COVID-19 Islamic Relief Humanitarian Assistance 2017-2021

Results

Activities began on 1 May 2021 in 7 country operations: Pakistan, Palestine (Gaza), Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. As of 1 July 2021, 3 RRM-applications have been approved: Nepal, South Sudan and Ethiopia. It is yet too soon to provide examples of the results achieved during 2021.    Over the years, evaluations and assessments have nevertheless confirmed and highlighted several strengths and comparative advantages of Islamic Relief. The organisation is assessed to be particularly strong in terms of gaining acceptance and adapting humanitarian operations to the target groups in insecure and hard-to-reach areas. They apply an integrated and multi-sectoral approach to save lives and decrease vulnerabilities combining several sectors, including health, water and sanitation (WASH), and food security and livelihoods (FSL). As a faith based organisation and policy leader on Islamic humanitarianism, Islamic Relief’s identity helps it connect with and gain the trust of vulnerable Muslim communities. Islamic Relief’s local knowledge, access and decentralised decision-making have been key factors in the success of projects implemented in the field.  In 2019, this comparative advantage was evident in saving lives and reducing suffering through improved access to potable water, food security and livelihoods of 41,892 vulnerable people in Yemen. As Yemen remains the largest food security emergency in the world, Islamic Relief Yemen closely coordinated with the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) and target communities to select the most vulnerable households and assistance modalities, effectively improving food security, access to safe drinking water and improved hygiene of the targeted households, while contributing to increased resilience and livelihoods and a reduction of negative coping mechanisms within the communities. In Syria, Islamic Relief provided essential access to health services for nearly 700,000 conflict affected people through 59 health facilities in North-West Syria, in areas where this care would otherwise be unavailable. This intervention has taken extensive measures to improve access, particularly for the most vulnerable, through improving access infrastructure in healthcare facilities, providing capacity building to center staff, and providing free, unconditional healthcare to all patients. In South Sudan, Islamic Relief reduced general suffering and saved lives through a multi-sectoral strategy that improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene, food security, livelihoods, health and nutrition among 49,926 conflict-affected internally displaced persons, returnees and host communities.