Memperkukuh peranan kemanusiaan, sumbangan Islamic Relief kepada komuniti dunia

Tahun 2024 menandakan satu pencapaian penting bagi keluarga besar Islamic Relief Worldwide (Islamic Relief) apabila organisasi ini meraikan ulang tahun ke-40 penubuhannya pada 17 Januari.

Islamic Relief diasaskan oleh Dr. Hany El-Banna bersama sekumpulan mahasiswa perubatan University of Birmingham, UK pada tahun 1984 sebagai tindak balas terhadap isu kebuluran di Afrika Timur ketika itu.

Hari ini, Islamic Relief telah menjadi antara NGO terbesar di dunia yang menyediakan bantuan kemanusiaan dan pembangunan lestari kepada komuniti memerlukan di lebih 40 buah negara.

Sejak ditubuhkan, Islamic Relief telah menghadapi pelbagai cabaran dan rintangan dalam usaha mencapai matlamatnya untuk mengurangkan kemiskinan dan meringankan penderitaan golongan rentan.

Dari bencana alam hingga ke krisis kemanusiaan, cabaran-cabaran ini sama sekali tidak menghalang Islamic Relief daripada terus menjalankan kerja-kerja bantuan di seluruh dunia dengan penuh dedikasi dan komitmen.

Melalui kerjasama erat dengan komuniti setempat dan sokongan para penyumbang, Islamic Relief tetap teguh menjayakan visi untuk mewujudkan dunia yang prihatin di mana komuniti diupayakan, tanggungjawab sosial dilaksanakan, dan masyarakat bersatu untuk meringankan penderitaan golongan yang memerlukan.

Pengiktirafan Islamic Relief

Hasil usaha keras selama bertahun-tahun, kualiti kerja Islamic Relief telah diiktiraf dan diperakui oleh Piawaian Kemanusiaan Teras (CHS), satu piawaian dan tatakelakuan yang diiktiraf di peringkat antarabangsa dalam sektor kemanusian.

Sehingga kini, Islamic Relief merupakan satu-satunya NGO Islam di UK yang memegang pensijilan itu. Islamic Relief percaya bahawa kelulusan CHS selaras dengan nilai-nilai Islam yang dipegang iaitu Ikhlas, Adil, Rahmah, Amanah, dan Ihsan.

Status Islamic Relief sebagai ahli penuh Piagam Akauntabiliti INGO, penandatangan kepada Tatakelakuan Palang Merah dan pengamal kepada Kod Amalan Terbaik People in Aid menandakan pengiktirafan kecemerlangan Islamic Relief dalam memastikan ketelusan, melaksanakan tadbir urus yang baik dan menjalankan tanggungjawab sosial dalam gerak kerjanya.

Pada tahun 2017, berdasarkan senarai yang dikeluarkan oleh NGO Advisor, Islamic Relief telah tersenarai dalam 20 NGO terbaik daripada 500 NGO terkemuka di dunia. Islamic Relief telah dinilai melalui tiga kriteria berkaitan impak, inovasi dan tadbir urus di dalam kategori kanak-kanak & belia, pemerkasaan ekonomi dan kecemasan; krisis, pelarian, tempat tinggal dan keadilan sosial.

Berdasarkan kepada kepercayaan serta nilai-nilai Islam, Islamic Relief dipandu oleh kerangka Maqasid Syariah yang menekankan kesucian kehidupan dan maruah setiap individu serta hak mereka untuk keselamatan, kesihatan, persekitaran yang mampan, makanan, tempat tinggal, dan air bersih. Pendekatan ini adalah teras kepada gerak kerja Islamic Relief untuk membantu golongan rentan di seluruh dunia.

Empat dekad menabur bakti, keupayaan Islamic Relief untuk mencipta impak positif dalam komuniti yang disantuni telah mendapat kepercayaan daripada para penaja, penyumbang, rakan kerjasama, media, sukarelawan, ikon kemanusiaan dan pihak berkepentingan yang lain.

Komitmen Islamic Relief dalam misi kemanusiaan 2023

Menyoroti tahun 2023, kita menyaksikan pelbagai peristiwa penting yang menggoncang dunia antaranya gempa bumi di Turkiye, Syria, Maghribi, Afghanistan, banjir besar di Libya dan krisis peperangan di Sudan dan Gaza, Palestin.

Di Yaman, Afghanistan dan negara-negara Tanduk Afrika seperti Somalia dan Ethiopia, isu kebuluran terus membelenggu rakyat. Krisis iklim yang kian memuncak meningkatkan lagi ancaman terhadap penduduk di sesetengah negara.

Bagi Islamic Relief, tahun 2023 merupakan tahun yang paling mencabar dalam memberikan tindak balas terhadap bantuan kecemasan berskala besar seperti gempa bumi dan peperangan di Gaza yang berlarutan sehingga kini.

Dalam menghadapi cabaran-cabaran ini, Islamic Relief terus komited memberikan bantuan tanpa mengira bangsa, agama, atau negara selari dengan prinsip kemanusiaan yang didokong sejak dahulu.

Sumbangan berterusan yang diterima daripada pelbagai pihak membolehkan Islamic Relief menyediakan bantuan dan memberi impak kepada 16.8 juta orang di 39 negara melalui pelaksanaan 827 projek kemanusiaan dan pembangunan.

Daripada jumlah tersebut, sebanyak 327 projek bantuan kecemasan telah dilaksanakan sehingga dapat membantu 8.7 juta orang manakala 334 projek pembangunan yang dijalankan pula telah memberi impak kepada 4.6 juta orang.

Bantuan bekalan perubatan untuk hospital dan pusat kesihatan di Gaza, Palestin sejak awal Oktober 2023

Melalui program bermusim, sebanyak 890,000 orang di 32 negara menerima sumbangan pek bantuan Ramadan manakala lebih 3.5 juta orang di 28 negara mendapat bantuan daging korban.

Antara lain, bantuan makanan dan keselamatan memberi manfaat kepada 10.2 juta orang, bantuan sektor air, sanitasi dan kebersihan memberi impak kepada lebih 967,000 orang dan projek penajaan anak yatim telah membantu lebih 91,900 kanak-kanak.

Selain itu, Islamic Relief turut menghulurkan bantuan kepada mereka yang menghadapi cabaran perubahan iklim, meningkatkan bantuan terhadap penjagaan kesihatan dan keselamatan nyawa, serta mengagihkan bantuan musim sejuk.

20 Tahun Islamic Relief di Malaysia

Bertapak di Malaysia sejak tahun 2004 bagi meneruskan misi bantuan di Rantau Asia-Pasifik, Islamic Relief turut berbangga apabila meraikan ulang tahun ke-20 di Malaysia pada 25 Jun lalu.

Perjalanan selama dua dekad Islamic Relief di Malaysia dihiasi dengan usaha gigih dan keazaman untuk membantu golongan yang terpinggir, memperkasa komuniti, serta mempromosikan keadilan sosial.

Memenangi The BrandLaureate CSR BrandLeadership Award bagi kategori bantuan kemanusiaan pada tahun 2018, pengiktirafan itu memberi impak yang besar kepada Islamic Relief Malaysia, meningkatkan kredibiliti dan kepercayaan masyarakat terhadap usaha kemanusiaan yang dijalankan.

Islamic Relief Malaysia menerima The BrandLaureate CSR BrandLeadership Award bagi kategori bantuan kemanusiaan pada tahun 2018

Biarpun berdepan pelbagai cabaran, ia tidak mematahkan semangat pejabat cawangan itu untuk terus menghulurkan bantuan kepada rakyat Malaysia dan juga penduduk di beberapa buah negara yang lain.

Bagi tahun 2023 sahaja, Islamic Relief telah memberi bantuan dan merubah kehidupan 49,178 penerima manfaat di seluruh Malaysia.

Daripada jumlah tersebut, program bantuan Ramadan mencatatkan jumlah tertinggi bantuan yang memberi manfaat kepada 42,556 orang di seluruh semenanjung, Sabah dan Sarawak. Antara bantuan yang diagihkan ialah pek makanan, baucar tunai, barangan keperluan asas dan baju raya.

Islamic Relief turut memberikan bantuan kecemasan pasca banjir dan kebakaran kepada 3,195 orang di Johor, Sabah dan Sarawak.

Bagi sektor pendidikan pula, 620 orang pelajar dan ahli keluarga mendapat manfaat daripada projek Cheer to School (CTS) dan INSPIRE yang dijalankan.

Islamic Relief turut berperanan untuk meningkatkan taraf hidup masyarakat dengan menjalankan projek kehidupan mampan bagi menambah sumber pendapatan keluarga. Sebanyak 1,057 mendapat impak daripada pelaksanaan projek Gift of Hope (GOH) di Pulau Pinang, Growth Entrepreneurship Assistance Programme (GRAP) di Selangor dan agihan sumbangan bantuan tunai di Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Pulau Pinang, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Sarawak.

Melalui bantuan sektor makanan dan nutrisi, Islamic Relief telah mengagihkan bantuan makanan yang memberi manfaat kepada 1,750 orang di Sabah dan Sarawak.

Misi global Islamic Relief Malaysia

Untuk bantuan di peringkat antarabangsa, daripada dana sumbangan orang ramai melalui pejabat Malaysia, Islamic Relief memberi fokus kepada empat sektor bantuan iaitu kecemasan, kehidupan mampan, air, sanitasi dan kebersihan serta program bermusim sehingga berjaya membantu lebih 53,994 orang dengan pelaksanaan 9 projek.

Islamic Relief telah memberi tindak balas kecemasan terhadap krisis kemarau di Somalia dengan menjalankan projek yang memberi manfaat kepada 900 orang.

17,465 orang pula mendapat manfaat melalui sektor kehidupan mampan dengan pelaksanaan projek ternakan dan pertanian di Syria serta projek bantuan anak yatim di Indonesia.

Di Somalia dan Bangladesh, pembinaan kompleks sistem bekalan air dan telaga tiub telah memberi sinar baharu buat 3,780 penduduk kerana mereka dapat mengakses dan menikmati sumber air bersih dengan lebih mudah.

Selain itu, bagi program bermusim, 12,225 orang menerima sumbangan pek makanan Ramadan, 18,802 orang menerima bantuan pek daging korban dan 665 orang menerima bantuan musim sejuk.

157 anak yatim juga mendapat manfaat melalui projek Penajaan Al-Yateem oleh penyumbang dari Malaysia.

Islamic Relief komited tabur bakti

Salah seorang penerima manfaat projek Sustainable Livelihoods of Rural Women Through Micro-Entrepreneurship Development (SEED) tajaan Islamic Relief Malaysia di Pirgacha, Rangpur, Bangladesh

Selama 40 tahun beroperasi, walaupun menghadapi cabaran dan kesulitan, biarpun jarak bantuan jauh beribu batu, walau apapun bentuk kecemasan yang terjadi, Islamic Relief terus menabur khidmat dan tetap bersedia menghulurkan bantuan demi memastikan bantuan kemanusiaan tiba kepada mereka yang memerlukan.

Islamic Relief Malaysia pula kekal komited untuk terus melaksanakan projek-projek kemanusiaan yang bermakna dan berimpak tinggi bagi tahun 2024. Dengan sokongan berterusan daripada pelbagai pihak, termasuk penyumbang, sukarelawan, dan komuniti terlibat, Islamic Relief tekad untuk membawa perubahan positif kepada mereka yang memerlukan.

Dalam tempoh 10 tahun akan datang, Islamic Relief berhasrat untuk mencapai 3 objektif utama; menyelamatkan nyawa dan mengurangkan penderitaan terhadap krisis kemanusiaan, memperkasa komuniti untuk menangani kemiskinan dan penderitaan, serta menyokong perubahan sistem bagi menghapuskan punca kepada ketidaksamaan global dan tempatan.

Terima kasih kepada semua yang bersama Islamic Relief sepanjang tempoh ini dalam mencipta dunia yang lebih baik dan lebih adil buat semua.

Philippines Floods Leave Thousands Displaced

PHILIPPINES, July 16 – Heavy rainfall since July 11 has severely impacted western Luzon and Mindanao in the Philippines, causing extensive floods and landslides.

As of July 15, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reports two fatalities, one missing person, two injuries, and 17,832 displaced individuals across 55 evacuation centers.

Approximately 54,289 people have been affected in regions including the Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), with significant damage to homes, schools, bridges, and roads.

The BARMM Rapid Emergency Action in Disaster Incidence (BARMM-READI) reports higher fatalities and a broader impact, affecting 107,217 families across 356 villages.

Islamic Relief Philippines has conducted a rapid needs assessment, identifying urgent gaps in food supplies, potable drinking water, health and sanitation facilities, and shelter kits.

The team, based in Cotabato City, is coordinating with authorities and other humanitarian organizations to provide essential support such as food packs, water supplies, hygiene kits, and shelter materials.

Thank you for your generosity in making an impact to more than 16.8 million in 39 countries

Islamic Relief’s latest Annual Report, published today, shows continued growth in our positive impact as we tackle poverty and suffering in an increasingly turbulent world.

In 2023, the report shows, Islamic Relief responded to more large-scale humanitarian crises than ever before. Conflict, natural disasters and extreme weather events devastated lives in many of the communities we support.

Our incredible donors gave more generously than ever, allowing us to reach a record number of people in need.

We supported 16.8 million people in 39 countries through our emergency responses, development work and campaigning.

While the commitment and selflessness of supporters who gave their time and money enabled us to raise a record £274.6 million and made our life-saving and life-changing work possible.

Our Annual Report details how Islamic Relief managed responses to major crises around the world, while supporting individuals and communities to take significant steps towards self-reliance through our development programming.

“Many of the crises to which we responded in 2023 continue to devastate lives, while global hunger, climate change, and faltering global governance snatch away precious development gains,” Waseem Ahmad, CEO of Islamic Relief Worldwide, says.

“In all the years I have served as a humanitarian, I have not experienced a more tumultuous time – nor have I ever felt prouder to be part of the Islamic Relief family, as each part of our global federation has stepped forward to play its part”.

We responded rapidly and effectively to humanitarian crises

As we look back on 2023, the overwhelming impression is of a year dominated by large-scale emergencies.

Crises erupted in Sudan and escalated in Gaza, with devastating consequences for ordinary families. Meanwhile, drought and its lasting aftereffects continued to grip the Horn of Africa. Major earthquakes hit Türkiye, Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco, while catastrophic flooding swept through communities in Libya.

Through 326 emergency projects, Islamic Relief responded rapidly and effectively to these crises and many more.

We provided 8.7 million people with food, water, shelter and other essentials after disasters struck and, in many cases, continued working with affected communities to rebuild homes, infrastructure and livelihoods in the months that followed.

Islamic Relief staff prepare ready-to-eat meals for displaced people in Gaza

In Gaza and Sudan, many of our staff faced the same challenges as the communities they serve, bravely working to support others while grappling with displacement and danger themselves.

In Yemen, which remains gravely affected by the global hunger crisis, Islamic Relief’s most extensive aid programme reached 2 million people in need each month with food aid. Working with the World Food Programme, we delivered food and cash vouchers to families in crisis.

We supported the long-term development of communities, families and individuals

In 2023, Islamic Relief continued building integrated sustainable development programmes that met multiple needs in the communities we serve, addressing the root causes of poverty and supporting individuals, families and communities on the road to self-reliance.

We ran 334 development projects around the world, improving access to education, healthcare, clean water and sustainable incomes for more than 4.6 million people.

Our report highlights a project in Niger’s capital, Niamey, which empowered 600 women to start and expand their own small businesses. The project included information-raising sessions on nutrition and hygiene, and trained local faith leaders on child protection and gender-based violence so they could raise community awareness.

As well as the financial boost from their businesses, the women who participated in the project reported an increase in their confidence and involvement in household decision-making around finances, children’s education and marriage.

Aicha is one of 600 women who received support to grow and launch businesses through Islamic Relief’s GOMNI project

In 2023, the generosity of our donors provided more than 91,900 orphaned children with life-changing sponsorship, while our seasonal Ramadan and qurbani programmes helped ease the hunger of some 3.5 million and 890,000 families respectively across more than 30 countries.

We supported over 2.8 people with healthcare interventions and provide better access to water, sanitation and hygiene services to more than 967,000 people.

We campaigned for positive and lasting change

Islamic Relief continued advocating for women and girls, refugees and displaced people and those hit hardest by the harmful effects of climate change in 2023, spending £1.4 million campaigning for positive and lasting change.

With the climate crisis continuing to cause and exacerbate emergencies around the world, it remained a major focus of our advocacy in 2023.

One year on from devastating flooding in Pakistan, we produced a report detailing recovery efforts and advocating for a stronger and fairer humanitarian and international response to climate-related disasters.

In September, youth volunteers in Bangladesh demonstrated as part of the Global Climate Strike

Islamic Relief’s landmark STRIDE project produced a major research paper on localisation and climate adaptation – key issues affecting many of the communities we serve. In 2023, our programmes supported over 205,000 people to become more resilient to the negative impacts of climate change.

In November, we engaged virtually with negotiations at the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, drafting articles for the influential daily ECO newsletter published during the conference and speaking at a workshop organised around the event.

We plotted our course for the next decade

For Islamic Relief, 2023 was a year of introspection as well as action. As we prepared to mark our 40^th anniversary in 2024, we reflected on the organisation’s journey from a small office in Birmingham, UK, to a major charity with a presence in more than 40 countries.

Over the decades, the support of so many generous individuals have enabled us to improve the lives of vulnerable people around the world, but there is so much still to do.

With this in mind, we launched our new Global Strategy for 2023-2033. At its heart lies the principle that to affect systemic change, we must increasingly address the root causes of inequality and injustice.

The strategy also lays out three ‘core outcomes’ – saving lives and reducing vulnerability to humanitarian crises, empowering communities to tackle poverty and vulnerability, advocating for change to the system and eliminating the global and local root causes of inequality and objectives within each goal to guide us towards achieving them.

As we reflect on 40 years of serving humanity, we recognise that our work is far from done. Poverty, injustice, inequality and suffering continue to devastate lives, and so, we recommit ourselves to increase our impact still further into the rest of 2024 and beyond, with the continued support of our steadfast staff, donors and partners.

We sincerely thank our incredibly generous donors, partners, and colleagues for their continued support.

Read more about how this support has made a difference to the lives of millions of vulnerable people around the world in Islamic Relief’s 2023 Annual Report.

Please help us continue our vital work assisting and empowering the world’s most vulnerable people. Donate now.

Palestinians in Gaza are being forced into ever-shrinking spaces

Israel’s repeated orders for civilians to move around Gaza are inhumane and causing epic human suffering, Islamic Relief says. Sick and wounded patients, elderly people, malnourished infants and people with severe disabilities are among hundreds of thousands ordered to move yet again in the past 10 days. They have nowhere safe to go, and the constant displacement is pushing more people into starvation and making cholera outbreaks increasingly likely.    

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing in terror after Israel ordered people to leave parts of Gaza City in the past 48 hours, forcing people out of school shelters and shutting down hospitals as bombs rain down relentlessly. Last week Israel ordered around 250,000 people to leave Khan Younis in southern Gaza, most of whom are now living in desperate conditions.

The Israeli military has ordered civilians to move to so-called ‘safe zones’ but there is nowhere safe in Gaza and multiple people, including children, have been killed by strikes shortly after arriving in these zones. People are in fatal danger whether they stay or flee, with dozens reported killed today in yet another bombing of a school sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis.

Many of the people ordered to move have been displaced multiple times – they were first ordered to leave their homes and move to Rafah, then ordered to leave Rafah and move to areas such as Khan Younis, and now just weeks later they have been ordered to move yet again.  

The latest mass displacement comes as a new report by UN Independent Experts warns that famine has now spread from northern Gaza into parts of the centre and south, as Israel continues to severely restrict and impede humanitarian aid.

Islamic Relief staff and partners report that many of the most vulnerable people are among those ordered to move, with hungry children, people in wheelchairs, hospital patients and elderly people all forced to flee on foot, with many walking miles in the middle of night to avoid the hot sun during the daytime. Some people are being pushed down the street on hospital beds as hospitals have had to evacuate hundreds of patients who are too sick to stand.  

Every time people have to move they become more vulnerable to starvation and disease. Around 1.9 million people – 80% of Gaza’s entire population – are now trapped in increasingly shrinking parts of Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is becoming more desperate by the day. Many families are sharing tents or sleeping in the open, or in the shells of damaged buildings that could collapse at any moment. There is little food, no clean water and extremely poor sanitation. Islamic Relief staff describe piles of garbage and streams of sewage outside people’s tents, with people having to wade through sewage water to reach food. There are very few toilets so women, girls, boys and men all have to share, leaving no privacy and increasing the risks to women and girls.  

The horrific conditions have resulted in a spike in diseases such as Hepatitis A and acute diarrhoea over the past few weeks and the threat of fatal cholera outbreaks is increasing. Temperatures are rising during summer, making diseases even more likely to spread. 

Islamic Relief continues to provide daily aid to displaced people, including distributing cooked meals and nutritional supplements, constructing latrines, distributing hygiene kits and delivering water.  However, the ongoing attacks and Israeli restrictions on aid means nowhere near enough aid is reaching people in need. Islamic Relief continues to call for an immediate ceasefire and for all crossings into Gaza to be fully opened.

New spread of fighting to southeast Sudan increases threat of famine, Islamic Relief warns

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing new fighting in southeast Sudan, as the war spreads further across the country, with civilians running out of anywhere safe to go.

The new clashes in Sennar State – one of Sudan’s biggest agricultural regions – are increasing the risk of famine across the country and putting a major humanitarian aid hub at risk, Islamic Relief is warning.

More than 60,000 people have fled Sinja town this week as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the area. Heavy fighting is now ongoing in the nearby key city of Sennar, with Islamic Relief staff and other aid workers among thousands who have had to leave the city in recent days due to the extreme insecurity.

Up to 130,000 people are expected to flee Sennar State in the next few days.

Islamic Relief staff report thousands of families now fleeing on foot across the Blue Nile river to try and escape the violence, with large numbers of people now arriving in the already overcrowded eastern Sudan cities of Gedaref and Kassala and many more likely to arrive in the coming days and weeks. Islamic Relief’s team in Gedaref is preparing to provide aid to new arrivals in the city.

There are growing fears that the fighting is now set to spread further east towards Gedaref, which is a key hub for humanitarian staff and supplies. This would be a pivotal moment in the conflict and massively disrupt the humanitarian response at a time when aid is needed more than ever. Islamic Relief staff in Gedaref report huge queues of cars at fuel stations as people stockpile in case they need to quickly abandon the city.

Sennar State was previously considered one of the safest parts of the country, and over the past year hundreds of thousands of civilians had fled here to escape fighting in other regions such as Khartoum and Al Jazira. Many of these people are now having to flee yet again.

Mohammad Sorwar, head of programmes for Islamic Relief in Sudan, says: “People are fleeing Sennar in a desperate state of terror. They’ve fled in a hurry with virtually nothing, and many families have no shelter and are sleeping under the open in the heavy rain. People are walking for days but there are no paved roads between Sennar and Gedaref and the roads have become muddy and difficult to use.

“The war is spreading across the country like a cancer. Many of the people fleeing have been displaced two, three, four or even more times before this, but the war keeps spreading. There are very few safe places left for people to run to. If the fighting reaches Gedaref it will have a devastating impact on aid delivery.”

Sudan is suffering the world’s biggest hunger crisis, with more than 25 million people – over half the country’s population – facing severe hunger and food shortages, and mass starvation imminent in the next three months. The war has forced farmers from their land, destroyed markets and obstructed humanitarian aid.

More than 10 million people are now displaced from their homes and in need of support within Sudan.

Islamic Relief is calling on the international community to step up diplomatic efforts to get parties to the conflict to agree and adhere to a ceasefire, and to urgently increase funding for the humanitarian response. It is calling for parties to the conflict to recommit to peace negotiations, ensure protection of civilians and end the frequent impediments and obstruction of humanitarian aid.

Islamic Relief has worked in Sudan for 40 years, since 1984. In response to the current crisis the organisation has provided aid to more than 830,000 people including food, nutrition, livelihood support, cash, water, sanitation, and healthcare.

An entire generation at risk, as new report shows catastrophic hunger and starvation in Gaza

Israel is systematically starving Palestinians in Gaza, Islamic Relief says as a new IPC* report shows that around half a million people are suffering catastrophic levels of hunger and almost everyone in Gaza is facing acute food shortages.

An entire generation of Palestinian children is at risk, with extreme hunger and malnutrition causing permanent damage such as stunted physical and cognitive development that will affect children for the rest of their lives. The IPC report confirms what Islamic Relief staff and partners in Gaza are seeing every day – hundreds of thousands of people are going entire days and nights without anything to eat at all, with young children and elderly people most vulnerable.

This hunger crisis is entirely man-made, caused by Israel’s ongoing attacks and blockade. Virtually all of Gaza’s own food production has been wiped out and nowhere near enough humanitarian aid is being allowed in as Israel continues to restrict entry of supplies into Gaza and movement of aid convoys within Gaza.

Israel’s assault on Rafah has fuelled starvation even further, with around 1 million people forced to flee yet again and families bombed while seeking aid and shelter. In the past day more civilians have reportedly been killed while seeking refuge in a school and trying to reach aid trucks.

The new IPC report shows that a brief improvement in food security in March and April – when there was a small increase in aid allowed to enter and more food in the markets – is now being reversed, with fatal consequences.

Islamic Relief urges international governments not to wait for an official famine declaration before taking stronger action. Aid agencies have been warning of famine for months, but official famine declarations are extremely rare and usually only come when it is too late. We do not need a famine announcement to know that Palestinians, especially young children, are starving and cannot access sufficient aid.

International initiatives like the sea pier and air drops have been costly distractions while people starve. The only way to ensure people can access sufficient food is through a ceasefire and full unimpeded humanitarian access. International governments must use all the leverage and pressure they can to ensure that happens immediately.

Since the crisis erupted almost 9 months ago, Islamic Relief and partners have distributed more than 23 million ready-to-eat cooked meals to displaced people throughout Gaza and provided nutritional support to thousands of young children, pregnant women and new mothers, as well as other vital aid. However much more is needed.

*The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is the foremost hunger monitoring system, providing evidence-based analysis on food insecurity and malnutrition to inform emergency responses around the world. https://www.ipcinfo.org/ 

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