Islamic Relief

Message from the CEO
Islamic Relief

2009 was a time of continued economic uncertainty for many countries and increased hunger for millions of people. A recent report of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food estimates that 854 million people suffer from a lack of food and that every five seconds a child under ten dies from hunger or malnutritionrelated diseases. These figures represent a year-on-year increase since the late 90s and they are not as a result of any shortage of food. On the contrary, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation estimate that there is enough food grown to feed around 12 billion people – that’s double the world’s current population. Read the full message from the CEO

Message from the chair of the Board of Trustees

In 2009, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) celebrated our 25th year of working with vulnerable communities around the world. It was a period of considerable change, marking the culmination of our successful three-year strategy and the birth of our challenging new agenda over the next five years.

The recent financial and environmental insecurity around the world impacts most severely on the poorest people. Our 2010-2015 strategy - developed in Saleh Saeed’s first full year as our Chief Executive – builds on our aspirations and sets out our new approach to tackling poverty and suffering across the world. Read the message from the chair of the Board of Trustees

Report of directors/trustees

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) works to relieve the suffering of the world’s poorest people by providing emergency relief and supporting sustainable development. During 2009 we continued to meet these aims by providing humanitarian aid to those affected by conflict in the Gaza Strip, in northwest Pakistan and in northern Yemen. We also responded with emergency relief to those affected by Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh and the earthquake in Sumatra, and we continued our emergency response work with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and those affected by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

The plight of the world’s poorest people remained critical this year as communities continued to feel the impact of the global food crisis across the developing world. Basic food commodities were still unaffordable and drought left many unable to grow their own crops or rear their livestock. Millions of people remained vulnerable to malnutrition and were pushed back into poverty. Click here to read full directors report