3Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
MISSION
Muslim Aid, a premier British Muslim relief and development agency, guided by the teachings of Islam, endeavours to tackle poverty and its causes by developing innovative and sustainable solutions that enable individuals and their communities to live with dignity and by supporting initiatives that promote economic and social justice.
VISION
Our vision is the alleviation of poverty, education for all, and for the provision of basic amenities for those in need; in order to create a world where charity and compassion produce justice, self-reliance and human development.
VALUES
Muslim Aid’s values are compassion and sensitivity to others’ needs and condition; empowerment of people to realise their own potential; justice for all by considering the rights of people and treating them with dignity and respect they deserve regardless of their ethnic background; and accountability both for our own actions and those of our partners.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dr M Manazir Ahsan MBE (Chairman)Dr Suhaib Hasan (Vice Chair)Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari MBE (Secretary)Mr Saleem Asghar Kidwai OBE (Treasurer) Mr Yousuf BhailokMr Nur Ahmed Chowdhury FCCAMr M H FaruqiMr Mehboob KanthariaDr Abdul Majid KatmeMr A K M Abdussalam
Ms Unaiza MalikMr Farooq MuradDr Zahid Ali ParvezDr Muhammed Jafer QureshiDr Tariq Yusuf RajbeeMr Riyadh Al-Rawi Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBEProf Ghulam SarwarMr S M T WastiMr Muhammad Zamir
4 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Contents06
08
10
12
16
30
18
34
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36
24
40
28
42
Messages From Chairman & CEO
The Beginning of Muslim Aid
History of Muslim Aid Timeline
Emergency Relief
Education & Skills Training
Religious Dues
Housing & Shelter
Water & Sanitation
Microfinance
The Journey Ahead
Healthcare & Nutrition
Rainbow Family
UK Development
Muslim Aid’s Reach
“…if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole of mankind…” - The Holy Qur’an 5:32
6 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Looking back over the last 30 years, I am both proud and humbled at the amount that Muslim Aid has achieved and the challenges we have overcome as an organisation. In times of conflict, natural disasters and where chronic poverty is rife, Muslim Aid has been a lifeline to millions of people all across the world. But having said this, it has by no means been an easy 30 years. Having been one of the founding trustees of Muslim Aid and having served as Chairman for two terms, I have always maintained a strong sense of duty to the organisation, particularly its donors and beneficiaries. It has always been our aim to take the organisation from strength to strength and we are humbled to be standing strong after three decades of service. Despite the success of the organisation, hurdles and obstacles along the way have been abundant. From trying to reach those in need in times of conflict and disaster to facing false allegations in the press, Muslim Aid has had its share of challenges but by the will of Allah SWT, we have come out of them stronger and better equipped to cope and continue. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported our work through their donations or time over the last thirty years. Special thanks are also due to our field officers who have served over the last thirty years, delivering aid in some of the most treacherous conditions. Our staff and office volunteers have carefully coordinated our work over the last three decades, and I can not be more proud of their efforts. I hope that there will not be a need for our work in the future, but if there is, I pray that Muslim Aid will continue to expand and be everywhere that we are needed.
Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Dr M Manazir Ahsan MBE Chairman
7Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
In the 30 years of its existence, Muslim Aid has become an innovative International NGO delivering sustainable development programmes with 17 offices in Asia, Africa and Europe, serving millions of the poorest and most marginalised communities worldwide. Our strength not only comes from our geographic coverage, but from the belief - serving humanity, regardless of race, gender, faith, ethnicity and creed, is at the core of our work. Our Islamic values of compassion, justice and peace have not changed over the 30 years, and we are committed to ensuring that through our poverty reduction programmes and emergency relief, people have access to life’s basic human rights.
30 years marks a milestone for Muslim Aid. It is a testament to our longevity and our global popularity. Despite this, it also marks a time where we are facing increasing changes in the global humanitarian field. Our challenge is to adapt with proactive responses to the changes modern wars and complex emergencies are presenting us with. From the increasing number of refugees fleeing persecution from conflict countries; fighting new and deadly viruses to climate changes affecting livelihoods, we will endeavour to create lasting and positive changes for the lives of those in need.
We are grateful to all our supporters, volunteers and donors. The generous public have been the backbone of our success, enabling us to facilitate our work. The years ahead are not without challenges and we remain ready, committed and full of vigour for the journey ahead.
Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Hamid Azad CEO
8 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
A small office in London responded to the 1985 Ethiopian famine by delivering emergency aid. The founding members of the organisation set the foundations of what was to become known today as one of the largest British international faith based relief agencies; Muslim Aid.
The years that followed saw the organisation increase its relief efforts to respond to the floods in Bangladesh and conflicts in Africa. By 1989 over £1 million of emergency aid had been distributed. Muslim Aid has since gone from strength to strength, originally establishing itself as a relief agency, later adding sustainable development for communities affected by poverty, disasters and conflicts to its charter.
In thebeginning
By the 1990’s long-term development projects accounted for almost 50% of Muslim Aid’s relief activities. Muslim Aid expanded its economic empowerment programme to include income generation and skills development programmes for people in Bangladesh, Kenya and Palestine. Muslim Aid was one of the first agencies to respond to the Tsunami that claimed the lives of 230,000 people and left around five million homeless in Asia and east Africa.
In 2010, Muslim Aid began the ambitious task of building model villages in Pakistan, complete with housing, schools and clinics after a devastating flood destroyed homes, livelihoods and roads.
The organisation has expanded its operations in over 70 countries, with 14 field offices in Asia, Africa and Europe, Muslim Aid also established two UK regional offices in Birmingham and Manchester.
In 2013, Muslim Aid set up a field office in Rakhine state, Myanmar and is the only faith-based international NGO to operate within the country delivering education, healthcare, livelihood programmes and emergency aid to the Rohingya people displaced from the ongoing conflict. A field presence in Myanmar means Muslim Aid is able to deliver effective and targeted programmes to one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.
Muslim Aid established its UK Development department in 2011 to address the issues faced by the marginalised and impoverished in the UK. It has expanded its efforts annually to include dynamic programmes, such as supporting prisoners with life-skills and assisting the homeless and elderly through its winter campaign, which benefitted 7,800 people in 2014 alone.
30 years on and Muslim Aid is expanding its geographical reach and capabilities in sustainable development. Muslim Aid’s office in the USA is in its infancy but is steadily growing in strength and in reach. The organisation has stepped up emergency responses in countries experiencing conflict and will continue to forge meaningful partnerships to carry its work forward.
Evolution &Growth
30 years on
10 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
The Secretary for Social Welfare inaugurates the Sudan Office. MA’s Sudan and Bangladesh offices are set up in response to strategic needs
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
History ofMuslim Aid1985 - 2015
MAis founded when leading British Muslim Organisations join to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia
MA provides vital emergency supplies to millions of Afghan war refugees fleeing into Pakistan. A field office is established in Peshawar, Pakistan to implement education and health care programmes for incoming refugees
MA Sudan establishes 7 primary healthcare centres helping 145,000 people. Food, medicine, clothing, seeds and fertilisers are delivered to thousands of people rebuilding their lives after floods in Bangladesh
MA Bangladesh implements an income generation scheme where 2000 people benefit from 6 months of training and interest free loans to start their own business
MA is amongst the first to send emergency supplies to earthquake victims in Pakistan and Iraq, where hundreds died and over 40,000 were left homeless
MA distributes 39 tonnes of aid worth £250,000 to Tirana, Albania on the first ever chartered flight arranged by the Muslim community
MA expands economic
empowerment programmes with Income
generation and skills training projects that
support people in Kenya,
Bangladesh and Palestine
MA send tents, blankets, food and medicines to some of the 16 million people affected by famine in Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique and Sudan
MA sets up an office in
Highbury, London
Severe drought in Sudan calls
for emergency relief. MA steps up relief efforts
and responds with medicines,
food and blankets
MA Sudan complete a
programme of water supply
systems in the communities
of Tangasal, Omdurman
and Umbadda, which reach
thousands of homes
Agricultural development programmes
bring long-term relief to
affected people in Bangladesh,
by enabling the cultivation of
land
MA distributes Qurbani food
aid in Satoy following the
conflict in Chechnya that
left 700,000 displaced
Thousands of refugees in
Bosnia benefit from extensive
development programmes, including aid
for traumatised children in
Sarajevo, foster care and orphan welfare
schemes in Tuzla
1985
Birth 5 years 10 years
2005 20152000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
MA HQ moves to Whitechapel, East London and adopts a new logo that highlights the ethos of service to mankind
An earthquake in Gujurat – the worst in 100 years - leaves an estimated 100,000 people dead. MA responds with £500,000 of aid for short and long-term projects
MA launches an ambitious fundraising programme to help those affected by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza. The appeal raises over 2.3 million and enables MA to step up relief work in the area
Somalia is hit by its worst drought in 60 years – MA launch an emergency appeal that reaches around 1 million of those affected, with food packs, healthcare, water, education and counselling
The tenth MA office is opened in Cambodia, running orphan care, qurbani and microfinance programmes
Offices are set up in Sri Lanka and Indonesia to increase MA’s capability to implement long-term Tsunami rehabilitation programmes in Indonesia, Somalia and India
The British High Commissioner, Richard Clarke,
inaugurates the MA funded
laboratory, library and
computer rooms in the Tayyibat
school, Tanzania
MA raises over £350,000 in
response to a devastating earthquake
in Haiti. After providing
much needed emergency
relief, long-term sustainable
development projects begin
MA opens an office in Sittwe,
Myanmar to implement long-term
development programmes that
will help those affected
MA’s UK Development
department carried out 10
projects which benefitted
7,818 people across the UK
MA’s Lebanon Appeal raises
over £700,000 for emergency
relief and support for civilians who
had previously suffered from
Israeli air strikes
A major school come cyclone shelter is built
during long-term rehabilitation, in
Myanmar
MA signs up to the Make
Poverty History Campaign,
with other civil society groups, for urgent and
significant action on world poverty
MA Chairman meets with
Bosnian President, Alija
Izetbegovic, to agree to
a £250,000 programme to rebuild houses
destroyed by conflict
£2.3m
MA wins International Charity of the Year
MA turns 30 years old
12 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Muslim Aid was born out of an emergency and has continued to be among the first NGOs on the scene of emergencies worldwide over the last 30 years. From responding during internal and cross-border conflicts to natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, Muslim Aid has provided tailored and culturally sensitive assistance to millions of people in need around the world.
EmergencyRelief
“Everything we lost, we found a replacement at Beity.” Ruba, Syrian orphan and beneficiary of Muslim Aid’s Beity Orphanage
In response to the Gulf War, MA -among the first of
the NGOs to enter Basra-delivered food and medicine to displaced people in Iraq
MA sent 524 tonnes of relief items, including 1,000 baby essential kits, medicines for 20,000 people in Visoko &
two ambulances in Sarajevo
MA invested £100,000 in humanitarian work for
those displaced by the conflict in Kosovo
1990 1995 1999
Highlights
Muslim Aid was formed in response to the humanitarian crises that plagued East Africa in the 1980s. Between the 1970s and the early 1990s, regions in Africa suffered more than twenty years of severe drought which led to famine. Widespread conflicts in the region further exacerbated the humanitarian situation across the region as resources became scarcer and families were forced to seek refuge.
The events inspired Muslim Aid’s formation and inaugural humanitarian programme. After raising £259,000 in the UK, Muslim Aid was able to begin providing emergency assistance to those affected in Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and Ghana. Assistance extended to Sudan in 1988 with medicine food and blankets. Distributions of tents, food, blankets and medicine also took place across Ethiopia, Mozambique and Angola to ease the suffering of some of the 16 million people affected by the famine, while Somali refugees in Kenya received 200 tonnes of food from Muslim Aid. Two daily meals were also provided to 3,000 Somalis through feeding centres in Mogadishu. In 1991 Muslim Aid established a field office in Sudan to provide effective long-term support across Africa. Thirty years later, Muslim Aid still operates through its offices in Sudan, Somalia and Kenya to provide humanitarian aid to millions of people in need.
Humanitarian Crises Horn of Africa
At a glance:
“Muslim Aid responds to emergency relief with compassion
and dignity with the aim of empowering those who suffer the
brutality of natural disasters.”
Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin
MA responded to the earthquake in Gujerat, India-the worst to hit in a century-by providing £500,000 worth
of emergency relief
MA responded to the victims of the tsunami
within 48 hours, providing assistance in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Somalia
MA raised £700,000 for emergency relief and refugee support
for victims of the Israeli conflict with Lebanon
MA raised over £4million, with £1.2million raised in one night, as a result of the extensive conflict in
Gaza
2001 2004 2006 2014
In 2011 internal conflict in Syria led to what the UN described as the biggest refugee crisis since World War II and the direst humanitarian situation of our time. While millions have fled the conflict and are living as refugees in camps and shelters, millions remain displaced inside Syria and lack access to basic amenities. Muslim Aid reached 17,899 families inside Syria and provided them with one month food packages filled with staple and nourishing food items. Through its field offices in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, Muslim Aid has also distributed food, blankets, winter clothes, hygiene kits and educational supplies. In Turkey, Muslim Aid established ‘Beity’, an orphanage which houses 100 Syrian children orphaned by the conflict. Children are provided with quality education, nourishing meals, healthcare and shelter. The success of Beity has inspired plans to recreate the programme inside Syria to provide a safe haven for orphaned Syrian children caught in the conflict.
SyriaOngoing support
15Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
16 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Muslim Aid firmly believes that education and vocational training are vital tools in the fight against poverty, and is committed to providing formal and non-formal education to marginalised communities in order to prepare them for a better future. For 30 years, our education programmes have served millions of people and range from pre-school initiatives to adult and vocational education.
Muslim Aid builds, refurbishes and equips schools, trains teachers to provide quality teaching, provides children with school equipment, uniforms and delivers nutritional programmes for children. Every project is tailored to the needs and situations of each individual, whether they are war returnees, refugees, internally displaced or living in hardship. Over the past 30 years Muslim Aid has delivered education and skills training programmes in Bangladesh, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Myanmar.
Education & Skills Training
Securing productive futures
“I am impressed with the work of Muslim Aid. We would like Muslim Aid to support our women development and education programmes in Malawi.” HE Mrs Joyce Banda, Former President of Malawi
MA provided free meals and hundreds of teaching packs for poor students
and built ten libraries for schools in Pakistan
A specialised computer training centre was
opened with MA’ support in the first all women’s
Islamic University, Pakistan
Vice President of Gambia inaugurated MA funded
school for the blind
2000 2001 2002At a glance:
In 2014, 20,000 adults and children benefitted from MA’s education projects worldwide.
Around 3,700 children will have the opportunity to go back to school in 2015. Children living in the camps in Sittwe have not been able to go to school since the conflict began. Muslim Aid’s education project aims to rehabilitate children back into education and refurbish schools that have been destroyed due to conflict. Teachers will be trained in essential teaching and children will be given educational materials and resources to facilitate an easy transition back to school. Muslim Aid has already provided informal education for children in the camps and has renovated six schools, strengthening the capacity of education services in Sittwe.
Providing hope forMyanmar’s children
Since 2007, Muslim Aid’s Institute of Technology (MAIT) Bangladesh has provided ongoing teaching and training in Dhaka, Rangpur, Jessore and Chittagong to over 2,000 students yearly. Many students learn trade skills such as electrical engineering, computer programming, mobile services and repairing, tailoring and beautician skills, helping them to earn an income. MAIT offers subsidised tuition fees or free admission to young students. By 2014, MAIT strengthened its capacity by introducing a new job placement department to support students to gain employment and apprenticeships.
A skilled labour forcein Bangladesh
Guyana’s Prime Minister opened MA funded
computer centre
MA started its street to school project initially
helping 200 street children back into school
in Pakistan
MA rehabilitated five primary schools in Iraq
and provided psychosocial support for war affected
children
Four schools constructed for disadvantaged children
in Sri Lanka
2005 2010 2013 2014
Highlights
18 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Conflict and natural disasters are some factors that leave millions homeless and vulnerable across the world. Housing and shelter plays an important role in resettlement, returning a sense of normality to those affected as well as helping to rebuild sustainable communities.
Muslim Aid has worked to rebuild homes, provide temporary shelter and relocate families after every disaster. Its response to disaster is always two-fold: to build temporary shelters for those left homeless and to develop permanent housing with local partners, taking into account the needs of the community.
In 2013, Muslim Aid completed its model village project in Ranjpur, Mianwali, Dadu, Thatta and Charsadda to help communities affected by the floods of 2010, 2011 and 2013. The villages contain houses with latrines, two health facilities, skills training facilities and a girls school. In the cities of Mianwali and Isha Khel, Muslim Aid provided houses to 90 families living in impoverished conditions. The model villages serve around 22,000 people.
Housing & Shelter
“Muslim Aid has shown its commitment to the people of Aceh now and in the future.” Dr Irwandi Yusuf, former Governor of Aceh speaking about MA’s post-tsunami reconstruction work.
MA delivered much needed aid and shelter to flood affected people in
Punjab
Quarter million funded programme implemented to rebuild houses destroyed by
conflict, Bosnia
MA delivered aid and shelter to survivors of
Hurricane Ivan, Grenada
1996 2000 2004
Model VillagePakistan
Highlights
At a glance:
Rebuilding lives
In 2014 10,460 refugees were assisted with shelters
Turkish PM inaugurated MA project to build 60 apartments for 1999
earthquake survivors, in Adapazari, Turkey
MA provided 3,000 tents to flood affected people in
Cambodia
Ma constructed shelters for 1,680 IDPs in
Myanmar
MA provided shelters to nearly 1,000 IDPs in
Bannu, Pakistan
2005 2012 2013 2014
After the Tsunami claimed the lives of 230,000 people and left around five million homeless in Asia and east Africa, Muslim Aid was among the first agencies on the ground to play a huge role in post-reconstruction. Since 2005, Muslim Aid and its partners provided 3,000 temporary shelters and 2,500 permanent houses for affected communities in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
In 2006 Muslim Aid secured $6.8 million in funding from the Multi Donor Fund to develop a four year flood mitigation project in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, an area hit worst by the tsunami. The project was completed in 2009 and ensured communities were better protected against future flooding, through installing three new pumps and repairing drainage channels to regulate water flow and capacity building with Aceh’s city Public Works Department.
A place called home Tsunami post-reconstruction
20 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
22 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
From as early as 1990, Muslim Aid has been delivering healthcare to impoverished communities worldwide. Projects include building and refurbishing hospitals, training doctors and nurses, providing medical equipment and free medicines to delivering nutritional programmes to promote and ensure health within communities.
In areas of hardship, Muslim Aid also provides mobile health clinics and skilled staff to deliver healthcare for isolated and rural communities. The goal is to ensure that primary healthcare is accessible to all in hardship areas and conflict zones.
Healthcare & NutritionCreating healthy communities Gaza’s failing healthcare system is barely functioning. Poverty, ongoing conflict and sanctions mean the city
is unable to treat the sick and wounded. Muslim Aid has been working in Gaza for over a decade, providing emergency relief and child sponsorship programmes. In 2010, over £130,000 of medical equipment was delivered to the Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza - the largest hospital in the city.
The recent conflict in 2014 required emergency assistance to help thousands of people suffering from the indiscriminate bombings. Muslim Aid provided 8,000 sick and wounded Gazans with life-saving blood supplies and 10,000 people received medicine and benefitted from the medical equipment Muslim Aid provided. 3,000 nutritious meals were given to internally displaced people living in UN shelters. 15,000 litres of fuel was also given to power generators in hospitals.
Muslim Aid is continuing its work with the Palestine Trauma Centre For Victims Welfare and will be providing psychiatrists, social workers and specialised staff for 2,400 children and adults who are suffering from mental trauma. They will receive therapy, food, drama and art sessions to help them get by. Past work with the centre has seen Muslim Aid help over a thousand children overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.
Emergency healthcare Timely & responsive in Gaza
“This is a momentus occasion for Al-Shifa. Our doctors will now have access to equipment donated by MA. This will help treat the population suffering from disability brought on by the conflict.” Spokesperson, Al-Shifa Hospital. 2010
Highlights
At a glance:
Primary healthcare programmes began in
India allowing the poor access to basic healthcare
A year long programme was implemented in Somalia with feeding centres in
Mogadishu supplying two daily meals to over 3,000
people
MA provided vital equipment worth
£40,000 for a hospital in Tesanj, Bosnia
1992 1993 1994
Over 2 million peoplebenefitted from MA’s healthcare
and nutrition programmes worldwide in 2014
Tuberculosis (TB) is a common disease in Somalia but can be easily prevented. By 2012 Muslim Aid had opened its eleventh clinic in Somalia to reduce TB and its effects through prevention and treatment. Waterborne diseases such as Malaria are also very common in Somalia. In 2013 alone, Muslim Aid, along with UNICEF, treated and prevented Malaria in over 200,000 patients through its Malaria prevention and treatment project in south and central Somalia. The project included the distribution of mosquito nets, conducting awareness training and providing treatment. In 2014 Muslim Aid also facilitated the vaccination of 800,000 children in Somalia against polio and measles. Further healthcare programmes in Somalia include mother and child clinics across the regions of Sanag, Hiran, Banadir, Lower Shabelle, Juba and Bakool. These clinics test an average of 70 patients per day, providing free medical services including diagnosis, lab analysis and nutritional supplementation. In 2014 alone, 436,800 mothers and children were given treatment and preventative care.
Prevention & Treatmentin Somalia
MA Sudan established 7 primary healthcare
centres helping 145,000 people
MA donated funds to the International Centre for
Eye Health to help prevent and cure child blindness in
eight countries
1,000 women benefited from ante-natal care in
rural Pakistan
Sudan implemented its three year community
based healthcare programme in Kassala
1995 2006 2010 2015
24 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Since 1988, Muslim Aid’s flagship programme has been providing interest-free loans for the poor in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Bosnia among others, and has positively promoted economic growth for sustainable development. Each year, thousands of people, of which 95% are women, have benefitted from our poverty reduction programme. Muslim Aid recognises that in many places in the world, women have been disproportionately excluded from taking part in economic, social and political life.
Muslim Aid has helped thousands of individuals with loans to start their own business, but before doing so, they are taught vital skills to help them set up their own small medium enterprises (SMEs). Thus over the past two decades people in Indonesia have been taught sustainable farming methods to produce vegetables to sell; in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq and Cambodia, women have been taught tailoring and book keeping skills; families in Bosnia have been given cattle and trained in milk production and bee keeping for the production and sale of honey.
Microfinance
On average, over 47,000 marginalised people are supported with livelihood programmes yearly
Over £6 million invested MA helped people start
their own textile business in Khartoum, Sudan
2,000 people given interest free loans and
skills training to set up their business in
Bangladesh
MA expanded its microfinance and
livelihood programme to people in Kenya and
Palestine
1988 1993 1998
Sustainable solutions to poverty
At a glance:
Around 59,000 beneficiaries are active under Muslim Aid’s
microfinance programme on a yearly basis
MA started livelihood programme in Tsunami
affected Indonesia
MA started its microfinance programme
in Cambodia
2,400 people in Pakistan benefited from MA’s
agricultural livelihood programme
MA Indonesia started mushroom cultivation
training, which supported 1,900 people with a
livelihood
2005 2007 2013 2014
Muslim Aid’s goal is to ensure the economic recovery of rural areas. Since 2008, Muslim Aid has been working to improve the lives of the war returnees in eastern Bosnia. Muslim Aid introduced the ‘greenhouse project’ which provides families with a greenhouse and the tools and seeds to cultivate vegetables to sell. The project has become a success and farmers are now selling locally and exporting their produce to countries such as Germany. Further jobs have been created through this project which has seen the community prosper. As the project expands yearly, a large number of the returnees who have greenhouses have become sub-contractors which have created a ripple economic effect. Muslim Aid also started a milk farm project to support rural communities. This involves donating calves to disadvantaged families and delivering skills training in order for them to start a business. The project has been running since 2011 along with a beekeeping business to help widows to sell honey in the local market for a sustainable income.
Gift for lifeBosnia
A success story in SudanFrom as early as 1998, Muslim Aid has been supporting poor communities in Sudan with income generation and microfinance loans. 75% of Sudan’s population live on $2 a day or less and are often unable to meet their basic needs. 46 year old Fathya, received an interest-free loan and started a business in traditional perfumery – selling perfumes in the local market. She now makes around 2500 SDG per month (around £27) to support her family.
Highlights
27Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
28 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
A relatively new addition to Muslim Aid, the UK Development programme is steadily growing to become one of the organisation’s most innovative departments tackling poverty and social exclusion in the UK.
Established in 2011, with an investment of almost £200,000, the UK programmes include an annual winter campaign and a prisoners project amongst others. The popularity of these projects prove social issues such as poverty, homelessness and social exclusion are issues the British public want to address. Muslim Aid is leading on the prisoners rehabilitation programme aimed at providing mentoring services for soon to be released prisoners, with the aim of reducing reoffending rates.
Muslim Aid reaches out to the elderly and the homeless, providing ‘Keep Warm Kits’ to thousands up and down the country through its Warm Hearts Winter Campaign. These kits contain food items, blankets, sleeping bags, gloves, socks and other winter essentials to keep the worst effects of the cold at bay. The organisation also works with homeless shelters to provide advice services, fund soup kitchens and hold gatherings for the elderly to help build support networks that combat loneliness and isolation.
UK Development
MA launched its Warm Hearts Winter Campaign to support the homeless
and elderly during the harsh cold months
4,546 homeless and elderly people
received keep warm kits during the
winter
MA partnered with the Royal London Society for Blind
People (RLSB) to support a community nursery for blind and partially blind children
1,519 people benefitted from MA educational
programmes
2011 20142012 2013
Charity begins at home
“I cycled from Forest Gate to Walthamstow to get to the Soup Kitchen. I’m 85 years old.”
Soup Kitchen visitor, Arthur.
The Soup kitchen, known as Pl84U, is funded by Muslim Aid and provides a hot meal every fortnight to the homeless, elderly and vulnerable communities in east London.
At a glance:
The Bigclean up“Christians, atheists, Muslims and the police,” read the status of Sunbury Flood Volunteers’ Facebook page on Saturday 22 March 2014. It continued: “Where else, other than Sunbury Flood Volunteers would you find that?!”
The UK development team joined the Sunbury Flood Volunteers to assist with the clean-up of Sunbury-on-Thames after flooding struck parts of England destroying many homes. In its aftermath, the flood had left residents with damaged and contaminated property. Equipped with powerhoses, shovels and broom sticks, the team helped to remove damaged and unsafe items away from public pathways and properties, whilst also cleaning riverbanks and pavements of silt, which had made certain areas hazardous.
30 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
As a faith-based Muslim NGO, Muslim Aid adheres to both Islamic and humanitarian principles. The Islamic faith requires Muslims to distribute their wealth to those in need, both voluntarily to seek reward, and at times mandatorily.
Since its early years, Muslim Aid has offered services which facilitate wealth distribution to some of the poorest communities around the world through seasonal programmes as well as throughout the year. These include fidya, kaffara, aqiqah, Ramadan and Qurbani services.
ReligiousDues
Sharing wealth as part of faith
MA carried out a Qurbani distribution in Satoy
following the conflict in Chechnya
Survivors of the tsunami in Banda Aceh and the Pakistan earthquake
at H-11 camp received Qurbani meat
Indonesia field office carried out an extensive
meal programme in Ramadan which benefitted 34,000 children across 114
orphanages
1994 2005 2007“There’s only one way to describe it: what a blood transfusion is to a dying person is what Muslim Aid is to us returnees.” Muharem Sinanovic: War returnee, farmer and beneficiary of Muslim Aid’s Qurbani programme in Bosnia
Each year Muslim Aid fundraises for its Ramadan campaign, during which those who observe the month are more charitable. One month food packs containing staple and nutritious food items are distributed to families in need during this time. Community iftars are also organised for people to eat together at meal times and promote cohesion.
As part of Eid ul-Adha celebrations, Muslim Aid carries out its Qurbani programme to distribute fresh meat for families in need, which to date, spans across 40 countries.
The programme has evolved over the years from being seasonal to a year-round programme which tackles poverty and provides families with an income. In 2008, a livelihood element to the programme was introduced, in which animals due to be slaughtered for meat distribution are lent to poor famers for milking, breeding and shearing for income generation. Muslim Aid also cans meat for distribution after Eid celebrations to prolong the programme and reach more beneficiaries.
Ramadan
Qurbani
Highlights
At a glance:
Livelihood programme introduced to make the
Qurbani programme more robust and sustainable
A staggering £650,000 was raised for MA’s Qurbani campaign;
the most raised for the programme to date
Over 10,000 people affected by flooding
benefited from a Qurbani distribution in Pakistan
MA Ramadan and Qurbani programmes implemented in 40 countries worldwide
2008 2009 2011 2015 Over 277,700 people benefitted from Muslim Aid’s Religious Dues
programme in 2013 alone
Partnering with the Islamic Union of Hong Kong to deliver the programme, Muslim Aid provided iftar meals to a school in China. Sai Guo Ying, a student at the school said: “We live thousands of miles apart and do not know each other, but we can now feel the happiness of being a member of the Muslim family. May Allah bless us all with good fortune, health and peace”
China
32 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
34 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
A clean, fresh water supply and access to quality sanitation are cornerstones of health. Contaminated water, frequently ingested by those in developing countries, leads to the contraction of diseases while a lack of sanitation facilitates conditions in which they can easily be spread to others.
To date, it is estimated that a staggering 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and a further billion do not have access to sanitation. Muslim Aid has been addressing this endemic problem since its early days by providing solutions for clean drinking water, installing sanitation facilities and conducting hygiene seminars for communities.
Water &Sanitation
Laying the foundation of health
“We are already seeing changes. There are fewer illnesses such as stomach upsets because children are washing their hands. Water is a precious resource and Muslim Aid has quenched our thirst.” Sri Lanka; headmaster of a school in which MA provided WASH facilities:
MA provided communities in Sudan with water supply systems, giving thousands of families access to clean,
fresh water
MA carried out an extensive well-digging programme, including a well in Darfur
for 120,000 people
MA replaced water pumps in Sri Lanka and
constructed wells in Somalia and Kenya
1996 1999 2005At a glance:
Scarcity of resources and a growing population have been the main problems faced by Gazans for many years, with the quality of water continuously diminishing. In addition, the ongoing conflict has resulted in a lack of available resources to create an adequate water and sanitation system, and subsequently illnesses such as kidney failure and renal disease are prevalent.
In 2006, Muslim Aid installed 50 water purification systems, and distributed over 10 million water purification tablets and 200,000 oral rehydration sachets. In addition, Muslim Aid completed the construction of a water plant in Gaza which benefitted 100 schools, 10 hospitals and 500 families. The plant made clean water readily available to hundreds of thousands of people and helped to significantly reduce the occurrence of diseases brought on by drinking contaminated water. In 2008 Muslim Aid went on to establish a sewage network in Gaza which benefitted 8,000 households.
Water Crisis in Gaza
In response to Cyclone Sidr, MA distributed
696,705 water purification tablets and 9
water purification systems
MA constructed a well in Bebnin Village, Lebanon, to provide clean water to Palestinian refugee
families
729 wells built in 5 countries, benefitting
115,115 people
70 toilets were built across three districts in Sri Lanka to provide hygienic
sanitation solutions for people
2007 2012 2013 2014
Highlights
In 2011, Muslim Aid began a water, sanitation, health and hygiene programme in Indonesia to improve the living conditions of students across four schools in the aftermath of the 2010 Mount Merapi volcanic eruptions. Seminars were held for children and adults on hygiene and waste disposal. To supplement the training, first aid boxes and hygiene kits were distributed to schools which benefitted 770 children in total, with a further 600 households benefitting from an expansion of the programme.
Quality sanitation for school children in Indonesia
In 2014 alone over 120,000 people benefitted from Muslim Aid’s
water & sanitation prgrammes
36 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
In 1990, soon after its inception, Muslim Aid formed a child support scheme, later known as the Rainbow Family Child Support Programme in 2007.
The programme offers a holistic solution to child poverty around the world, giving donors in the UK the opportunity to directly sponsor a child from a range of countries. Orphaned, vulnerable and impoverished children are selected through a needs assessment process and referred to the programme through field offices and trusted partners where they are then paired with a donor. Muslim Aid has always considered education paramount, and so it is a condition that children taking part in the programme are formally educated. Once sponsored, children are provided with their sponsorship funds, education, mentoring, healthcare, food and clothing. The model of the programme is designed to protect children against being forced to become labourers and to lift them out of the cycle of poverty.
Starting with only 76 child sponsored in six countries, the programme has grown considerably to date. Since it was introduced 25 years ago, the programme has now served thousands of children and supported them into adulthood. Sponsorship improved their quality of life considerably, and many have gone on to higher education and have pursued their occupational aspirations having been lifted out of the cycle of poverty. In addition to one-to-one child sponsorship, thousands of other children benefit from the programme through community projects. These include free health clinics, refurbishing school premises, emotional support and gifts for special occasions such as Eid.
RainbowFamily
Supporting child development
MA established its child support programme
MA provided orphan welfare schemes and
foster care in Tuzla, Bosnia
Child Support programme extended to Iraq upon the
establishment of a MA presence in the region
1990 1994 2003
“I have seen how my money has helped a Rainbow family and I can see Kima (sponsored child) is benefiting from this.These children don’t need our pity , they just need to be given a chance for a better future.” Donor, Rehana Abdool, visits her sponsored child, Kima, in Cambodia. 2010
At a glance:
Cambodia field office implemented child
support programme
The programme expanded, and is now
running in 17 countries through 11 field offices
and 10 partners
MA Indonesia supported 260 orphans and
vulnerable children with education, health and
food assistance
Over 17,000 children received eid gifts
2007 2013 2014 2015 Over 5,500 children are being sponsored as of 2015
Bega Karadza, was orphaned as a child, living only with her mother and other relatives in poor conditions with little money to spare for her education and living costs. It was Bega and her late father’s dream that she become a doctor, and after receiving sponsorship from a donor through Muslim Aid’s Rainbow Family Support Programme, their dream became a reality. She received a monthly stipend which enabled her to continue with her studies and she is now a medical student. She said: “I am one of those fortunate people who have been continuously assisted by Muslim Aid…the programme not only provided me with sponsorship but also with the knowledge that someone cares.”
“I want to be a doctor.” Bega Karadza
39Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
The 30 years until this point have seen Muslim Aid constantly evolve and develop, and the journey ahead will be no different. The organisation will continue to work on innovative approaches to aid delivery and long-term programmes, keeping abreast on project ideas that provide breakthrough solutions to development challenges around the world. Despite the tests modern wars and complex emergencies are presenting the humanitarian sector with, Muslim Aid will continue to serve the most vulnerable communities with poverty alleviation programmes that are sustainable, cost-effective and life-changing. The focus for the next five years is to concentrate on four key programmes: healthcare, education, livelihood and emergencies, ensuring communities prosper and individuals live productive lives.
Muslim Aid’s reach would not be so strong without forming collaborative partnerships with local governments, grass root organisations and international and local NGOs. The organisation will therefore continue to build fruitful and lasting partnerships with stakeholders who will carry out its work further and with greater impact. Muslim Aid will also continue to work alongside its beneficiary communities to explore and develop new ways to empower children and their families, listening to their needs and finding lasting workable solutions.
The JourneyAhead
41Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Muslim Aid BangladeshHouse # 13, Block “J”Road # 27, BananiDhaka-1213Bangladesh
Muslim Aid America7880 Backlick RdSpringfield, VA 22150USA
Muslim Aid BosniaTalirovica 26Sarajevo71000Bosnia
Muslim Aid CambodiaVilla: 113, Street: 542, BoeungKak I, Khan Toul KorkPhnom PenhCambodia
Muslim Aid Lebanon2nd Floor, AlFakhoury Bld. Al Nejmeh Square SaidaLebanon
Muslim Aid PakistanHouse No. 228, Street No. 23F-11/2, IslamabadPakistan
Muslim Aid SomaliaMadina RoadHamar JajabDistrict MogadishuSomalia
Muslim Aid Sri Lanka219 Nawala RoadNugegodaSri Lanka
Muslim Aid IndonesiaJalan Bintara Pineung No. 27Gampong PineungBanda AcehNAD, 23116Indonesia
Muslim Aid JordanNo 85 Mousa Al Sakit StreetTlaa Al Ali DistrictAmmanJordan
Muslim Aid Kenya233 Ap. SchoolLane-West LandOff Sarit Centre Karuna RoadP O Box 2306-00100Nairobi, Kenya
Muslim Aid SudanKhartoum East, AldiumBlock No. 3, House No. 48, 2nd FloorKhartoum State, Sudan
Muslim Aid Sweden Sorögatan 21 , 164 41 KistaSweden
Muslim Aid HeadquartersPO BOX 3London, E1 1WPUnited Kingdom
Muslim Aid Birmingham541 Coventry RoadSmall HeathBirmingham, B10 0LL, UK
Muslim Aid Manchester557A, Barlow Moor RoadChorltonManchester, M21 8AN, UK
Field Offices
UK Offices
Countries we work in
Field Offices
T: 020 7377 4200E: [email protected]: muslimaid.org
43Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
M U S L I M A I D ’ S R E A C H
44 Muslim Aid - 30th Anniversary
Charity Reg No: 295224Designed by Zahra SaidContent by Amina Rafique & Sara Morad