The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Islamic Relief Worldwide Dr Essam El-Haddad has announced that Dr Hany El-Banna is stepping down as President of the organisation.

He stated that Islamic Relief has been fortunate to have had the benefit of the vision, wisdom and sheer determination of Dr El-Banna over the last two decades, which has seen it grow from small beginnings to the most well known Islamic Charity organisation in the west, and one of the largest worldwide.

Dr El-Banna has championed many initiatives including the Humanitarian Forum which was established to bring organisations from the east and the west together. He played an active role in the Forum's events as chairman of its Board of Trustees, which covered a wide range of issues worldwide. With this in mind Dr El-Banna and the Board of Trustees of IRW were in total agreement that he should give a greater portion of his time to the Humanitarian Forum and other initiatives in the future.

Dr El-Banna spoke to staff at the organisation headquarters on Friday when he said that the organisation would continue in its mission and that we needed to see our responsibility for championing causes that would serve humanity and all the creation of God. He reminded all present of the values of the organisation and that the work must continue for the service of the needy.

Dr El-Haddad said that even though the Board recognises Dr El-Banna’s value as President of Islamic Relief we also recognise the benefits the Humanitarian Forum and other initiatives will bring to the Organisation and to Humanity as a whole. For this reason the Board of Trustees accepted Dr El-Banna’s resignation as President of Islamic Relief effective from 31st March 2008. He will resume his duties as a member of the Board of Trustees of Islamic Relief in 2009.

Dr Essam El-Haddad
Chairman
Board of Trustees
Islamic Relief Worldwide
February 25th 2008