war. As well as missing classes, many of these children were traumatised by the conflict, and will now need counselling and therapy at our psychosocial centres.

5,192 families assisted / 14 villages supported / 6,122 food packages distributed / 40 large shelters constructed for 320 families / 50 water wells / 10 bathing spaces / 270 latrines.

It’s shocking. It’s a scandal. We can hardly believe it. Nearly one billion people around the world – that’s one in seven! – go to bed hungry, every single night. And we’re prepared to fight it.

When we fast in Ramadan, we experience just a tiny fraction of what hundreds of thousands of people feel day in, day out. But at the end of the day, when we break our fast, we don’t have to worry that our children will have stunted growth, weak bones or brain damage from being so malnourished. We don’t agonise over where their next meal will come from, or whether they will be one of the five million children killed by hunger every year.

It’s a cause worth fighting for, and inshallah we won’t stop until we have eradicated hunger.

Will you join the battle?

Islamic Relief doesn’t just want to feed people today – we want to find out what’s causing hunger and end it, for good. We’re planting crops which can survive in harsh weather, from droughts to floods. We’re building water systems so that farmlands can flourish. We’re helping people get jobs and start businesses so they can earn enough to buy food for their families – lifting them out of hunger and poverty.

Mir Muhammad/ one of the beneficiaries of Islamic Reliefs integrated village rehab programme. Our irrigation system is currently supplying his field with water.

Pakistan / We provided 28-year-old Ameen Khan with his own tuktuk.

Now he provides transport for his neighbours, helping them trade in the city and earn enough to feed their own families.

War On Hunger

If someone is hungry, we will give them food – but if we can, we’ll help them get their own food, for days and years to come.

The microdam captures rainfall during the three wet months of the year, to grow food all year round.

Our Food Solutions help communities start farms, irrigate land and grow crops which survive in harsh conditions, producing food all year round. We start cereal banks, saving food during harvests, so it can be eaten during drought – just like the Prophet Yusuf advised hundreds of years ago (Qur’an 12:47-48).

“Last year was very hard for me,” says Kadia.

“When I went to bed at night I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about how to feed my children. But this year I have harvested lots of crops such as peanuts, maize, beans and okra.”

In Mali, Kadia Samake’s only hope of feeding her family used to be selling charcoal she made from chopped tree branches – but thanks to a new microdam from Islamic Relief, she has just harvested her first crop of rice and vegetables.

War On Hunger

Pakistan / Mohammed Rahim no longer has to wonder whether or not he can feed his children. We helped him open a grocery store, so he can earn enough to feed his family of six.

Pakistan / Mother of two, Zahida Meersai, received a sewing machine after the 2010 floods left her family homeless. Now she provides training in sewing, not only feeding her own family, but giving back by empowering others to provide for themselves.

We’re not just advocating – we’re on the frontline, lifting communities out of poverty, launching programmes that ensure a lasting impact on the lives of those we serve.

In the ongoing war against hunger, inshaAllah we will not rest until hunger is eradicated. Join us.

In 2012, as well as all our ongoing projects, together we helped a staggering 3,534,025 people out of hunger. We provided emergency relief around the world to 3,349,643 people and implemented 671,939 new sustainable projects.

‘The War on Hunger has begun.’

ISLAMIC RELIEF CANADA 3506 Mainway Burlington Ontario L7M 1A8

1.855.377.HOPE (4673) www.islamicrelief.ca Registered Charity No. 821896875RR0001