HE Issue 01

“one of the greatest diseases is to be a nobody to anybody”

Muslim Charityimplementing the Millennium Development Goals

Arab conference to strengthen humanitarian action

Bill Gates Aid in an age of Austerity

Issue 1, January 2013

HUMANITARIANEUROPE

TOP 100 NGO’sin the world

Mother Teresa

Help establish the Eaton Girls BoardingSchool and invest in a brighter future for the coming Muslim generations in Great Britain.

� There are approximately 2.5 million Muslims in the UK.

� 33% have no quali�cations (higher than any other faith group and twice that of the national average).

� 45% of Muslim women in the UK have no academic education.

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CONTENT

Humanitarian.eu g 03

Contents

5 I Humanitarian News Global development: Reducing poverty

from 2015 The Sahel Crisis Grows Meeting to Urge Yemen Donors

7 I Facts about Poverty Two-thirds of the world’s population

living with hunger and poverty are in just 7 countries.

8 I Can the UN’s humanitarian Millennium Goals be achieved by 2015?

10 I Muslim Charity Implementing Millennium Goals

Western based Muslim Charities are playing an important humanitarian role globally.

14 I Bond explores the best way forward

17 I Arab conference to strengthen humanitarian action

19 I Art Aid - Dubai based Photographer leads the way

22 I Bill Gates on aid in an age of austerity

24 I Fundraising in a faith community – Martin Shaw

26 I A Changing World – an NGO perspective – Jane Cocking

28 I Internally Displaced People – a report by Dr Tehmina Roohi

32 I Qatar’s leading charitable foundation and help the Needy UK

36 I Fair trade and trade justice in the Windward Island – by Renwick Rose

38 I Internal and external accountability of faith based ngo’s

As faith-based organizations have expanded the need for accountability has intensified.

23 I Bill Gates Interview

19 I ART AIDDubai based Photographer leads the way

Bond explores the best way forward14 I


EDITORIAL

As the international development agencies gear up to implement the 8 humanitarian Millennium Development Goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015, the pressing challenge to implement them is continuing to come in the form of continuing conflict and natural disasters.

However whatever challenges that appear to be on the horizon, charity organizations are continuing to multiply and taking on the responsibility of taking essential aid to disaster struck areas.

Today’s charities are part of a wider movement for social justice and their aim is not only to provide urgent and effective assistance but also tackling the effects of poverty its root causes and implementing projects that will encourage subsistence and development.

Humanaitarian.eu has been launched to highlight all the positive work Charities are initiating in the field of humanitarian aid work, many liaising and cooperating in partnership.

Humanitarian.eu will also be highlighting the importance of faith based NGO’s, many working in areas too dangerous for Western mainstream charities to work in, attempting to implement the Millennium Development Goals.

The first issue features news and information about where the humanitarian crisis is worsening; also at the rules, ethics and standards set by International organisations like DFID; issues discussed at major conventions like the Bond and Arab Conference in Kuwait as well as featuring key individuals like Bill Gates and Renwick Rose who was honoured with the Guardian International Development Achievement Award.

Humanitarian will be an informative and interesting read mainly featuring the important role Charities are beginning to play in the field of humanitarian and development work.

We look forward to your support

Sabooh Uddin

Editorial

Sabooh Uddin

Publisher & CEOHumanitarian.eu

Publisher and CEO: Sabooh Uddin Editor: Mariam AdamManaging Director: Samara Khan Reporters: Mathew Dale, Sandra Bullac, Subrina Huda, Siyam IslamArt Editor and Designer: Mohammad Reazul Islam Production Manager: Mohamad Gazali Accounts Manager: Salman Mohideen Marketing Manager: Ronald MarkSales and Marketing: Abdullah Khan Sales: Jane Chowdhury, Jack Harris, Sohail Chowdhury

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Issue 1, January 2013

HUMANITARIANEUROPE


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Our work covers �ve broad areas:

Dialogue & Cooperation• Facilitate and promote the cooperation and coordina-tion among the Muslim led INGOs and provide a platform for dialogue and interaction• Engage in dialogue and cooperation with groups of di�erent faith and backgrounds

Capacity Building• Promote best practices• Provide tools, consultancy and expertise for the purpose of improving operational e�ciency to deliver better services to bene ciaries and donors• Provide a one stop service for the charitable sector in the UK and improve nancial management and funding opportunities for member organizations

Understanding• Promote a better understanding of the Muslim Charita-ble ethos, culture and practices• Engage with government bodies, international agencies, private sector, key individuals local actors and civil society for better understanding of the principles and aims of the Muslim Charitable Sector

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Global development: Reducing poverty from 2015

The High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Development Agenda concluded its first set of meetings with a promise to work together to fight global poverty and the aspiration to end extreme poverty within a lifetime.

Co-chair of the High Level Panel Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“There is more progress to be made between now and 2015, but we are clear the next stage should be aiming to eradicate absolute poverty in our world.

“That is something politicians have been talking about for a while, but for the first time I believe this generation really has the opportunity to do it.” The meetings covered food, energy, education, jobs, health care and how best to reach those excluded from the traditional pathways out of poverty.

The panel will continue discussions over the next eight months before meeting again in Monrovia, Liberia, early next year. Individuals, businesses and charities can continue to contribute to the debate online over the next two days.

The Sahel Crisis GrowsSporadic rains, poor harvests and insecurity in Africa’s Sahel region have affected 18.7 million people in nine countries and according to humanitarian partners over $807 millions is needed to respond to a food and nutrition crisis.

The Sahel has varied geographic conditions ranging from the Sahara desert in the north and the Sudanese savannas in the south. The Countries affected by the crisis include

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal.

According to reports millions of people are affected by the crisis, more than 1.1 million people are suffering from severe malnutrition and an additional 3 million have moderate malnutrition. millions are and in dire need of assistance, relief and long-term planning.

Women and children are the most vulnerable, especially those under the age of 2. Emergency responses and recovery programs have reached a considerable number of people with emergency assistance by providing access to food through cash transfer and direct distribution, and improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene among other means.

The Sahel region has suffered from floods, political conflicts, locusts infestation and cholera outbreaks the Sahel region is in dire need of Humanitarian coordination and assistance.

UAE pledges $ 200,000 to UNHCR’s 2013 budget

The UAE will pledge US$ 200,000 to the UN refugees agency’s 2013 budget said Obaid Salem Al Za’abi, UAE Permanent Representative to United Nations and Other International

Organisations in Geneva.

The UAE’s commitment was announced at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) contributions conference, which the UN holds every year to received voluntary contributions from governments, inter-governmental institutions, individuals, foundations and corporations to direct funds where they are most needed to provide protection, shelter, water, health, education and other essentials to the millions of people of concern to UNHCR, including refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people around the world.

The 2013 global appeal targets 36 million people in 126 countries.

The UAE representative said the UAE, as an

active partner, was committed to continue partnership with the UNHCR by providing support for its humanitarian operations.

UN to assist drought hit areas of Africa The United Nations food relief agency has announced it is scaling up its efforts to assist more than 3.5 million people in drought-hit areas of southern Africa, particularly in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, who are now facing the start of the hunger season.

“Large numbers of smallholder farmers and their families are in the grip of what is set to be one of the harshest hunger seasons of recent years,” said the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Deputy Regional Director for Southern Africa, Brenda Barton.

Heavy rainfall during the last planting season meant that harvests in many areas were not sufficient to sustain the nutritional needs of farming communities this year and, even where food is available in local markets; it is often too expensive for the poorest households.

To add to this situation, communities already struggling to feed their families are now bracing for the onset of the so-called ‘hunger season’ which traditionally lasts from December until harvest time in March.

The UN agency notes that southern Malawi, southern Zimbabwe, and the southern highlands of Lesotho face particularly severe food shortages, while the prices of staple foods are increasing.

In Zimbabwe, some 1.6 million vulnerable people face food shortages. The current shortfall for WFP’s drought relief operation is $14 million for Malawi and $4 million for Lesotho.

Displacement in Rakhine State Authorities have stepped up security measures as inter-communal tension continues to grow in Rakhine. Curfew is still in place across all affected areas and the Government has said that over 110,000 people are displaced in Rakhine, including some 36,400 since October,

NEWS

Panel co-chairs: British Prime Minister David Cameron, Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf and

Indonesian President Yudhoyono.

in nine townships: Kyaukpyu, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ramree, Rathedaung and Sittwe.

Safety and security of humanitarian workers remains a concern as reports of threats have been made to some staff for engaging in aid assistance.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator during his recent visit to Rakhine stressed the need for a conducive environment for all humanitarian workers to provide relief aid to all those in need in accordance with humanitarian principles.

Urgent protection for IDPs in Afghanistan this winter

Amnesty International and 28 other NGOs warn that the emergency needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) must be prioritized this winter.

30 International and Afghan NGOs have issued an open letter calling on the Afghan Government, international donors and international organizations to ensure preparations are in place to meet the needs of Afghanistan’s substantial internally displaced population over the coming winter.

NGOs, in the open letter, urge the government of Afghanistan, donors and the wider humanitarian community to ensure full winter contingency planning is underway to ensure the winter assistance needs of all

IDPs, and particularly vulnerable groups such as children and elderly, are assessed and swiftly met to avoid a repeat of the preventable tragedy faced by many IDPs last winter.

Climate change spells disaster for the Arab worldA new report by the World Bank has revealed that in the last three decades, 50 million people in the Arab world have been affected by natural disasters, many of them extreme climate events. Drought and flood victims account for 98 percent of all people affected by climate-related disasters in the region.

The report projects the horrific scenario of temperatures regularly rising to over 50 degrees Celsius by the turn of the century, which experts fear could lead to countless more disasters.

The disasters of the last three decades have cost at least US$12 billion, according to the report.

The long-term climate-change trends are foreboding; temperatures are projected to rise by three to four degrees Celsius in the Arab world - which includes countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa - by the end of the century. Such an increase would be 1.5 times faster than the global average, meaning people in the region would be regularly living with temperatures around of 54 to 55 degrees Celsius.

DFID report reveals UK aid transforming lives

New figures tracking the success of UK aid around the globe show how British support is transforming the lives of the world’s poorest people.

The latest numbers are set out in the

Department for International Development’s Annual Report 2011-12.

The progress report reveals the Government is on track to deliver the results it set out over a year ago, in a major review of how British aid is targeted.

The report is the first to detail results that are both clear and quantifiable for vaccines, education, protecting against malaria and helping millions of people to access financial services to help them help themselves out of poverty. International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said:

“For the first time, this government has established systems which allow us to measure and track, in detail, the results which UK aid is achieving.”

Over the past two years this includes:• Vaccinating over 12 million children

against preventable diseases

• Improving the land and property rights of 1.1 million people

• Supporting 5.3 million children (2.5 million of them girls) to go to primary school

• Distributing 12.2 million bednets to protect people against malaria

• Supporting 26 African countries to agree an Africa Free Trade Area

• Enabling 11.9 million people to work their way out of poverty by providing access to financial services

• Preventing 2.7 million children and pregnant women from going hungry

• Reaching 6 million people with emergency food assistance

• Supporting freer and fairer elections in 5 countries

• Improving hygiene conditions for 7.4 million people

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2009 - £58, 105 7972011 - £82, 308 830Islamic Relief 5

2009 - £44, 010 0392011 - £33, 409 040Muslim Aid 62009 - £6, 468 7502011 - £ 14, 317 579Ummah Welfare Trust 52010 - £11, 165 3072012 - £ 11, 399 856Muslim Hands 52009 - £1, 401 2412011 - £6, 153 599Al Khair Foundation 5

2009 - £2, 919 4292011 - £5, 235 687UK Islamic Mission 52009 - £8, 479 5802011 - £4, 964 564Interpal 62009 - £4, 962 2242011 - £3, 889 940Human Appeal International 62009 - £1, 197 4892011 - £3, 709 167Muslim Charity 52009 – £3, 303 9902011 - £3, 115 565 Islamic Aid 6

The number of Muslim faith-based relief and development organisations in the United Kingdom has grown rapidly, many inspired by Islamic teachings which promote the giving of charity.

Today hundreds of Muslim charity organisations exist, many with an annual income of millions according to the latest accounts presented to the UK Charity Commission.

Their focus is specifically on providing humanitarian relief and promoting long-term development in poor countries.

However this could be an under-estimate since it only considers funding received within the UK and does not include the funds raised from fundraising offices from local institutional donors in the countries in which they operate.

The fact that Muslim faith based organisations receive the majority of their funding from private and individual donors has also allowed them a degree of financial stability and

independence.

However the Charities have modified their focus, which at first was to provide humanitarian assistance exclusively to other Muslims, this has changed drastically as the charities have grown and now operate worldwide wherever there is a humanitarian disaster irrespective of caste, culture or religion.

The Growing presence of Muslim charities

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1 Islamic Relief

2 Muslim Aid

3 Ummah Welfare Trust

4 Muslim Hands

5 Al Khair Foundation

6 The UK Islami Mission

7 Interpal

8 Human Appeal International

9 Muslim Charity

10 Islamic Aid

11 Islamic Help

12 Human Relief Foundation

13 Orphans in Need

14 Al Muntada Al Islami Trust

15 Help the Needy

Some Top Charities


NEWS


g The world population is estimated to be 6.8 billion.

g According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 925 million people do not have enough to eat – which is more than the combined populations of USA, Canada and the European Union.

g Two-thirds of the world’s population living with hunger and poverty are in just 7 countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. China, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

g 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in developing countries.

g According to the Millenium development Goals report 60 percent of the world’s hungry are women and 50 percent of pregnant women in developing countries lack proper maternal care, resulting in over 300,000 maternal deaths annually from childbirth.

g Malnutrition is the key factor contributing to more than one-third of all global child deaths resulting in 2.6 million deaths per year and 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries.

g A third of all childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by hunger.

Facts About World

Hungerand

Povertyg Every fi ve seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

g More than 11 million children die each year from preventable health issues such as malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

g 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

g 90 percent of all children and 60 percent of all women living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.

g According to the International Fund for International Development report 1.4 billion people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day or less.

g 1.7 billion people lack access to clean water while 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year.


ARTICLE

T he Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight humanitarian based international development

goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

The goals are:

1. eradicating extreme poverty and hunger,

2. achieving universal primary education,

3. promoting gender equality and empowering women

4. reducing child mortality rates,

5. improving maternal health,

6. combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases,

7. ensuring environmental sustainability, and

8. developing a global partnership for development.

The MDGs originated from the Millennium Declaration produced by the United Nations. The Declaration asserts that every individual has the right to dignity, freedom, equality, a basic standard of living that includes freedom from hunger and violence, and encourages tolerance and solidarity.

The MDGs ideas by setting targets and indicators for poverty reduction in order to achieve the rights set forth in the Declaration on a set fifteen-year timeline.

The MDG focus on three major areas of improving infrastructure, and increasing social, economic and political rights,

with the majority of the focus going towards increasing basic standards of living. In order to accelerate progress in implementing these goals, the G8 Finance Ministers agreed in June 2005 to provide enough funds to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the African Development Bank (ADB) to cancel an additional $40–55 billion debt owed by members of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) to allow impoverished countries to re-channel the resources saved from the forgiven debt to social programs for improving health and education and for alleviating poverty.

Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries have achieved many of the goals, while others are not on track to realize any.

Countries like Brazil which now is the fast-


FEATURE

Can the UN’s humanitarian Millennium Goals be achieved by 2015


est growing economy, has achieved many of the goals, while others, such as Benin in West Africa are not on track to realize any. The major countries that have been achiev-ing their goals include China (whose poor population has reduced from 452 million to 278 million) and India which has pro-gressed due to clear internal and external factors of population and economic devel-opment. According to The World Bank the MDG 1A (halving the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day) was achieved in 2008 mainly due to the results from these two countries and East Asia.

However, areas needing the most reduc-tion, such as the sub- Saharan Africa have a long way to go as fi rst they have to im-prove their quality of life. If we use the same time frame as China, sub-Saharan Africa reduced its poverty by a mere one percent and is at a major risk of not meet-ing the MDGs by 2015.

A UN conference in September 2010 re-viewed progress to date and concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date. There were also new commitments on women’s and chil-

dren’s health, and new initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease.

Progress towards reaching the goals has been uneven. Some countries have

achieved many of the goals, while others are not on track to realize any.

A UN conference in September 2010 reviewed progress to date and concluded with the adoption of a global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by their 2015 target date.

There were also new commitments on women’s and children’s health, and new initiatives in the worldwide battle against poverty, hunger and disease.

Many Government organizations are assisting in achieving these goals, among them are the United Nations Millennium Campaign, the Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., the Global Poverty Project, the Micah Challenge, The Youth in Action EU

Programme “Cartoons in Action” video project and the 8 Visions of Hope global art project.

There are also hundreds of non - governmental organizations and charities involved in implementing these

development goals.

Jose Graziano da Silva, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) believes that the world can still achieve the Millennium Development Goal to halve the prevalence of undernourishment in the developing world by 2015 if efforts are boosted to reverse the slowdown in progress.

With only 4 years remaining until the 2015 MDG target date, the International community has realized the need to work more effi ciently and therefore has brought in the expertise of KPMG.

KPMG International operates as a network of membership fi rms offering audit tax and advisory services. They work closely with clients helping them to mitigate risks and grasp opportunities.

In order to further their work in the fi eld for international development KPMG International has established the Global Development Initiative which brings together KPMG fi rms from around the world to tackle global issues.

“To achieve this KPMG fi rms have partnered with numerous International Development Agencies and Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) to pioneer a model of professional collaboration.

“The aim is that we apply our people’s skills, knowledge and resources to sustainable enterprises in pursuit of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

By working with a number of organizations KPMG people have already made an impact on some pressing global issues.

Some of the organizations include The Millennium Promise, Oxfam, Save the Children, UNICEF and World Vision.” Serena Brown Senior Manager, Global Development Initiative - UK.

The Department for International Development (DFID) contracted KPMG to conduct pre grant due diligence on all Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) selected to receive funding through the Global Poverty Action Fund, Civil Society Challenge Fund and Programme Partnership Arrangements.

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O ver the thousands of charitable organizations registered in the UK, Muslim Charities are beginning to

play an important role in their own right and as partners to the bigger charities in implementing charity in more fragile and volatile areas like Darfur, Somalia and parts of Pakistan.

At the same time they are working according to the standards stipulated by KPMG and ensuring that there is due diligence and transparency in its functioning and handling of funds.

Muslim Charity is one such charity whose

reach has become worldwide, and its emergency response programme has elevated the charity to an important level. Following the principals outlined at the 2000 United Nations Summit and the identified eight Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty and promote human development, the Charity is forging ahead in implementing these humanitarian goals.

1. ‘Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.’

Muslim Charity Emergency Response Programme has set up the ‘Muslim

Charity’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) in partnership with other charity groups to deal with sudden emergencies which require an immediate response, where a few hours can mean the difference between life and death. Muslim Charity with its partners and its network of volunteers are ready wherever disaster has struck with food, water and medical supplies.

Horn of Africa: Muslim Charity has distributed over £0.5 million value of food in the Horn of Africa during the recent drought which affected over 12 million people in East Africa, as well as establishing


FEATURE

Muslim Charity implementing the Millennium Development Goals

Western based Muslim Charities are playing an important humanitarian role globally.


FEATURE

a number of free medical camps in the region.

Cycle Rickshaws

In 2010, Muslim Charity launched the Cycle Rickshaw project in Bangladesh to help some of the poorest families earn a living and work towards self-reliance.

Qurbani Project

Muslim Charity runs an extensive Qurbani project distributing meat to the poor and needy on behalf of thousands who cannot afford the sacrifice during the holy day of Eid Al Adha on behalf of 3,026 donors – those who benefited from the distribution was estimated to be over 42,000 families or around 310,000 individuals in 13 countries.

Eid Gifts

Muslim Charity introduced the Eid Gift Scheme to bring a smile to the faces of poor children who cannot afford clothes, shoes and toys on their special day.

2. Achieving universal primary education,

Muslim Charity has built four schools in recent years. Among these schools 3 are built in flood affected areas of Pakistan. In 2010 Muslim Charity completely constructed an

underprivileged primary school in Sylhet. Today Noor e Muhammadia Academy is model building with over 400 students. Muslim Charity has also constructed and equipped vocational facilities for girls in Hobiganj.

Today computer literacy is an essential tool for the development of society. Muslim Charity developed a project to equip schools in developing countries with computers and laptops. Children in South Africa Bangladesh, Somalia and Pakistan have thus benefitted.

Muslim Charity’s UK Educational Programme

Muslim Charity is setting up a 5 million project in the heart of the country in the Nottinghamshire Countryside in Eaton; the girl’s school which will have full academic and boarding facilities with a state of the art campus where over 400 girls can be educated.

According to estimates there are 145 million children under the age of 17 who are orphans. 37.4 million Children are orphans in South Asia, an estimated 30.1 million are orphans in East Asia and the Pacific, and £5.9 million are orphans in the Middle East and North Africa (UNICEF 2008).

Muslim Charity’s policy is to assist orphans and vulnerable children and transform their lives. They provide full tuition uniforms, books and essential supplies.

Health services to include physical and mental healthcare, food and nutrition, as well as protection from all kinds of abuse and exploitation on the streets.

Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme

All the orphans sponsored by the programme are individually selected by Muslim Charity staff at their international offices or via our partner organizations in developing countries, Only poor orphans are selected according to their situation, once sponsorship has begun the trained staff continue to maintain regular contact with the children to ensure their well being and progress.

Riaz Ul Karam Orphanage and School Project

Muslim Charity is attempting to establish an English medium day time school and orphanage with an Islamic “Ethos” in District Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan to provide educational opportunities to needy children and orphans. There will be

Baluchistan, Nasirabad to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: During Pakistan’s flood in 2010 Muslim charity initiated a programme of distributing food, water, tents and much needed medical aid, from Baluchistan, Nasirabad to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Kyrgyzstan: The ethnic clashes of 2010 caused much death and destruction. Despite the critical security situation Muslim Charity managed to start off a food programme that reached many families.

Indonesia: After the 2009 Sumatra earthquake where over 1100 people died, Muslim Charity set up a field hospital in partnership with GlobalMedic and MDE in Europe, distributing, food, clean drinking water and hygiene kits.

Haiti: After the tragic earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 which claimed over 200,000 lives, Muslim Charity provided food, safe drinking water and medicines as well as Shelter boxes which contained a tent, a stove, cooking utensils, a tool kit, thermal blankets, ground sheets, mosquito nets, children’s pack and a water purification system.

Somalia: Muslim Charity supports the East Africa Welfare and Development Association (EWADA) boarding School in Burao City, providing furniture, books and stationary. Additionally Muslim Charity is in the process of constructing a primary school for girls in Burao as part of a welfare project, the £110,000 School will benefit over 400 students every year.

educational facilities for Class 1 to Class 10 students and there will be Orphanage care for 100 orphans.

Muslim Charity operates its OVC programme in 6 countries which include Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iraq, Palestine and Somalia.

3. Promoting gender equality and empowering women

4. Reducing child mortality rates

5. Improving maternal health

Muslim Charity has been at the forefront of empowering women, it has opened many schools aimed at educating girls and encouraging them to be able to counteract the poverty trap by being able to work and earn a living for themselves and their families.

Muslim Charity has also been at the forefront of women’s health and care, by building Gyne hospitals and issue grants to other maternal health projects around the world. Over 1200 babies were born in 2012 and one over 33,000 patients attended for medical attention.

Pakistan has the 5th highest number of maternal deaths in the world; it is also one of the most dangerous places for a child

to be born. 14,000 mothers and 300,000 babies die every year within the first month of birth.

The Hunger Project firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty. Wherever we work, our programs aim to support women and build their capacity

Maroof Pirzada Muslim Charity’s Director, after his visit to the Maternity Ward of Banadir Hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia said: “We are aware how essential it is to provide a well equipped maternity ward for women giving birth and many rural and developing countries lack these facilities. The situation at Banadir Hospital was critical and we knew we had to act fast to help them.

The women lay on cardboard boxes, children crying feeling packed in single beds without any provisions for hygiene. I was shocked to see the unhygienic conditions and lack of equipment in the operation theatre along with an absence of skilled birth attendants and obstetricians”.

Muslim Charity is renovating the maternity department by equipping it with a new operation theatre, labour room, hospital beds, wards, hygiene and sterilization facilities, medical and other clinical training programmes.

Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

Ensuring environmental sustainability.

Muslim Charity has also initiated malaria Prevention Project in Malawi and distributed mosquito nets to the vulnerable.

One of the most important projects that Muslim Charity has initiated is the WASH (water, sanitation and Hygiene) Programme in Africa, and Asia.

Muslim Charity is operating its Water Programme in countries that are acutely affected by water shortages such as Somalia, Kenya, Pakistan, India, etc where the aim is to provide clean water to needy families. The total number of beneficiaries of Muslim Charity’s Water Programme in Africa alone was more than 510,000 over the year.

Muslim Charity has installed over 25 shallow water wells in Africa particularly in Somalia in 2011/12. In addition Muslim Charity has built 1 water reservoir and 1 water borehole pumping station in Somalia, benefitting thousands of individuals everyday.

Water Programme – Asia

Across Africa and Asia, Muslim Charity

Muslim Charity Maternity Hospital Project has managed to establish 5 maternal health facilities in Pakistan.

Muslim Charity Hospital Jhang (2005)

Muslim Charity Hospital Faisalabad (2007)

Rahmat Khatoon Hospital Mangani (2008)

Muslim Charity Hospital, Arja, Azad Kashmir (2009)

Abdul Latif Tahir Maternity Hospital Lahore (2011)


FEATURE

works with partner organizations to help communities build water wells, boreholes and hand pumps close to their homes. They use technologies that fit the local context and train people to maintain them.

Last year Muslim Charity installed nearly 1,800 water hand pumps in poor areas of Pakistan and over 300 deep water wells in Sindh and Baluchistan.

8. Developing a global partnership for development.

Muslim Charity understands how important it is to work in partnerships for the positive development of communities.

Muslim Charity has built many partnerships at difficult times wherever there have been emergencies and the need is great; or for sustainable projects that helps long term community development.

One of the examples was that after the floods in Pakistan, Muslim Charity worked with a number of agencies in partnership with many communities based groups, civil societies, government institutions and developmental organizations. As a result Muslim charity has built over 617 houses for the vulnerable flood affected families.

Model Village Ehsanpur, District Muzaffargarh, Punjab

“Build Back Better” for flood affected communities was the core of Muslim

Charity’s Rehabilitation programme during the year 2011. That is why the effects of building Ehsanpur Model Village for people affected by the Pakistan floods in 2010 have been far reaching and long term. Altogether, 122 houses were built consisting of two bedrooms, a kitchen, veranda and bathroom along with a water hand pump for each house.

Model Village Kot Mithan, Dist Rajanpur, Punjab

Muslim Charity constructed 37 houses; each consisted of two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. Additionally, a masjid, cattle shed and 4 retail units were built for the

flood affected population of the villages.

Muslim Charity along with the beneficiaries of Kot Mithan is thankful to Farukh Ibrahim and Family for their generous donations to help most needy.

Doha Village, Sanjarpur, Dist Rahimyar Khan, PunjabSpreading over 9 acres, Doha village is located half a kilometre east on the national highway, the model village is surrounded by flood affected villages that were washed away by the floods. The Village consists of 200 houses, Children Park, a mosque, a clinic and a market. This is one of the villages constructed by Muslim Charity.


FEATURE


B ond is the UK membership body for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in international

development.

Established in 1993 on the initiative of 61 NGOs working in international development, Bond has 358 members (at 31 March 2011) ranging from large bodies with a world-wide presence to smaller, specialist organisations working in certain regions or with specific groups of people.

The Bond Annual Conference is the leading event for the UK international development sector. It provides a vital opportunity to come together to discuss and debate some of the critical issues facing our organisations, our sector, and international development globally. It consistently attracts a broad range

of high calibre expert speakers from both inside and outside the NGO constituency.

International development organisations have come under increasing scrutiny as to the effectiveness and the impact of their work. As a response to this, Bond has been at the heart of sector-wide initiatives to improve development practice. Both the Charter, (which was formally adopted at the Bond AGM on 23rd October 2012) and the effectiveness programme add up to a bold statement that Bond members believe in high quality development and are ready to be accountable to high standards which include accountability, human rights, sustainable development, governance and transparency.

This year’s Bond annual conference held in October was titled ‘Development futures

which way next?’ and focused on iissues and common challenges facing the sector.

The Bond Conference was held against a background of: ‘A rapidly changing world with the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s the highest hikes in food prices since the 1970s climate change becoming a present reality and conflict and repression threatening to overwhelm the hopes for freedom unleashed by the Arab Spring, there seem many threats to the prospects for development progress.

And yet the levels of people living in extreme poverty have been falling in recent years in all regions of the world including Africa. While European economies are in deep crisis, many developing countries appear to be booming.

How will this global picture pan out? How

It provides a vital opportunity to come together to discuss and debate some of the critical issues facing our organisations, our sector, and international development globally.

REPORT

Bond explores the best way forward

The Rt Hon. Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development


will it affect the world’s poorest people? And what will it mean for people working in development and the aims and strategies of NGOs in the UK and internationally?

“With just three years to go until the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals and debate and action growing fast on what should follow, the Bond Conference 2012 explored the best way forward”.

The Rt Hon. Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development, chose the Bond Annual Conference to deliver her first speech to the UK development sector which focused on working together to make a difference to the poorest in the world.

Her presence enhanced an already impressive line-up of influential speakers and panelists who discussed and debated with delegates some of the most critical issues and challenges facing our sector.

She said: “I want to start by thanking you for your work in providing humanitarian assistance - particularly in the Sahel over the past year - but also in providing longer term support to more than a billion people who live on less than $1.25 per day in the poorest countries of the world.”

She spoke about three main areas of concern; first she explained why development was important. Secondly she spoke about the emerging challenges in development, both in the run up to 2015 and also for the post 2015 world.

And thirdly, about how the government through DFID and equally important, how civil society has a crucial role to play in meeting these challenges.

She highlighted how in 2010, people in the UK gave approximately £2.6 billion to charitable causes overseas. She said that “protecting our aid budget is not just the right thing to do.

It is also the smart thing to do and how it was in all our interests for countries around the world to be stable and secure, to have educated and healthy populations and to have growing economies.

It’s good for us in the UK because it will ultimately mean more countries that we can trade with, more jobs that we can create and a better, safer world.” She also spoke of the challenges that were being faced. “The more challenging news is that as countries graduate

from low income status and we refocus our aid to the poorest countries, we increasingly need to deliver help in complex, fragile and violent places. This means places like Afghanistan and Somalia where the needs are acute, but so too are the delivery challenges.”

One of the key themes of her speech was women’s rights: she said that “The UK Government is putting girls and women at the heart of international development”.

She also said that “.. that in the coming year we have unprecedented opportunities to help shape the international consensus on development.

The post 2015 development framework will be fundamental in addressing the challenges I’ve already mentioned and eradicating poverty. We are strongly committed to working with others to develop a framework

that is useful and relevant for poor people throughout the world. She also said that NGOs and civil society can play a major role “particularly in setting the international agenda.

She stressed that “Another challenge and opportunity is the post-2015 MDG

[Millennium Development Goal] process, and again you have a crucial role. Among other things we need you to help ensure that those we seek to help in developing countries genuinely have their voices heard as the post 2015 development consensus is reshaped, by making sure that their views are represented.

BOND’s Beyond 2015 group’s work is incredibly valuable in this regard and something I warmly welcome. I am very

encouraged, and indeed proud, that DFID and UK NGOs are at the forefront of transparency worldwide.

I know that the Bond Effectiveness programme, with support from DFID, is seeking to lead and challenge the sector to keep doing what it’s doing but to do it better, more transparently, more effectively and by providing greater value for money.”

Over 250 people attended the event, with high profile key note speakers and distinguished panelists as well as ten participatory debates and workshops designed to challenge thinking and stimulate action.

There was also an exhibition showcasing products and services for NGO’s.

REPORT

we seek to help in developing countries genuinely have their voices heard as the post 2015 development consensus is reshaped, by making sure that their views are represented.


ART AIDDubai based Photographer leads the way

In today’s world the role of humanitarian aid agencies and the need to effectively highlight the impact of their projects

has become crucial and as a consequence so has the role of photographers who work alongside documenting the crisis and steps taken to aid the needy.

At a time of global recession with governments budgeting and less donors, disasters haven’t lessened, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2010 some 27.5 million people were displaced internally by conflict or violence with an additional

42.3 million forced to flee due to natural disasters. The need to highlight the work of aid agencies has become imperative and no can depict the reality of the pain of loss of life, of loved ones, of hunger and poverty than a photographer who can capture an image for posterity.

Fahad Bhatti is one such photographer, he may have started off as a fashion photographer but is now concentrating on ‘Art Aid’ by focusing his lens in areas where most would fear to tread, taking photos of the plight of wide eyed starving children caught up in conflict and undernourished

women and old people struggling for the simple basics of life. Fahad believes that ‘Art Aid’ can play an important part in creating awareness about the plight of the less fortunate amongst the rich industrial countries that are responsible for the bulk of the world’s resource consumption.

He believes it is essential to hold exhibitions and charity events as it is one way to bring the reality of the other world to their doorsteps.

He explains: “Photography has played an important part in the making of our history and it will continue to do that on bigger scale now with a global media and internet.

... a photographer has the power to change perceptions and tell a story

FEATURE


FEATURE

People relate to pictures more than anything else, the impact it creates is just amazing. The documentation of a humanitarian crisis by means of photography helps the donors to donate more of their money for the causes they can see for themselves”

A point Sabooh Uddin CEO of Muslim Charity agrees with when he says: “Having a photographer around taking pictures of the suffering helps charity organizations like us in our campaign to raise awareness and collect aid funds”.

Fahad may be young but is making an important name for himself in the world of photography, his versatile style and ability to get inside a subject exploring its complexities while delivering an almost spiritual interpretation of mood, emotion and environment is quite unique.

His work has been published in a number of local and international publications as well as high profile events like the World Future Energy Summit for the UAE Government, Dubai World Cup, Dubai fashion week, as well as major events in Pakistan, Muscat and Saudi Arabia. At present he is heavily committed to work with charity groups highlighting the plight of the dispossessed.

One of his favourite photographers is Ansel Adams who states: “To photograph truthfully and effectively is to see beneath the surfaces and record the qualities of nature and humanity which live or are latent in all things.”

For Fahad a photographer has the power to change perceptions and tell a story, and that’s one of the reasons he enjoys working in conflict zones. He explains: “Photography in hard areas has its challenges, but someone has to do it.

My experiences has shown that the challenge can bring out the best in one’s work, especially when you work in countries like Pakistan, Somalia and Africa, however before you do go out there you have to do lot of planning , research, and when you get there you have to try and stay safe as possible.

All photographers go through it, in the end it’s all about confidence that you can pull of a trip of a lifetime and get some amazing pictures which can make a difference”

“During my work as a war reporter in war torn Swat region of Pakistan amongst the largest internally displaced people on earth, I lived inside the warzone for six days. The fight was

between the Taliban and Pakistan army, and millions of people were caught between the crossfire.

It changed me spiritually, seeing children suffer for no fault of theirs was heart wrenching”. He also argues that what we see on most of the


media is not the truth and that governments show us only what they want us to see. “It was amazing to meet the local population who with

all hardship had the will to help each other and live bravely through it. Even with all that was going on they made sure I was safe and kept

well.” Fahad first got fully immersed in charity work during the Pakistan Floods in 2010. He explains: “A friend of mine told me that one of the main charities involved in flood relief projects was the UK based Muslim Charity.

I volunteered to work with them and in the process also took many photographs. They liked my work and asked me to accompany them as a photographer to Somalia”.

His latest pictures of the famine in war torn Somalia has caused a stir, highlighting a region where the only luxury for some people is water and rice; where mothers have had to leave their sick children to die by the way side as they try to get the rest of the children to safety.

“I was shocked by the poverty and tragedy that was Somalia and thought should I just be a photographer who clicks or can I do more. So I decided to use the photos to hold exhibitions and raise as much money as I can for the innocent caught up in the horrors of conflict and the resulting famine and poverty”.

“Since I have worked with Muslim Charity I have distributed food packs, medical supplies, transportation of used clothes, helped to implement water wells and hand pumps in various projects in Pakistan and Somalia”

Fahad only became a photographer five years ago after he left a secure bank job as a credit analyst and decided to turn his life around. “When I first started photography I started capturing random objects and focused on street photography, once you are a beginner you want to try everything until that something finds you. Photography has always been a tool to document reality, real emotions and real people or to capture or conceptualize your own emotions and Ideas”.

Fahad believes that photography is a very important part of the wider media, “it’s the only art other than cinema and music that can reach masses. Photography is a powerful tool it can influence and change people’s perceptions, at the same time highlight the true reality, it is no cliché to say that one photograph has the ability to tell the whole story.”

“My projects with Heroin addicts, the People of Swat and Somalia changed me spiritually. It made me thankful for what we have and it also made me aware that we can change the world for the better if we have the will to do it.”

The photographer can be reached on www.fahadbhatti.com


Arab conference to strengthen humanitarian action

T he third annual conference “Effective Partnership and Information Sharing for Better Humanitarian Action”

promoting humanitarian partnerships and information sharing in the Arab world, highlighted the essential need for a co-ordinated and informed response by aid organisations in the Middle East to a humanitarian crisis.

The UN under Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos who also attended the Conference held in Kuwait City expressed the importance of strengthening partnerships between regional governments and the humanitarian community.

She said: “This conference goes to the heart of our mission at OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) coordination between relief agencies and the sharing of information to improve our response to crises around the world.

It is incredibly heartening to see support building in the Gulf region and to feel the momentum for people, organizations and governments to join together and provide a

coordinated and well-informed response to humanitarian crises.”

“I hope that we will continue to strengthen our relationships with governments and organizations in the Gulf region, and that you will continue to see OCHA as a strong partner helping to make it easier for national organizations and international actors to join forces and maximise the impact of our response,” said Ms. Amos in her opening remarks. “Together, we can make a real difference to the millions of people around the world who need and deserve our support.”

The two-day conference, was organized by OCHA Gulf Office in partnership with the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO), and Direct Aid and was supported by H.E.

Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah The Conference brought together senior regional and international officials, aid workers, private sector companies and media representatives, to discuss ways to

improve strategic planning and achieve better results through effective collaboration and sharing of information.

“The conference is considered as a platform to discuss real time humanitarian challenges and to come out with practical solutions,” said Abdullah Al-Maatouq, the head of the IICO. “The conference aims to enable humanitarian organisations to fulfill their roles towards currently occurring humanitarian disasters,” he added.

A web-based Arab Humanitarian Portal, www.arabhum.net, offering information in Arabic on humanitarian affairs, was also launched at the conference to serve as a platform for dialogue and data sharing.

During her visit, Ms. Amos met Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to discuss OCHA’s partnership with Kuwait.

OCHA’s partnership with the Government of Kuwait was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding which outlines key areas for cooperation.

REPORT


“ I have seen the progress of the idea since its inception in Oman Jan 2010, the milestone which have been covered remarkably in the Arab world, it is a new challenging, dynamic and exciting initiative that can link different players in the Arab world with the international communities.

So both can learn from one to another that can enable the international community to identify the new global leaders from the Arab worlds. A challenging point has been raised during the conference which was the lack of trust between organizations from Arab world and UN agencies. This could be due to the way that such organizations have been seen and treated differently to their counter partners of the west because of Islamphobia, war on terror, money transfer.... clamping down and many restrictions of the activities of such organizations by their local governments.

Which made them more vulnerable internally and externally, those organizations feel that unless UN agencies and international communities to credit and restrict them, trust can’t be build between these two worlds”

Valerie AmosUnder-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

“It is imperative that Humanitarian organisations work together partnering during major disasters and sharing logistics and information. Muslim Charity is proud to have been part of the Kuwait conference, which is aimed to develop cooperation and information sharing between charities whose only concern should be the people it is attempting to help and the problems it is trying to alleviate.

The UN’s Valerie Amos has endorsed the concept of cooperation, however she may not realise this but Muslim charities have been working together and partnering with the larger mainstream charities for a long time.

That is why Muslim charities are playing a very important role, and my vision is to create a common platform where we all can resort to for information, data, logistics and experiences of differing charities and how to deal with situations in fragile areas.”

Charities have to play an important part in terms of leadership and credibility; we need to think outside the box, it is a virtual world we live in.

We have to be leaders and not followers, playing a proactive role when it comes to implementing our goals, and that means not only giving out essentials like food and water, but also giving them tools that will help development and lead them to become self sufficient and independent.

One very important thing that charities have to develop is credibility – and this we can say was affirmed by the Prophet (SAW) who had established himself throughout his life as an honest, honourable person and therefore was trusted by all when he was finally announced as a prophet.

Therefore we as charities have to incorporate transparency and accountability in our practices which will build trust with our donors, as well as cooperate with other groups in our humanitarian endeavours”.

“I have seen organisations try to go it alone and indeed how difficult that journey can be. Ultimately the impact or returns at the end of that journey are not as successful as one would hope.

Working in partnership with others supports the joining up of some of our thinking, planning and implementation enabling resources to go further with a greater impact, making the journey altogether more rewarding. Of course there will be difficulties but the benefits far outweigh these.

Partnerships also help fast-track an organisations development. Providing an excellent platform to share information, challenges and reduces risk.

Above all I would say that it really helps mature an organisation, raises the transparency and accountability agenda as a priority - which in my view means a healthy and confident organisation.

This way of working means that we are never alone and together we are stronger.”

Dr Hany El BannaPresident of The Humanitarian Forum, he is also founder of Islamic Relief

Sabooh UddinChief Executive Muslim Charity

Saleh SaeedChief Executive Disasters Emergency Committee

REPORT

As the number of humanitarian

disasters and emergencies grows

every year, as a result of global trends such

as urbanisation, environmental

degradation, climate change and migration, we need

to work together to make maximum

use of the resources available to use and to minimise duplication.

UPCOMING EVENT

25-27 March 2013


W hat do you say to those people who say that aid does not work that it does

not do what it is meant to do?

I think that the most impact of government dollars that are spent are those where its spent on helping the very poorest because these vaccines are very inexpensive and you are saving lives and preventing kids from getting sick, and you are giving them nutrition, and these these are basic human values.

I was amazed when I got into this to see that that wasn’t happening and now with UK generosity and other countries pitching in we are helping the poorest.

I am pretty demanding about how I take all of the money I earned and all of the money Warren Buffet gave to our Foundation and we are making sure we spend it very wisely

and we are in partnership with DFID making sure that the money is having a huge impact; so I’d love people to go out and see it or the second best thing to go on the web and see the vaccine story, the reproductive health

story, the aids drug story; the better seeds for farmers story. This is quite an adventure in helping those most in need.

There would be people in this country

Bill GatesAid in an age of austerity

p Bill Gates and Warren Buffet

INTERVIEW

Bill Gates is ranked amongst the wealthiest people in the world. He is the former chief executive and current chairman of Microsoft. Gates is a philanthropist who has donated large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


perhaps even in your country who would say that in these rough times we just can’t afford to do this?

Bill Gates: Well I think that if spending money overseas had only the same impact as spending it over here you would spend it all here domestically.

When you can save a life for one percent, when you can get those seeds to the farmers so that for the rest of the time they could have enough to eat and send their kids to school, because all human lives have value – when have such a dramatic impact – it is worth putting one and a half percent of the budget to those most in need – and it speaks to values and it speaks to a willingness even in tough times to not withdraw the support from these people and over time they will be self sufficient but they need our help they deserve our help.

You said yourself you know a thing or two about investment. Do you see this as an investment in the future and is it something potentially good for this country too?

Bill Gates: Absolutely as we get these countries to be self sufficient – they are part of the world economy they become stable – if we don’t help out they stay poor whether its disease or unrest – those things have reverberations for all of us and we are making great progress. In the 1960’s over 20 million children were dying every year – and now we are down to 7 million.

Korea was made a recipient in the 1960’s and now it has become quite a generous donor. So we focus on those countries most in need – countries do graduate and that allows us to intensify on the countries that still have need mostly in Africa and Asia. Everytime I go and see the progress.

What’s in your sites now and what are the issues you are targeting to make progress on?

Bill Gates: Well the one that most immediate

is eradicating Polio – we are putting another plan, the UK has been a huge supporter on

this and over the next the three years to make sure that no child is paralysed and then the next three years certifying that it is the second disease to ever be eradicated.

So that is a huge project we have the ongoing work of vaccines – we are getting the new ones out to children – There are some countries where there is no vaccine coverage – we are not reaching all the children yet. So there is a lot of innovation going into that because it is so phenomenal in saving lives.

Malaria is a big area getting those bed nets out, getting some new tools better drugs eventually a really good vaccines.

So disease by disease we look at these things – The metric is the children growing up to achieve their potential making sure that lack of nutrition or cerebral malaria doesn’t so damage them that even if they survive they can’t live a normal life and make strong contribution and so we understand a lot better now where those problems are.

So diseases is our big thing as that is so central to getting people to self sufficiency and then agriculture would be the next one where you can get people seeds that are literally twice as productive then what they were using before – particularly with climate change – they need those seeds that are designed to be drought and flood resistant just to stay alive.

Interview courtesy of Department for International Development

Malaria is a big area getting those bed nets out, getting some new tools better drugs eventually a really good vaccines.

INTERVIEW


A t a first glance these words fundraising and faith might seem incompatible.

For those in the “faith” arena of course they are not, because you “need” faith to achieve their goals.

I have often heard many faith groups use the phrase “God will Provide” but for the moment

I am going to assume that we do need to introduce some actual fundraising rather than relying on a higher authority!

There is a more concrete link between fundraising and faith groups, in not only do they raise much needed cash for the group’s activities, but also the activity of

fundraising itself can also play a key role in the development of the group itself.

Faith groups need activity to exist, and much of the ideas I am suggesting in this article are more than able to achieve both goals.

First Step

FUNDRAISING in a FAITH COMMUNITY?

Martin Shaw is a partner with fundraising and management consultancy Midas Charity Appeals LLP. He has experience in working with interfaith groups delivering training and consultancy. His latest book is on fundraising in the faith community.

ARTICLE


Let me start with an example of a linked activity and faith.Stamford Hill in North London is home to many ultra-orthodox Jewish Community Centres. Many are quite insular, but one such “study” centre wanted to try and raise some much needed cash for their work, and the boys who attended there were keen to see if they could help.

Most of the boys love to cycle around the area and at first the idea of a sponsored cycle ride was considered. However, no-one could think where the ride could take place or what the purpose would be. Eventually we came up with the idea of a sponsored cycle and study. We calculated that within a small radius there were around a dozen or so study and prayer centres.

The centres got together and the boys (now from all the groups) were sponsored to ride from one centre to another, BUT they stopped at each centre and learnt a passage or idea from the bible, taught by someone from each centre.

When they got back to the first centre where they started from, they had to relate to their parents what they had learnt at each centre, so completing the sponsorship.

It took around 3 hours to finish; the parents and centres were delighted with the outcome, the boys enjoyed the cycling around, and some £5,000 was raised in total split amongst the centres competing.

This activity achieved two objectives. Firstly raising some much needed cash but secondly introducing a positive “faith” activity.

From this idea, there are some other variations:1. Walk/cycle from mosque to mosque, temple to mosque etc.

2. Walk/cycle around a town or village from one place of worship to another – a good interfaith event as you can walk from a mosque to a church to a temple to a prayer hall.

3. Sponsor the imams, priests, and religious leaders to walk or cycle from one place of worship to another in a display of unity.

Some other ideas

It is surprising how many organisations and statutory bodies, when planning their events

diary “clash” with religious festivals. Why not produce your own Faith Calendar, and even if you can’t sell them for a small price, just give them away! It is good PR, and a good way of establishing good relations in your community.

Many of our festivals take the opportunity to share food! Food often plays an important role in faith activity, so her are a few ideas around eating!!

Recipe Books. Get different members of your own community to submit their favourite recipes. Divide the book into various sections, for example, recipes for various festivals, recipes for different seasons, hors d’oeuvres, lunches, vegetarians, celebrations, cakes etc. Get the book into a printed format and sell it!

and more food

Religious festivals often get celebrated with meals, and many communities have a communal meal together. However, a new Muslim group in Croydon decided to celebrate their faith with a “cook-in” for the 80+ strong community, when each family was invited to contribute to a celebratory meal, paying a small “entrance” fee. Other members of the local community were invited along, and during the evening a small auction was held for a set of cooking pans donated by the local shopping centre.

Next year, they are now planning a celebrity cook-in and they are now sending out invitations to some of the well-known TV chefs.

Many faith communities rely on “tea and sympathy”! So why not extend the idea into a fundraising event. Why not copy the idea of World’s Biggest Coffee Morning which is one of the biggest fundraising events in the UK, with an estimated 2 million people raising their mugs for Macmillan last year?

Other ideas

Find the “Easter Egg” hunt competition is still

good fun in the Christian world, as is the idea of another competition for the best decorated Easter Egg. Also try the best “Egg Joke” competition!

Faith Festivals and Celebrations

It would not be unusual for faith groups to hold a concert-type event. For example, many Chinese Community Groups celebrate the New Year with a Street Festival or Community Fayre. Similarly at the Buddhist New Year, at the Hindu and Jain Diwali time, at Chanukah time in the Jewish Community or Eid time in the Muslim Community there are many celebrations held.

These celebrations are an important fixture in any faith calendar and are primarily there to celebrate or commemorate, but perhaps they might also be another opportunity to raise much needed funds.

Why not make a small charge for entry or if not appropriate, why not make a tin or bucket collection at the event? It shouldn’t detract from the celebration.

Faith venues can often also make excellent venues for concerts and galas. They can be musical evenings – both classical and popular; they can be poetry or reading evenings, or they can simply be a mixture of singing, readings or short plays. Produce a programme for the event, and try and persuade local companies and businesses to put in a small advert in the programme to offset the cost.

Conclusion:

Any disadvantages?

We need to be sensitive. Faith celebrations are important to us all, and we need to understand that in celebrating perhaps some people will be offended if we start to charge or have a collection. Ethics can be an issue. Often organising such fundraising takes a lot of effort, a lot of volunteers and often a lot of risk. But as they say “Have Faith”!

Religious festivals often get celebrated with meals, and many communities have a communal meal together.

ARTICLE

A changing worldan NGO perspective

Jane CockingHumanitarian Director of Oxfam GB

ARTICLE



International humanitarian aid, including from NGOs, is often too little or too late. In the Horn of Africa in 2011, few

agencies responded on an appropriate scale despite warnings of an impending crisis since the previous August.

Action is needed to mitigate disaster crisesAround the world, people talk about building resilience to cope with disasters; but donors spend less than one per cent of their development aid on disaster prevention, preparedness and risk reduction.

And if it’s tough now, what will we do when three global trends combine? Because at the same time, we’re probably looking at more weather-related disasters, more people exposed to them, and the world’s pretty poor record of helping fragile states into anything like sustainable development.

In short, the need to make humanitarian assistance more and more effective could hardly be greater.

Quality is improving Much of course has already been done. The spread of standards and more open evaluations has driven up quality, at least in some places. The sector’s multiple ‘quality initiatives’ are cooperating to develop some kind of certifi cation scheme to improve quality and accountability further. And donor governments have been increasingly generous – at least until now, when the UK’s commitment to the 0.7 per cent target contrasts starkly with some shrinking aid budgets elsewhere.

The role of international NGOs like Oxfam will increasingly be to support local action. We must make aid work harder

But we must all do far, far more. First: making the most of all of our aid by integrating it better. We already work to reduce the risk of disasters by, for example, planting trees that can reduce fl oods and landslides in South America. We build cyclone shelters, and train local organisations to prepare for disasters in Pakistan.

And we support mediation in land confl icts, and promote women’s participation in peace processes, as in Afghanistan, to play some role at least in reducing confl ict. But we realise that we need a more systematic approach to all this, to integrating humanitarian and development work in the face of sudden shocks and long-term stresses like deteriorating environments.

The second priority is going far further than most of us have done before in building up the capacity of local civil society – and the state – in disaster response.

Last year’s DFID humanitarian strategy was up-to-date on resilience, but surprisingly behind the curve in recognising that future humanitarian action will – and should – be more about that local capacity than the slow reform of big UN agencies.

Action will be driven by the local The role of international NGOs like Oxfam will increasingly be to support that local action. At present, local organisations’ capacity varies extraordinarily. In Central America, we work with a network of 100 civil society organisations supporting communities at risk from disasters; in some regions, there is nothing like that.

81 per cent of our humanitarian funding is still spent on activities that our own staff carry out. While we easily fi nd partners to cope with small, medium, or slowly developing crises, fi nding those that can cope with sudden ‘mega-disasters’, like Pakistan’s fl oods in 2010, is inevitably more diffi cult.

But the direction of travel is clear. Increasingly effective, and accountable, humanitarian assistance must be more local. Building local capacity must be central to humanitarian action, as capacity building has been in development for years. Just as development action, in many countries, must be more focused on disasters – on building resilience, and, when disasters strike, being more agile in changing the direction of aid programmes to respond to them.


F or almost a decade, Pakistan has emerged on the worlds’ canvas as a country struck by a complex humanitarian crises due

to unbridled human and natural disasters which have given rise to a mass exodus of human populations from their areas of origin to relatively safe hosting areas within the country.

The history of catastrophic natural disasters dates back only to October 8, 2005 when one of the most devastating earthquakes measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale hit the mountain areas of AJK and Khyber Pakhtun Khawah and resulted in humungous destruction of houses,

infrastructure and deaths of about 80000 people.

Almost 3 million people lost their houses leading to the temporary settlement of hundreds of thousands of affected Internally Displaced peoples (IDPs) in tented camps established across AJK and KPK with all kinds of emergency life saving needs. This disaster drew attention from local philanthropists, NGOs as well as the international organizations who came with an over whelming response to manage the IDPs. It was for the fi rst time that UN Humanitarian Clusters were mobilized

in Pakistan for assisting the government in managing this huge emergency and the IDPs.

October 2008 saw massive displacement of 2.7 – 03 million people from Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Swat as a result of military operation to fl ush out terrorists from these two areas. The exercise carried out by the Pakistan Army in the Malakand region of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province in 2009 displaced about 2.3 million people just in two weeks.

The number increased to 2.7 million between

Pakistan’s Internallydisplaceda growing problem

Dr Tehmina Roohi has worked with the Agha Khan Rural Support Program, IUCN, United Development Program Pakistan and UNHCR. Here she reports on growing problems facing the Internally Displaced Peoples in Pakistan.

REPORT


April and July 2009 with the expansion of the operation in FATA bordering Afghanistan

Yet the largest IDP situation arose when the history’s worst flooding August – September 2010 hit the entire country affecting 20 million people and destroying/damaging 1.9 million houses. Over 07 million people became IDPs all over Pakistan. Though many were settled in formal and informal camps established by the government, majority lived on road sides under the open sky without access to relief assistance. Sindh and Balochistan were recurrently caught

up in flood 2011 though with less intensity than 2010.

Nevertheless as the population affected in 2010 flood had not yet restored their lives therefore the impact was quite disastrous. Again in early September 2012, flash floods and urban flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan affected more than 1 million people in Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh (National Disaster Management Authority; NDMA).

Meanwhile, as of 11 September, more than 742,000 people remained displaced in Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa due to a complex emergency that has affected north-western Pakistan since 2008 (Pakistan Humanitarian Snapshot OCHA 17 September 2012).

Plight of IDPs in PakistanSince the IDPs remain within the territorial jurisdiction of their own counties, the state has the primary responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to them without discrimination and in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian laws. However, despite large scale displacement

October 2008 saw massive displacement of 2.7 – 03 million people from Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Swat as a result of military operation to flush out terrorists from these two areas.


crises, country is not fully equipped with required legal, policy, institutional, financial, human, logistics and administrative capacity to safeguard the protection and assistance of IDPs and their safe return as well as durable solution i.e. resettlement and reintegration. The strategy for dealing with IDPs has been piecemeal and largely reactive. In such situations the UN humanitarian clusters are mobilized for coordinated response planning to the emergency situations.

The Government set up National Disaster Management Authority (NDMAs) in the wake of earthquake 2005 followed by the establishment of Provincial DMAs and the District DMAs to coordinate humanitarian response of national and international community.

These bodies face the challenge of lack of coordination, required capacity and resources. Absence of a comprehensive post disaster relief plan at the district/sub-district level and lack of a common implementation strategy at the grassroots affect efficient provision of assistance and relief to the affected populations. Government response to the 2012 flood affected IDPs witnesses’ weak disaster preparedness and response capacity of DDMAs and PDMAs. In many cases it is possible for the government to prevent and contain the magnitude of the disaster or its impact however; due to a prevalent lack of efficiency and or negligence it is not done. A key example is the lake Attabad/Hunza Gilgit Baltistan.

The fate of the displaced is overwhelmingly determined by high level policy decisions without consultation with the IDPs e.g. in camp site selection, provision of relief items, declaring affected areas safe for return and prioritization of infrastructure for reconstruction etc. affecting the overall humanitarian response. For instance, the IDPs fleeing conflict in Swat Malakand region were camped at intensely hot places.

They were neither accustomed to such intense heat nor had appropriate clothes for the weather. Setting up of camps at distanced places from the place of origin and housing people from same villages in different camps gives rise to disruption of social community networks.

In a situation of insufficient numbers as well as the housing capacity of the camps most of the IDPs start living with the host communities which restrict the provision of relief assistance

due to registration and logistic constraints.

It also negatively impacts the water, sanitation and housing infrastructure of the hosting families and the communities. IDPs in the camps as well as those living with the host communities often face issues related to the lack of access to water, sanitation and proper health services.

The women’s privacy is mostly affected due to lack of safe bathing and latrine facilities often manifesting itself in incidence of Gender and Sex Based Violence.

Displaced female headed families face problems in receiving relief assistance which is channeled through the registered males. Women without CNIC confront registration issues and sometimes are denied of housing in the camp.

The extremely/most vulnerable persons including elderly at risk, orphans, separated children, pregnant mothers, girls and disable persons invariably face discrete protection problems aggravated by their traumatic and psychosocial suffering arising out of humanitarian crises and displacement.

There were reports about children vulnerability to trafficking and sexual assaults as well as separation from their families during the massive flight of the civilian population from Swat. IDP school going children remain deprived of education because of lack of proper and sufficient mobilization of emergency

education system in camps.

On return their education is permanently discontinued due to the destruction of school infrastructure in their areas of origin. Improper care and lack of health and hygiene practices in the camps coupled with consumption of unsafe water gives rise to water born diseases among children whereas, other members become patients of chronic skin diseases. A large majority of children suffers from malnutrition due to the unavailability of proper food including milk etc.

Deteriorating security situation restricts the mobility of the IDPs especially in military operation areas like northwestern parts violating the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, and of Article 12 of the ICCPR, to which Pakistan has now become a party.

Local integration is also a biggest challenge for the IDPs as they are considered non locals and outsiders in the hosting areas and their administrations.

The government as well as the UN Humanitarian Clusters/programs needs to strive for building and developing grassroots capacities for conflict prevention, mitigation and management.

There is a paramount need of mainstreaming or initiating special programs for the integration of most/extremely vulnerable population in all initiatives at macro and micro level.

REPORT

ARTICLE


Banana farming has been central to the economies of the small islands of the Eastern Caribbean, the Windward Islands, for the past five decades and more.

In its heyday at the beginning of the nineties, more than 25,000 farmers were producing bananas for export and the banana industry accounted for between 10 and 15 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product of the islands.

However all this was to change suddenly with the advent of the global wave of trade liberalisation in the nineties. The institution of the Single European market and the new trade rules enforced by the World trade Organisation wrought havoc with the banana trade. Internecine trade wars with the US multinationals, which have historically dominated the banana trade, gaining the support of the US government against the European Union, forced constant changes in the industry.

It set in train a downward spiral, described by some observers as “a race to the bottom”, and the effect was to practically threaten to knock the bottom out of the industry. Market instability and

unfair competition, based on gross exploitation of Latin American workers, brought about a sharp decline in the industry, and, by the year 2000, the numbers actually producing bananas for exports had fallen to just over 8000.

There was a critical need for alternative marketing arrangements. WINFA, the umbrella body of small farmers in the Windward Islands, was up to the task. It sought allies, in Europe and Latin America, in an international campaign for trade justice, pointing to how the unbridled trade liberalisation was affecting rural populations.

In addition, WINFA linked up with the burgeoning Fairtrade movement. It obtained Fairtrade certification and began, from 2000 the conversion of the export of bananas under the fair-trade label.

Since then, Fairtrade has virtually saved the banana industry in the islands and, crucially, sustained the livelihood of banana farmers, more than one-third of whom are women.

Fairtrade has improved production practices in a far more environmentally-friendly manner,

enabled negotiated prices and the payment of a social premium.

This social premium has been used in a variety of ways to the benefit of not just the farmers themselves, through various health insurance and pension programmes, but the wider farming communities.

This has involved the purchase of school buses, providing scholarships and educational and leisure equipment for day nurseries and schools, giving material support to health clinics and sporting organisations, as well as helping to renovate community centres.

Above all, WINFA, conscious of how international trade rules and policies can impact on livelihoods, has ensured a commitment to work along with global allies in the struggle for trade justice in the world. Internally, it has pursued programmes aimed at empowering farmers through economic and trade literacy.

WINFA highly values its relations with the global civil society movement and is committed to strengthening this partnership.

Fair trade and trade justice in the windward islands

Renwick Rose: In 2011 he was the winner of the Guardian International Development Achievement Award in recognition of his work on behalf of the Fair Trade movement and the Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA)

As the world divides into factions of have and have not’s, the need for social responsibility and philanthropic activities has increased more than ever.

However one of the most important components of being a philanthropist if we adhere to its actual Greek meaning is ‘love of humanity’, and this factor becomes even more essential as we look around at the state of the world today, where millions live below the poverty line and everyday children die of malnutrition and hunger.

It is for these noble reasons why the founders of the RAF Foundation set up the Sheikh Thani Bin

Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services and have implemented important charitable projects across the globe in countries like Pakistan, Iraq and Bangladesh, Somalia and Kenya.

The charity foundation was named after the Arabic word RAF which means compassion and mercy and embodies the mission of the foundation which is “Mercy upon humans is a virtue”.

RAF Foundation has been recognised internationally for its charitable works, it recently received the armor of the Islamic Conference from the British Parliament member and shadow Minister for Justice, Mr. Andy Slaughter and

Qatar’s leading Charitable Foundation RAF and Help the Needy UK

By Mariam Adam


FEATURE

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

-Martin Luther King Jr

his Highness the Islamic Conference Secretary General in gratitude of the sincere efforts of the Foundation in humanitarian rescue work.

Earlier this year RAF introduced the Project of General Welfare Funds which incorporates six funds which address the essential needs of the poor.

Mr Ayedh Bin Dabasan Al-Qahtani, General Manager and Head of the Board of Trustees of RAF Foundation, explained: “It is a charitable project serving diverse sectors. It shall be managed and supervised by the Foundation’s Charitable Project Department. It aims at saving sums of money to be spent inside and outside the country on the much needed areas where the need is the greatest”

Al-Qahtani indicated that the project started collecting contributions, over and above the sum approved by the Foundation for the balance of each Fund, “to realize the Foundational motto (Mercy upon humans is a virtue) in cooperation with partners inside and outside the country”.

He said that the project includes six funds; the Orphan Fund, the Medical Fund, the Education Fund, the Poor Families Fund, the Social Development Fund and the Relief Fund. He indicated that the General Welfare Funds project shall support the existing welfare projects in addition to supporting new ones.

RAF Foundation played a very active part at the time of the Pakistani floods in 2010 through its appointed official partner Help The Needy Charitable Trust (HTN) headed by Raad Salman and Ali Mare.

This UK based charity came into prominence especially after the Iraq war where it had helped thousands of civilians caught up in the conflict by setting up long term projects to protect women and children, in particular the widows and orphans.

Help the Needy has implemented many projects

on behalf of RAF after the floods where they have been and are still very active.

During this time they established healthcare in the crippled town of Sujawal by setting up field hospitals which have helped over 7000 people. They also provided 3.5 million litres of clean drinking water as well as over 1 million water purification tablets to prevent the spread of diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, hepatitis A and E.

Ali Mare explains: “These days charities have not only to provide food, shelter and medical supplies but they have to also play an active part in helping

sustainable development, and this is what we have done to support these displaced people to build up their lives again. The RAF foundation has generously provided free housing to many of those who have lost their homes”

After the successful implementation of Azad Village in the flood hit area of Sindh, Help the Needy provided 30 new 2houses benefitting 242 homeless people.

The Charity also built and completed a state of the art housing project for RAF called “Doha Village”. The project was delivered in partnership with

another UK based organisation called Muslim Charity who have been active in the region for many years and therefore have an established infrastructure.

Doha Village is located in Sanjarpur district Rahimyar Khan and spread over 9 acres, surrounded by flood affected villages that were washed away by the floods. The village consists of 200 houses, a school, a children’s park, a mosque, a clinic and a shopping market

Ali Mare explains: “The village is thoughtfully built and will be structurally strong with all the essential facilities nearby, and we hope it will provide safety and security where children can have a good future”

He continues: “The RAF Foundation has supported us to help thousands of destitute families, orphans and widows around the world, providing food shelter and healthcare.

Apart from food and shelter aid It has helped carry out over 500 cataract operations in Pakistan, distributed food during Ramadan to thousands of people. Projects have been set up in Pakistan, Iraq and Bangladesh and Africa to help orphans and vulnerable children. We hope to continue working with this very important foundation.”


FEATURE


INTERNATIONAL NGO’s

01 The Wikimedia Foundation United States, Information Freedom

02 Partners in Health United States, Public Health

03 Oxfam UK, Development & Humanitarian Relief

04 BRAC Bangladesh, Poverty Reduction & Microfinance

05 International Rescue Committee United States, Refugees

06 PATH United States, Public Health

07 CARE International Switzerland, Development & Humanitarian Relief

08 Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland, Medical Relief

09 Danish Refugee Council Denmark, Refugees

10 Ushahidi Kenya, Crowdsourcing Software

11 Mercy Corps United States, Development & Humanitarian Relief

12 Heifer International United States, Poverty Reduction

13 Handicap International France, Humanitarian Relief & Disabled

14 Human Rights Watch United States, Human Rights

15 Barefoot College India, Poverty Reduction

16 Transparency International Germany, Anti-Corruption

17 Water For People United States, Water

18 Save the Children International United Kingdom, Child Welfare

19 Amnesty International United Kingdom, Human Rights

20 Action Contre la Faim France Hunger, Humanitarian Relief

21 Aravind Eye Care System India, Public Health

22 Pratham India, Education

23 World Wide Fund For Nature Switzerland, Conservation

24 Apopo Tanzania, Humanitarian Demining, Public Health

25 Medical Relief International Charity United Kingdom, Medical Relief

26 Ceres United States, Environmental Governance

27 PlanetRead India, Literacy

28 Digital Divide Data Cambodia, Social Business

29 Acumen Fund United States, Social Investment

30 CeaseFire United States, Urban Violence

31 Teach For America United States, Education

32 ASA Bangladesh, Microfinance

33 International Crisis Group Belgium, Conflict Prevention

34 Landesa United Sates, Land Rights

35 PLAN International United Kingdom, Child Welfare

36 Root Capital United Sates, Poverty Reduction

TOP 100BEST NGO’s

INTERNATIONAL NGO’s


37 Marie Stopes International United Kingdom, Reproductive Helath

38 Saude Crianca Brazil, Public Health

39 Population and Community Development Association Thailand, Public Helath

40 Gaia Amazonas Colombia, Education

41 Tostan Senegal, Community Development

42 Escuela Nueva Colombia, Education

43 Harlem Children’s Zone United States, Education, Community Development

44 The Big Issue United Kingdom, Homelessness

45 ActionAid South Africa, Development, Human Rights

46 Open Society Foundations United States, Development, Human Rights

47 FrontlineSMS United Kingdom, Mobile Technology

48 Viva Rio Brazil, Urban Violence

49 Forum for African Women Educationalists Kenya, Education

50 Aflatoun Netherlands, Financial Literacy

51 Gram Vikas India, community Development

52 Search For Common Ground United States, Conflict Resolution

53 International Medical Corps United States, Medical Relief

54 Clinton Health Access Initiative United States, Public Health

55 Center for Digital Inclusion Brazil, Poverty Reduction

56 Rare United States, Conservation

57 Ashoka United States, Social Entrepreneurship

58 Global Witness United Kingdom, Natural Resource Governance

59 Anti-Slavery International United Kingdom, Natural Resource Governance

60 One Acre Fund United Kingdom, Human Rights

61 Reporters Sans Frontieres Kenya, Agricultural Development

62 Habitat for Humanity France, Human Rights

63 Movember Foundation United States, Human Settlements

64 KickStart United States, Poverty Reduction

65 OneWorld Health United Statest, Public Helath, Pharmaceuticals

66 Room to Read United Sates, Literacy

67 Rainforest Alliance United States, Enviroment

68 Panzi Hospital/Foundation Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Reproductive Health

69 Femmes Africa Solidarite Switzerland, Conflict Resolution

70 International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) France, Human Rights

71 TED United States, Education, Innovation

72 Common Ground United States, Homelessness

73 Free the Children Canada, Child Welfare

74 Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources India, Education

75 International Development Enterprises India, Poverty Reduction

76 Friends-Internatonal Cambodia, Child Welfare

77 Creative Commons United States, Intellectual Poverty

78 Interpeace Switzerland, Peace building

79 International Alert United Kingdom, Peace building

80 Global Viral Forecasting Initiative United States, Public Heath

81 AMREF Kenya, Public Health

82 International Centre for Transitional Justice United States, Law and Justice

83 Witness United States, Human Rights

84 Portable Light Project United States, Solar Technology

85 International Bridges to Justice Switzerland, Law and Justice

86 Cambia Australia Intellectual Property, Biotechnology

87 Innovations for Poverty Action United States, Development

88 International Commission of Jurists Switzerland, Law and Justice

89 Medic Mobile United States, Public Health

90 Saferworld United Kingdom, Peace building

91 Mideast Youth Bahrain, Human Rights

92 Association for the Protection of the Environment {A.P.E} Egypt, Environment & Community Development

93 TRIAL Switzerland, Law and Justice

94 Geneva Call Switzerland, Conflict Resolution

95 Architecture for Humanity United States, Human Settlements

96 Injaz al-Arab Jordan, Social Entrepreneurship

97 Global Footprint Network United States, Environment

98 Reprieve United Kingdom, Law and Justice

99 Libera Italy, Community Empowerment

100 Fare Share United Kingdom, Food

Courtesy of :

REPORT


A s the scope, scale and range of services provided by faith-based organizations has expanded and their dependence on

government funding has increased, the need for resolution of unanswered questions about their accountability has intensified.

On the one hand, the growing scale of government funding has inevitably brought with it.

High standards of fiduciary responsibility and financial management, along with

mandates for performance evaluation and public reporting.

On the other hand, to the extent that they continue to depend significantly on private support, religious bodies and faith-based organizations have become entangled in the general crisis of accountability that has affected corporate management and governance for profit and non-profit alike: today, questions about financial improprieties, self-dealing, conflicts of interest, and public disclosure are as likely to be raised about religious organizations as about secular ones.

In addition, the expanding range of service industries in which faith based providers operate renders them subject to a wide variety of industry specific regulatory regimes involving licensing, standards of care, public health and safety, land use, and the legal rights of clients.

Finally, in an era of class action aggressive tort litigation that began in the 1960s, stakeholders – community groups, client groups, rights advocates, and other organized interests affected by the activities of faith-based organizations have become steadily more vocal and influential in demanding accountability.

In addition to that, erosion of the formal legal protections that had insulated religious bodies and faith-based organizations from accountability, it appears that many informal obstacles to accountability are also disappearing.

Foremost among these have been the limited resources of government agencies entrusted with the task of overseeing charitable institutions and the reluctance of state attorneys-general to investigate and act on malfeasance in religious

organizations.

The bewildering variety and complexity of religious organizations and faith based service providers not only makes it nearly impossible to frame generalizations about accountability in these entities, but also impairs government’s capacity to construct public policies to monitor and regulate them.

While, government is unconstrained in its ability to regulate internal accountability mechanisms in secular corporations defining the powers and duties of managers and directors, mandating standards of training for staff, establishing guidelines for the composition of governing boards this power does not extend to religious bodies.

While government is unconstrained in its ability to regulate internal accountability mechanisms in secular corporations defining the powers and duties of managers and directors, mandating standards of training for staff, establishing guidelines for the composition of governing boards this power does not extend to religious bodies.

Internal and external accountability of faith based ngo’s

By Farhan Ali

faith-based organizations have become steadily more vocal and influential in demanding accountability


REPORT

“We are here to create a new atmosphere, to allow the growth of a new environment that can

establish our new humanitarian community. Our roadmap is endless and we just started two years ago. Our hope is to become a developer of road maps to other organizations soon.”

-Dr. Hany El-Banna President and founder of Muslim Charities Forum

Muslim charity is committed to save the life of every mother and child at banadir hospital, mogadishu, somalia by improving access to maternity care through restoring maternity wards, operation theatre and improving services.

Please support us to save lives of these vulnerable women and children in somalia with your generous donations.

A silent killer We need help to save lives of mother and child. I see every day mother and children dying, the worst is not being able to helpful due to lack of capacity, skilled staff, medicines and equipment. Please help banadiar hospital to give a healthy start to a mother and baby.

- Dr. Abdirizak Hasan Ali, Banadir Hospital

Somalia, two decades of civil war and the ensuing political instability coupled with drought and famine have made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world for a woman to give birth.

Banadir hospital, constructed in 1977 as obstetrics, gynaecology and with paediatric services with 700 bed capacities is presenting pathetic picture of maternity care. Service delivery is hampered by a low number of health personnel often with limited capacity and skills in maternal health services, lack of medical supplies to carry out complex deliveries, as well as poor infrastructure.

Banadir Hospital

HE Issue 01

Documents

Transcript of HE Issue 01