Following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit southeast Iran, near the Pakistan border on Tuesday 16 April, Islamic Relief has dispatched aid and assessors to the affected region of Balochistan, Pakistan.

At least 35 people lost their lives in the earthquake and over 180 people were injured. 

After an immediate assessment of the damage, Islamic Relief dispatched 375 family-sized tents and 500 kits that provide a family with essential household and kitchen items, such as pots and pans, cutlery, blankets and mattresses.

So far, Islamic Relief has visited ten villages that were heavily affected, in the areas of Sotagan, Ladghast and Mashkel Tehsil. In these areas, 85% of the 2,787 families have been affected, 50% of whom (a total of 1,389) have completely lost their homes.

Islamic Relief Pakistan staff regularly work near the affected region in Pakistan, which allowed for a swift response. There was significantly less damage across the border, inside Iran. While continuing to monitor all damage caused, Islamic Relief is focusing aid efforts in the worst affected areas of Pakistan.

Over the coming days and weeks, we aim to provide more shelters, household and kitchen sets as soon as possible as well as assisting in the removal of rubble and debris. 

Islamic Relief has been working in Pakistan since 1992, and is the only international aid agency to be granted permission by the government to provide emergency assistance in the affected area.

For press inquiries, contact Martin Cottingham: 07702-940982 Martin.Cottingham@islamic-relief.org.uk

Do not waste water, even if you perform your ablution on the banks of an abundantly-flowing river- Hadith Ibn Majah

Islam teaches its followers to appreciate water, use it in moderation, and share it with other people. Islamic Relief knows that sustainable access to water in many of the countries we work in is the difference between life and death. One stream of water can turn an arid village into farmland, which produces fruit and vegetables, sustaining an entire community.

Islamic Relief runs water projects across the world. Here are just a few stories from the people we work with.

Bringing water closer to villages in Pakistan

Islamic Relief is providing water pumps and wells to some of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Irum Abbas, who lives in Kot Ummer Mallah, explained, “We were facing a lot of problems fetching water because our nearest water point was so far away. Sometimes we had to spend the whole day waiting for our turn to fetch water. It was hectic and caused a lot of difficulty.”

Islamic Relief aims to make fetching water a small part of the daily routine instead of a task that requires an entire day.

Irum explained, “Islamic Relief provided us with a drinking waters supply system and also constructed a water reserve near our village.  The neighbourhood now has water for drinking and domestic use- it has had a huge impact on our lives.

Now that we have water right at our doorstep, many women have extra time, which they now spend planting vegetables to feed their families or sewing clothes. Young girls who used to spend the day fetching water from far-flung areas can now focus on their studies.”

Boreholes in Niger

The 1,230 residents of Tilwa Yassi village, Niger, form just one of 13 communities in Niger who we have helped bring water to last summer. We constructed a borehole that provides clean, natural water via a simple foot pump. 

Issaha Younoussa now manages the borehole, ensuring it is clean and safe for drinking. He explained, “We used to have to walk half a kilometre to reach a well.” Women of the village would drudge buckets of water up from the well and haul them back to the village. “This borehole has a foot-pump; the water is easy to access.” Residents have been taught to monitor and maintain the borehole.

Biba Mouukaila is a mother-of-six, who spends every morning pumping water from the borehole in order to provide water to her family and crops: “I enjoy gardening, and hope to have a bigger garden someday when I have enough resources.” 

Rehabilitating water access for Albania’s farmers

Islamic Relief has launched a project that will reconstruct and rehabilitate cleaning four irrigation canals, providing water to five villages- Guci e Re, Shtoj i Vjeter, Rrethina Comune, Boks and Kullaj.

The rehabilitation of these canals will make the region’s land fertile once again, in order grown and maintain plants and cattle.  Around 57% of Albanians are agriculturalists but poor water quality and access has made it extremely difficult for farmers to prosper. This project will improve and return water access, allowing the 10,000 residents of the canal areas to sustainably benefit from their land.
Salty, contaminated water in Gaza

Tap water in Gaza can cut for hours at a time, with no warning. For those living in Beach refugee camp- or anywhere near the sea- it is so saline it can leave a thin layer of salt on washed skin. Only five to ten percent of the water from Gaza’s only aquifer is safe for drinking, but many people drink from it regardless.

Islamic Relief is providing 270 households in coastal areas -including Beach refugee camp- with units to reduce the salt levels of their water, so that they comply with the World Health Organization drinking water standards.

We are also providing 176 of the most vulnerable families in other areas with water units to ensure the water quality is fit for drinking. Every family that receives a tanker is trained how to operate and maintain it. 

Some people can afford to buy drinking water delivered by water tankers, which play ice cream van music to let the neighbourhood know to fill up. However these tankers are rarely cleaned and largely unregulated. 

Islamic Relief has also constructed a new water network in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza. It will provide the 10,000 residents of Block F in Nuseirat with enough water to meet their daily needs.  This includes installing piping, valves, fire hydrants and resurfacing the dug-up roads.

Since 2012 we have provided 1246 vulnerable families with water-purifying units, as well as providing 166 schools with daily water for 90,000 students. We also installed clean water tankers water-purifying units in 28 hospitals and clinics, ensuring that sick people do not make themselves more vulnerable by drinking unhealthy, salty water. The water in these hospitals now meets the World Health Organization water standards.


Worm-free water

 “Guinea worm,” says Solei Musa, “we all had guinea worm.” This one of the diseases that infested Absa village, Niger because of the adjacent river’s water—the only water the 450 people in the village had access to was full of bacteria and microbes.

“They would try to create their own filtration system, covering one bucket with a cloth, then pouring the water through to another bucket,” says Boubacar.  Residents would do this several times to get the cleanest possible water—despite their efforts, the water was still unsafe. Almost everyone in the town had had a bout with a water-related illness: beyond guinea worm, they suffered from skin disorders and diarrhea. 

Islamic Relief has installed a borehole in Absa helped protect the people of Absa village against the further spread of waterborne diseases. “The borehole provides clean water,” said one resident, Moukala Nohu, “It tastes good; it’s not like this water,” he says, indicating to the dry riverbed. “Now we can cook, clean, drink, provide for the animals,” says Moukala. 


Kilometres of water canals in China

Since World Water Day 2012, Islamic Relief has also improved water access in areas of the drought-affected provinces in western China. 

In one of our projects, we built 4,600 metres of new concrete canals in order to channel water to the most vulnerable areas in Gansu province, providing water to 140 hectares of farmland and benefitting 3,400 local farmers. 

Establishing a long canal is not an easy feat and involved constructing 30 water descent structures, 25 anti-flood valves, 12 slopes, 11 bridges and a watergate from the river, all to ensure the water was funneled and distributed correctly.

Islamic Relief also trained around 1,000 members of the local community on how to operate and service the canal.

In order t o support local livelihood further, the most vulnerable families received livestock or poultry to rear.

Ma Fatumay is a mother-of-two who has struggled to grow crops without regular access to water.

“With a long, serious drought and sparse rainfall, we can only grow wheat, potato. We have little income due to the shortage of water. Sometimes we cannot buy fresh vegetables, or the price of food is too high. The weather determines our harvest, so I just hope for a good rainfall for the crops.

As our old water supply system was simple and were not lined, there were many dangerous sections which caused considerable leakage. When there is drought, we couldn’t rely on water or the irrigation system and there’s just not enough water for our crops. 

Islamic Relief’s irrigation canal now allows water to be distributed to crops efficiently, with each farming family able to harvest around 100kg more of maize.

Ma explained, “The project helped us to build water a distribution system and improve the agricultural yield. It also trained us in agricultural techniques and helped us to improve employability.”

Avoiding floods and harnessing rain in Bangladesh’s monsoons

Islamic Relief is reonvating water quality and distribution in several hoars in Bangladesh. A hoar is a bowl-shaped underwater depression that receives water fron canals and rivers, especially during monsoon season. Often the hoars overflow and lead to flash-floods that make it dffiicult for local farmers to survive and casues diseases to spread.

Islamic Relief will be overhauling the access and distribution of water installing tubewells,  to distribute them across the area, and training people to maintain them. We are also training the local community with skills to help them to use water to provide a livelihood for themselves, by offering training in paddy cultivation and home gardening. 

There is a high risk of arsenic contaminaition in many of the areas of Bangladesh in which we work. Islamic Relief raises awareness on the harmful effects of arsenic and to promote counter-contamination alternatives, such as pond sand filters and a water harvest system.

In order to reduce the disaster risk of flooding, we are training the community on how to deal with floods and conducting search and rescue missions, as well as constructing a flood shelter. We have also conducted house latrins and raised awareness about water and hygiene.

In addition to offering solutions to improve water problems, we are other skills to support their livelihoods, including  training on rearing and fattening ducks and cows and tailoring. People who receive livelihood training in these areas are also given the tools or cattle to start up a business of that trade.

Young IR supporters can volunteer with ICS

Islamic Relief UK is offering young people across Great Britain to volunteer on development projects in Asia and Africa through the International Citizen Service (ICS). 

Young people between the ages of 18 and 25 can apply for the three-month volunteering trip. You will be recruited through Islamic Relief and travel with an ICS agency to development projects which have specifically requested ICS volunteers.

The ICS programme has been running for two years, but this is the first year Islamic Relief will be involved in recruiting volunteers. In its first year, this programme sent 1, 250 volunteers abroad. 

Mohammed, a sports studies graduate, went to Ramallah in the West Bank to help run a summer sports school and then provide CV reviews and interview coaching to undergraduates seeking work.

He explained, “Overall it was an amazing experience which taught me so much about international development, poverty, and the impact the financial crisis can have all around the world. And seeing the poverty and hardship which some people endure every day has made me a stronger person. I am now looking for a role as a team leader on ICS using my sports skills.

I was in the last year of my BA (Hons) in Sports Studies and did not know what I was going to do in the summer, when I saw this opportunity at the side of a Facebook page, and I thought, why not? I had been to the Palestinian Territories several times before and I wanted to use my sports skills, so it looked like a good fit.

Overall the whole placement gave me a much better understanding of international development issues, and how things fit together globally. The experience made me a changed person with a different mindset – lots of the stereotypes and misconceptions I had have been challenged, and I understand much better what the real situation in the West Bank is. It’s definitely a good project – you change your mindset and you give something back”

If you have any queries regarding the ICS scheme, please call 020 8780 7400 or email enquiry@ics-uk.org.uk

Spotlight in the field: Bangladesh, Week 1

I’m at the fantastic Dhaka office. It is very professional, with 50 employees, all of whom are friendly and supportive. I have settled in well.

I’m looking forward to my time here. I will be visiting some of the projects, looking at how we operate and why we do certain things. I’m especially interested to see how we are trying to integrate livelihoods across our programme.  It’s about putting sustainable solutions in place, that lift people out of poverty.

This week, I got to visit one of our education projects, where over 300 girls access primary education, five days a week. Half of the girls go to school, and we do work in the slums too. Education is the key to a better future for these girls.

Read the rest of Ali’s blog to discover how Islamic Relief is changing lives and transforming communities in Bangladesh

12 March 2013

Islamic Relief has constructed an eye hospital in Mogadishu, which will offer free surgery and after care to people with cataracts.

Before this hospital was built, there were only two specialist eye hospitals in Somalia, so it was a struggle to meet the high demand for eye care. Today Islamic Relief’s hospital, which is funded by the Royal Charity Organization of Bahrain, has already screened and operated on over 2,000 people for cataracts. 

Around 100,000 Somalis are fully or partially blind, according to the World Health Organization. Cataracts account for over half of the cases of developing blindness in Somalia and are one of the most common diseases in Somalia, due to malnutrition, long exposure to sunlight and political problems that have overshadowed basic health issues.

Most of the 2,000 people who have already received treatment are internally displaced people- those forced to flee their homes due to fighting, instability or food shortages.
Halima Gudow is a 55-year-old grandmother who lives in a camp for displaced people in a district of Mogadishu. She said that her the deterioration of her sight had made it extremely difficult for her to look after her four orphaned grandchildren.

“I got depressed, worried and scared to death about losing my sight, because then how would three-month-old Amina survive? I developed this [cataract] which slowly began to taking away my sight. Every day I saw less and less”. Halima thinks she developed the problem after she walked 18 days in the bright hot sun to reach the camp in which she now lives.

Immediately after surgery, Halima could see the difference in her vision. “Alhamdulillah can’t believe it! I can’t believe that I am cured; now I will be able to see my grandchildren grow.”

Islamic Relief is also providing post-operative care to all patients through two hospitals in Mogadishu.

08 March 2013

The camps hosts Somali refugees fleeing instability and violence across the border. 

We constructed five schools, benefitting 1,000 children in the camp. Each school has five toilets and has access for people with disabilities- including an easy-access toilet in each school.

We are currently covering the day-to-day costs of the schools, which each have a playground, five water points for cleanliness and ablution, as well as chairs and desks for each student. 

During the construction of the schools, we provided training for imams and sheikhs in the local community on the integration of Islamic and academic education.

In this community, most people cannot afford to send their children to school, but highly value informal religious education. By educating religious teachers on academic subjects and the rights of children to education, we were able to join the two streams of teaching into a combined and rounded curriculum that is relevant to the local community.

Following the success of this project, we are now running primary education in 22 schools across the two camps, IFO 1 and IFO 2. We are also managing education for people with special needs across three camps- IFO1, IFO2 and Dagahaley.

In addition to managing education, Islamic Relief will also be managing the health, sanitation and shelter sectors for all of IFO 1, which hosts 500,000 Somali refugees.


Islamic Relief has been working with Somali refugees in Kenya since 2006.

07 March 2013

But the treatment of women today around the world does not always reflect this sentiment, including in many Muslim countries. Although women’s rights are universal – regardless of belief – as a faith-based organization, we are able to encourage the empowerment, equality and respect of women, from the perspective of Islam. We are breaking down the misconceptions that Islam prohibits women from employment and education or that it permits violence, harassment or FGM.

In Bangladesh, we run projects that teach women about their legal rights as women, especially then it comes to marriage, divorce and dowries. We also give female breadwinners practical training, support and a way to grow a business.

Trading cattle in Bangladesh

Mother-of-four, Mosammat Khatun from Kaunia Upazilla, Bangladesh, lost her husband 15 years ago. Even when he was still around they rarely had three meals a day. “Many days we only ate boiled flour with salt.” Mosammat took any work she could get in paddy fields, rice mills, as domestic help- but none of it lasted or gave her a way to meet her family’s needs.

Two years ago, Islamic Relief began assisting Mosammat. With the livelihood support allowance, she bought a fishnet. “From the profit of selling fish, I bought two pairs of pigeons.” Then, with the savings Mosammat made from selling pigeons and fish, she bought a cow. “From that cow I got two calves and now I have three cows. Now we even have milk!” Mosammat explained that she was shocked by her own success, and shared milk with everyone she knew, and can afford to treat her daughter’s illness. “I am planning to have more cows, goats and lease a land for cultivation from my savings… now my brain is working. My neighbors are inspired by my success and other women are saving money, rearing pigeons and come to me for advice.”

Women’s rights in Sudan

In West Darfur, Sudan, Islamic Relief is teaching women affected by war about women’s issues, health, protection and their rights under domestic and international law.

By improving their understanding of early marriage, HIV, gender-based violence, the importance of education and women’s rights, Islamic Relief Sudan aims to protect, assist and empower women in Krinding 2 camp for displaced people. We also focus on increasing female-participation in society and helping them to understand conflict resolution.

Classes on building fuel-efficient stoves were offered to 100 women, while 100 more learnt to make cheese, soap and yoghurt, or how to run a business.

Habeeba lives in Krinding 2 camp and is responsible for her four children and mother. She attends the women’s workshops where she has learnt to make bread, pasta and handicrafts.

She said, “The activities of the women’s centre has had a great effect; the training on fuel efficient stoves saved me from continuously having to collect firewood. The centre has changed my family; we have gone from being completely dependent to semi-independent.”

Habeeba is now regularly selling the bread she learned to make in the classes, “I have customers from the camp market who rely on my bread and I am proud that even a single mother is able to serve the community.  

Call centre in Germany

But our work with women is not limited to teaching trades in camps for displaced people. In Germany we fund the only Muslim chaplaincy helpline, where 70% of callers are women. Islamic Relief offers help to people all over the world, regardless of faith. But in Germany, our faith-based perspective allows us to assist Muslim women going through difficult times, all our volunteers are Muslims, so they have a sound understanding of a caller’s cultural context.

"For the most part, it [Islamic knowledge] is important, even though the topic they want to talk about has nothing to do with religion," says Vahide Akesh. “The caller would be confident that the counsellor is familiar with religious rituals and their culture…that the [volunteer] will understand me – that we share something."


Microdam in Mali

Kadia (far left) is a mother-of-six from Mana village in Mali. For years, the community survived by burning wood and selling the charcoal it produced. But this practice has had a drastic effect on the cyclical drought that has been getting worse over the last few years.

The drought makes it difficult for anything to survive- crops, livestock and people. “We did not harvest anything from our rice farm; I could not sleep at night because I spent the night thinking about how I was going to nourish my children.”

Islamic Relief installed a micro-dam in the village, which stores and distributes water to the whole village. People are not forced to burn trees, as they can now grow plants for their fruit or grain. In addition to bringing water to the village, the micro-dam has also brought community discussion. The men and women of Mana regularly meet to discuss how to improve the effectiveness of the micro-dam.

The women of the village are once again able to rely on their crops to live, and Kadia collected around 15 kilograms of rice last harvest.

Social awareness and livelihoods in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, we are raising awareness about women’s legal rights concerning dowry, divorce and the harmful aspects of early marriage. For years we have supported female-headed households bring in an income by teaching mothers how to build businesses, and offering them the opportunity to put into practice by giving them cattle, a loan, or items to sell in a shop.

Lipi from Rangpur is the breadwinner for her two-year-old son and husband who lost his leg in a traffic accident. She was given lessons in fattening cattle for sale and profit and then received a bull. After selling it for profit she was able to buy another bull and vegetables. Each time she sold her cattle her profit grew.
For the first time she bought land to plant vegetables on.

She explained, “Now my family can have fruit and vegetables, we can afford medical treatment for my husband. I take care of everything from dawn to dusk. Now I have four decimals of land, a cow, three hens, two goats, ten pigeons and 16 ducks. I am strong enough to do all these by myself. Now people are very inspired to rear pigeons after seeing me and they are rearing cows, goats and chickens. It gives me happiness that people are learning from me.”

Teaching trades in Kenya

We are also creating jobs for women in Mandera, Kenya. As children turn 18, they are no longer eligible for orphan sponsorship. To ensure that young adults are supported financially as they transition to adulthood.

This project offers interest free loans to women to start up businesses. They are trained in business management, group dynamics, marketing, costing, record-keeping and enterprise development.

The mothers are able to choose from a number of businesses that are most profitable in the area, including the trade of cattle, handicrafts and building materials, as well as donkey cart businesses. Each woman receives training and equipment to help her in her chosen field.

This project has helped reduce the need for orphans to drop out off school to help earn money for their families. It also reduces dependency on orphan sponsorship and fosters the principle of creating a self-reliant livelihood.

Islamic Relief is committed to ensuring the legal and social rights of women and empowering them to break out of the cycle of aid reliance. 

Today we have highlighted some of our livelihood support projects, which offer women the opportunity to start up and grow businesses. This programme is offered to women- and men- all over the world. You can donate to our livelihood support project here. 


“Be at your mother’s feet and there is the Paradise.” (Ibn Majah, Sunan, Hadith no. 2771)

On 24 January 2013 Islamic Relief Worldwide held a one-day landmark Conference on Islam and Conflict Transformation in collaboration with the University of Manchester Humanitarian and Conflict Response Unit (HCRI). 

Islam and Islamic organisations, both historically and in contemporary conflicts, have played a central role not only in providing relief and rehabilitation but also acting as agents of peace building and conflict transformation. The conference brought together academics and practitioners from across the globe to present and discuss academic and robust policy oriented research in the field of conflict resolution and peace-building in the Muslim world.

The conference was framed by plenary presentations from Prof. Mohammed Abu-Nimer and Dr. S. Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana from the Salam Institute for Peace, while Justice. Professor Abu-Nimer opened the conference with a presentation offering a practitioner’s view of the specific needs and requirements when working on peacebuilding within the Muslim world. Through his presentation, the Professor emphasised that the factors instigating and maintaining conflict are not simply ‘Muslim’ issues but in fact ‘human’ issues – we share across the globe. 

Dr Kadayifci in turn opened the afternoon sessions with her plenary presentation on ‘Women within Peacebuilding in the Islamic World’. The positive message of her presentation emphasised that there are a plethora of women engaged with peacebuilding activities, but that as practitioners our understanding of what a peacebuilder looks like can make those contributions invisible to us. To engage women as peacebuilders, there is a need to widen our definition of where peace is built and by whom; widening it from the high-level officials that are usually the focus of attention. 

Eleven papers were presented through the conference plenary sessions, covering a broad spectrum of research into critical approaches to peace, conflict and governance in Islam. Policy and Strategy Manager for IRW, Atallah Fitzgibbon, closed the conference by highlighting the key lessons for practitioners and policy that were raised by the papers, most notable of which included the need for continued focus on education, on community ownership of conflict transformation, gender sensitive approaches and a focus on local context – as ‘one size’ does not fit all. The papers presented demonstrated the vibrant discussions taking place within the field, but also that there is a continuing need to develop faith literacy as it relates to conflict, peace and the transformation between.     

The IRW/HCRI Conference on Islam and Conflict Transformation is part of an ongoing programme funded through the DFID Partnership Programme Arrangements (PPA) within Islamic Relief Worldwide to improve faith literacy on conflict, gender justice, climate change and child protection, and to advance organisational policy around best practice in the field. This is in line with a range of interventions taking place across the Islamic Relief family, including Yemen where Islamic Relief has been implementing Conflict Transformation and Peace building programmes since 2007, reaching over 900 participants across 12 governorates.

The focus of the last day’s National Learning Event on Resilience and Climate Change adaption was on leadership and action planning on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at the organizational level. Participants of the event spent the whole day on the practical implementation of Islamic Relief’s Community Based Disaster Management Framework and model.Participants were asked to come up with their ideas and presented on them.

As a way forward,  Islamic Relief Pakistan’s commitment to and arrangements for future planning on resilience were discussed and the team shared their experiences and learning from this four-day learning event.

Sajjad Khan, Area Programme Manager for Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) said “Islamic Relief is implementing both humanitarian and development projects and we are already involving communities and concerned stakeholders in taking mitigation actions. We got a chance to listen to experts on DRR who presented different models. I realized we need to build an inclusive approach to build resilient communities.”

Nawaz Khan Monitoring Officer said “Know disasters, no disasters.”

While sharing his experience, Raza Narejo said that “This four-day activity was very stimulating, as all the sessions were very interactive. I am sure the IR team will benefit the vulnerable communities to build their understanding on hazards and their effects, so that they can safeguard themselves.”

Community Development Officer Koulsom said “IR investment in its staff to build their capacity is a remarkable thing. This is the first time I have worked with other NGOs, and I have learnt about the detailed tools of Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (VCA) and child-centered DRR. I shall be working for the betterment of our partner communities by adopting these new techniques.” Participants from outside Islamic Relief also appreciated the Synergizing Resilience initiative

In his closing remarks, Country Director Islamic Relief Pakistan Dr Fayaz Ahmed vowed that all the team members had definitely developed their skills and expertise regarding mitigation. They had given their full commitment to implementing the community-based DRR model.

Today is the third day of Islamic Relief Pakistan’s National Learning Event. Its objective is to provide training and development on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) models to develop resilience in Pakistan. 

The learning event today brought together some of Pakistan’s leading experts in the field of DRR, including Shahida Arif, DRR Manager for Save the Children Pakistan and Fayyaz Shah, National Advisor DRR for Malteser International.

Today’s session also focused on the role that children can play in DRR at the community level. Naveedul Haq and Shahid Kazmi presented Islamic Relief Pakistan’s Community-based Disaster Risk Management Reduction Model (CBDRM). They explained that the role of children and young people is vital for disaster preparedness and must be acknowledged by local and national stakeholders. 

Shahida Arif from Save the Children said that child-centered DRR is a rights-based approach combining child-focused and child-led activities with interventions geared towards bringing about change in the community. 

Children’s club promotes DRR in Muzaffargarh

As part of a village rehabilitation programme, Islamic Relief uses a community-based disaster preparedness approach. This was the approach that was taken in Muzaffargarh, Punjab, which was devastated by the 2010 floods in Pakistan, leaving much of its infrastructure damaged or destroyed.  

Karak Walla is a village in Muzaffargarh which benefited from Islamic Relief Pakistan’s rehabilitation programme. Children gather every day to run a hygiene awareness campaign initiated by a children club’s which was formed by Islamic Relief. 

Shumaila, is a student of grade four and leads the discussions in the children’s club. Shumaila’s house and school were sadly washed away by flooding and she couldn’t continue her studies for almost one year. “I remember that, before the flooding, we had to live with infectious diseases as people of the village don’t pay attention to cleanliness and hygiene” she told Muhammad Haseeb Khalid, Senior Media Officer, for IR Pakistan.

“Islamic Relief built houses, restored village infrastructure and more importantly built a community centre where we sit and discuss the subjects of our interest. Islamic Relief also teams formed a children club in our village and I am leading this club” Shumaila said with a smiling face.

“IR field teams conducted assessments in the village and they discussed the children’s concerns. I remember that I talked to IR teams and told them in my school there was not a proper seating arrangement. I told IR teams that in our school we don’t have facility of clean drinking water” Shumaila recalled.

After identification of the issues highlighted by children, such as Shumaila, IR teams in coordination with the community organization, took children the views of the village on board to initiate a project to address their needs. Girls and boys schools were rehabilitated, school kits were provided, latrines, and water pumps were ensured in their schools. These recovery actions strengthen the capacity of the communities to face disasters.

Later, Islamic Relief field teams in Punjab involved leaders of children clubs to run hygiene awareness campaigns. Shumaila with other selected children were giving training on personal hygiene, health awareness issues and later they were provided information to disseminate to their peer groups. 

Even though the IR Village Rehabilitation Project is complete, community organizations and the children’s club are active and are developing community-based mitigation measures so they may reduce the effects of hazards.