Islamic Relief reflects on a year of saving and changing lives with the backing of our incredible supporters and partners around the world.
Together, we touched an estimated 17.3 million* lives in 2024.
In 35 countries, we stood alongside families facing grave danger and deep suffering. In some places, our dauntless staff endured the same hardships and peril as the communities they worked so tirelessly to help.
We delivered 666 projects, including 135 humanitarian aid interventions providing a lifeline to people in crisis and 454 development projects improving lives in some of the poorest communities on Earth. Meanwhile, we expanded our Orphan Sponsorship Programme again – particularly in Gaza – to help support over 93,200 of the world’s most vulnerable children in 27 countries.
As we remember some of the biggest moments from the year, we are grateful for the continued trust placed in us by the communities we serve and our donors, volunteers and colleagues.
January
At the start of 2024 Islamic Relief marks 40 years of service by releasing a new online resource detailing our decades-long history and impact around the world. We have come a long way from our humble beginnings in the mosques and community centres of Birmingham, UK, and 2024 will prove to be a year that tests us like no other.
February
Violence in Mali’s Douentza Cercle forces families to flee their homes. Islamic Relief is already running long-term development programmes in the area and so quickly reaches displaced people with food, shelter and blankets.
February also sees the first anniversary of the devastating Türkiye-Syria earthquakes. In the immediate aftermath Islamic Relief was on the ground in both countries, providing emergency aid including food, water and hygiene items. We went on to support survivors as they began rebuilding their lives and communities by repairing infrastructure, rebuilding schools and helping local people earn a reliable living by farming and herding. Islamic Relief Türkiye expanded its Orphan Sponsorship Programme, helping care for more than 4,000 vulnerable children in both countries. We continue to support affected communities to this day.
March
In Somaliland, protracted drought has ruined jobs and businesses, so Islamic Relief is helping improve access to food and boosting the incomes of farmers and other small businesses. We are providing drought-tolerant seedlings and climate-smart greenhouses, with start-up capital for small businesses. The project has also improved water irrigation systems and repaired community dams, increasing access to safe drinking water.
March marks a grim milestone for Yemen, which has now endured more than 9 years of conflict, with millions of people in desperate need of humanitarian aid. Syria too, passes a sombre anniversary – the country has now been gripped by a terrible crisis for over 13 years, with 70% of the population now in dire need of aid.
In both countries, Islamic Relief has been working tirelessly for years to save lives and ease suffering. 2024 is no different: we continue our vital work distributing food, sponsoring orphaned children, and increasing access to water, sanitation and health services.
April
As Ramadan draws to a close, Islamic Relief food parcels are freeing some of the world’s poorest families from worry about where their next meal will come from. This year our annual Ramadan food distribution programme reaches an incredible 1.25 million vulnerable people in 29 countries.
The holy month has been especially challenging in Sudan, a country now ravaged by war for over a year. The conflict has created the world’s largest internal displacement crisis, with 8.4 million people forced to flee their homes. Islamic Relief has been a lifeline throughout the crisis, and by April has supplied more than 600,000 people with food, and hygiene and dignity kits as well as support for healthcare.
May
May sees Islamic Relief responding to numerous natural disasters. Large parts of Kenya are inundated by flooding that claims lives and livelihoods. Our emergency response includes giving affected families cash to buy food and shelter items. Floods are also sweeping across Afghanistan, where torrents of water and mud crash through villages, killing hundreds of people – Islamic Relief staff are on the ground distributing survival items. Later in May, as a powerful tropical storm bears down on Bangladesh, our emergency teams support preparation efforts, providing supplementary food packs and small cash grants to those in the cyclone’s path.
June
Nearly 3.1 million vulnerable people in 27 countries are receiving good quality meat through this year’s qurbani distributions. For many, this is their only taste of meat during the whole year and is a welcome respite from hunger.
June brings another disaster to Bangladesh, as severe flooding in the northeast leaves families homeless and destitute. Water inundates one of Islamic Relief’s offices, but our dedicated staff still work tirelessly to get food, survival items, and cash grants to people in crisis.
July
Villages in the Philippines sustain extensive damage due to flash floods and landslides in July, so Islamic Relief distributes food packs and hygiene kits to thousands of families. We also organise garbage disposal systems and build communal kitchens in evacuation camps, so displaced families have somewhere to prepare meals.
This month also sees the end of a project to protect vulnerable families in rural Nepal. The intervention, which began in 2020, has been providing financial assistance to ensure orphaned children remain in education – and to help their guardians develop reliable incomes. The project, run in conjunction with Nepal’s Rural Development Centre, has helped more than 260 children and their families.
August
The monsoon season is firmly underway, and in some parts of the world the heavy rains are triggering disastrous flooding. From Pakistan to Yemen, Bangladesh and beyond, Islamic Relief is on the frontlines of the emergency response.
This month sees disturbing new reports of attacks on Rohingya communities in Myanmar, and so we call on international governments to act to protect them. It has been 7 years since the mass exodus of Rohingya people fleeing violence and persecution in the country, and the recent violence uproots thousands more. Many now once again try to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, where almost 1 million Rohingya refugees are registered, mostly living in dire conditions in dangerously overcrowded camps. Islamic Relief has been supporting Rohingya refugees and local host communities in Bangladesh since the influx of people in 2017. Working in coordination with local authorities in Bangladesh, we provide assistance including food, water and sanitation to 300,000 people.
September
It has now been 1 year since a massive 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Morocco, killing families in their beds and flattening whole villages. Close to 3,000 people lost their lives, while thousands more were injured. The quake and aftershocks destroyed close to 19,000 homes, with another 60,000 sustaining heavy damage. Within hours of the disaster, Islamic Relief launched a £10 million appeal to assist survivors. Working with local partners we distributed desperately needed items including mattresses, blankets, and warm clothing. Food, water and thousands of hygiene kits were also provided. Altogether, our humanitarian interventions reached nearly 65,000 people across more than 120 villages. In the aftermath of the disaster, we went on to install toilets and showers, and provided medical services to thousands of people, particularly in remote areas.
September also sees the first anniversary of devastating flooding in Libya, the worst disaster in the country’s modern history. Over 5,200 people died and 10,000 were reported missing, and tens of thousands of homes, buildings, roads and bridges were destroyed. Islamic Relief did not have a presence in the country, but teamed up with local partners to provide blankets, mattresses, medical aid, food kits and baby items to families affected by the floods. We continue to support affected communities with shelter, working to restore public infrastructure and services and providing counselling and fun activities to help children to come to terms with their traumatic experiences.
October
In Gaza, Palestinian people have now suffered a year of massacre and misery. It’s difficult to describe the loss, destruction and devastation: the numbers alone are overwhelming. More than 41,500 people have been killed – including over 11,400 women and 16,850 children. At least 96,000 more people have been injured. Around 90% of Gaza’s population is now displaced; most hospitals are no longer functioning; and fuel, medicine and other essentials are in desperately short supply.
Islamic Relief has been working tirelessly in Gaza and around the world to provide lifesaving aid and urge world leaders to act to halt the suffering. We have helped feed people displaced people in shelters with hot meals, food packs, vegetables and vouchers. We have distributed desperately needed clean water and nutritional supplements to people in shelters. To help combat the spread of disease, we’ve set up portable toilets and provided hygiene kits to displaced people. We have organised games and performances for children to help support their mental health and provide a momentary distraction from the hardship they’re enduring. We massively extended our Orphan Sponsorship Programme to provide over 7,600 orphaned children with a monthly stipend, as well as food parcels and gifts at Ramadan and Eid.
This month we also launch an urgent humanitarian appeal to help people affected by escalating Israeli attacks in Lebanon. For a year we have been working around the clock to provide families uprooted by airstrikes with food, bedding, and hygiene kits; as well as equipping hospitals and clinics with medical supplies.
November
World leaders convene in Azerbaijan at the pivotal climate summit, COP29. The conference is a matter of life and death for people all over the world, particularly those in the poorest places, who are already suffering the brunt of our changing climate. Islamic Relief is in attendance, urging rich nations to agree a deal that commits at least $1.3 trillion a year in public finance. Negotiations end in shameful moral failure, with an outcome that is too low, too slow, and falls far short of what is needed.
In northwest Syria, a sharp escalation in violence drives a dramatic deterioration in already grim conditions. Islamic Relief, which has been providing humanitarian aid in the crisis-stricken country since 2011, responds by increasing the food and medical aid we provide to civilians suffering as shelling and airstrikes intensify.
December
As Syria experiences a momentous and historic week, Islamic Relief aid workers are on the ground providing urgent humanitarian aid and assessing the huge needs of the population. During a moment of hope and uncertainty for many people, Islamic Relief remains committed to stand alongside the Syrian people and help build a peaceful and prosperous future.
Around the world, many families in crisis face a nightmare winter as temperatures plummet and suffering soars. Determined they won’t struggle alone, Islamic Relief begins our annual winter survival programme. In 19 countries, we are helping protect vulnerable families from the worst of winter by providing food, hygiene items, supplies to repair their shelter, firewood – or cash or vouchers to buy warm clothes. This year our programme is bigger than ever, reaching 19 countries in total.
As the year draws to a close, our thoughts turn to a devastating humanitarian catastrophe which shocked the world 20 years ago. On 26 December 2004, an earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean triggered enormous tsunami waves that barrelled into coastal communities. An estimated 230,000 people were killed across 14 countries and the extent of the damage to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods was unlike anything seen in living memory.
The disaster changed the lives of survivors and responders forever and went on to shape the way humanitarian organisations responded to major emergencies. This month, Islamic Relief reflects on our emergency response and the years of ongoing support which we have delivered in the decades since. Then, as now, none of our life-saving and life-changing work would be possible without the incredible generosity of donors around the world; our steadfast members and partners; and dedicated staff and volunteers.
As we turn our faces to 2025, we do so with renewed vigour and determination to continue to honour your trust in us. We know that while the year is ending, the world’s biggest problems remain – and so does the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people. The need for our work has never been greater, nor has our gratitude to you all. Thank you, once more, for your support.
*Figures are estimates only. For confirmed figures, please see the Islamic Relief Worldwide Annual Report for 2024, due to be published with our annual accounts in 2025
