Islamic Relief’s global charitable work has reached more people than ever before, says the organisation’s new annual report published recently.

The international aid agency helped 17.3 million people in 40 countries last year – a huge increase on the 11.8 million people reached in 2021.

The organisation also increased its income by 28% from the previous year, raising a record GB£234 million (US$299m) in 2022 – mostly thanks to the tremendous generosity of the general public all over the world, despite the rising cost of living crisis facing many families.

The organisation’s record reach includes supporting more than 3.5 million people suffering from conflict in Yemen, over 1.2 million people struggling with the economic collapse in Afghanistan, and millions of people affected by increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters. In flood-hit Pakistan, where people had their homes and livelihoods washed away, Islamic Relief supported 1.2 million people with food, water, shelter and long-term help to rebuild. In the Horn of Africa – which is suffering its worst drought in decades and tens of thousands of people have died from hunger – Islamic Relief supported around 2.3 million people.

As well as providing life-saving support during emergencies, Islamic Relief also helped millions of people with long-term development such as helping farmers to increase productivity, improving access to healthcare and sanitation, and promoting innovative microfinance solutions. In response to the global hunger crisis, the charity launched a major £3.8 million programme to tackle the root causes of hunger in eight African countries.

Islamic Relief’s income has now doubled in the last ten years. While most of this comes from donations from individual supporters, the charity also receives funding from international governments and institutions. In 2022 Islamic Relief and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) partnered on a new £19 million (US$23m) initiative in Afghanistan to generate employment, boost agricultural production and support Afghan women entrepreneurs.

Commenting on the Annual Report, Islamic Relief Worldwide’s CEO Waseem Ahmad said, “This has been a year of once-in a-lifetime humanitarian crises. Afghanistan has suffered its worst drought for 30 years, and East Africa, its most severe this century. Pakistan is still reeling from the worst floods in living memory, while Europe has seen the worst refugee crisis since World War II. It is testimony to the unfailing generosity of Islamic Relief’s donors, the hard work of our staff and volunteers, bilateral and multilateral donors and other strategic partners that we have been able to rise to these challenges. What matters is not just the number of people we are assisting, but also the long-term impact of our work and what the communities we serve think of what we are doing.”

The quality of Islamic Relief’s work was recognised with recertification for the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) – the gold standard of the humanitarian sector, based on a range of indicators including feedback from the communities we serve.

Last year, Islamic Relief ran more than 830 projects in 40 countries across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, North America and Europe. These included helping 11.5 million people to cope with hunger, giving 2.6 million people life-saving and life-changing healthcare, serving 1.15 million people with water, sanitation and hygiene projects, and supporting 93,000 orphaned children to get regular food, clothing and education. Over 1.5 million people worldwide were also provided with food parcels for the holy month of Ramadan.

Islamic Relief continues to deliver aid to new crises such as the conflict in Sudan which broke out in April, as well as ongoing crises such as the drought in the Horn of Africa and the war in Yemen.