Ramadan Report 2023 | Islamic Relief Canada

Thank you!

As we mark the end of another blessed Ramadan, I am immensely grateful for all the care and generous support you showed this year. Every donation you made helped fill someone’s heart with happiness.

This year we saw so much pain and far too many tragedies, from natural disasters to conflict and violence. When tragedy hits, the most vulnerable are often forgotten, left struggling to survive in the worst conditions.

But because of you, this was not the case!

Thank you for your continued support and kindness for the world’s most vulnerable. 3.9 million people are feeling relief because of your care this Ramadan.

Your support is so often the gift of life itself and we take special care to reach those who are most at risk. We’ve seen with our own eyes how their lives have been uplifted and transformed by what you give.

Thank you for supporting us in transforming lives worldwide in the most trusted manner.

May Allah accept your efforts and grant you the ability to continue being a beacon of hope, tackling poverty, inequality, hunger, and advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves.

We could not have done it without you, thank you.

Your sister,

Aysha Syed Director of Fundraising, Islamic Relief Canada

3.9 million People Reached

65+ Projects Supported

Your Impact This Ramadan

You made it a Ramadan with hope, rising to the challenge when crises struck and helping to create unprecedented change both here at home and around the world. Because of you, they feel relief. Thank you for your continued generosity and care.

Ramadan Food Distributions

Feed the Needy · Zakat al-Fitr · Fidya and Kaffara

With your support, we distributed 300,932 food packs in impoverished communities to provide relief during the blessed month of Ramadan. Through this effort we also distributed your Zakat al-Fitr, Fidya, and Kaffara payments in the form of food supplies to the poorest of the poor.

What’s Inside a Food Pack?

Depending on the region, each food pack holds around 125 pounds of food on average and is designed to provide the essentials to a family of 5-7 people for one month.

Food items vary according to regional cuisines, and are purchased through local markets to help support local livelihoods, the local economy, and ensure a high quality of products.

Each food pack usually contains:

+ Dates

+ Lentils

+ Rice

+ Sugar

+ Oil

+ Wheat

Food packs contain more food and higher quality items

This year, the Ramadan food packs contained more food to last much longer. The average weight of the food packs has increased to 125 pounds.

How this looks across each country differs. In some countries, this means increasing the number of food items so families receive a diverse range of culturally-inclusive food to cook meals out of.

For others, they are simply increasing the weight of each food item that is provided in the packs. In the countries where vouchers are distributed, families will be able to buy even more food to meet their specific needs.

+ Canned meat and fish

125 lbs = FAMILY OF 5-7 FOR ONE MONTH

Double the amount of food from last year!

Your Donations in Action this Ramadan

1.65 Million* People

*These numbers are a reflection of Islamic Relief’s global efforts, including the 15,740 food packs funded specifically by Islamic Relief Canada and then distributed to rights-holders across 14 countries by the respective field offices.

“I didn’t know how I was going to survive during Ramadan since we had no food, but this food pack will help my family a lot.”

Kande from Malawi, 33 years old

Kande is a 33 year old mother of 5 children living in the Group Village Mponda-Mponda in Mangochi district, Malawi. For Kande, Ramadan is no different from the other months of the year. Limited food, going to bed on empty stomachs, and rationing out meals is their daily norm.

“If there is flour I prepare porridge for them to eat but sometimes they would go to school hungry and without breakfast. I’m trying my absolute best to feed them. I don’t want them to starve, but sourcing food for the family is very hard.”

Most families in Malawi are still reeling from the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Freddy which displaced over 500,000 people in March. The cyclone left Kande’s house in ruins and devastated her maize harvest, displacing her family and leaving them food insecure.

Through Islamic Relief’s Ramadan food pack distributions, Kande’s family did not have to worry about sourcing their next meal or buying food for the month.

Your Zakat in Trusted hands

Your Zakat is an Amanah, and we take that trust very seriously. At Islamic Relief Canada, we follow a scholar-verified Zakat Policy to ensure your Zakat reaches as many poor and needy people as possible to transform their lives.

This ensures that Islamic principles are adhered to every step of the way from project design and community fundraising discussions to project implementation. Our projects take a community-based approach, sourcing essential items from local vendors, creating programs that best serve their needs, and supporting rights-holders to take ownership from start to finish.

We strive to ensure that your Zakat empowers the individuals and families who receive it, and ultimately contributes to bringing them out of the difficult circumstances they are in.

To read more about our scholar-verified Zakat policy, visit us at islamicrelief.ca/zakat-policy

Our Zakat Distribution Process

Rights-holders

Islamic Relief identifies those well below Nisab, working with the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable. This includes orphan households, single female-headed households, people with disabilities, and the elderly.

How Funds are Used Locally

Once Zakat donations are collected, Islamic Relief Canada wires funds to be disbursed to the field offices for immediate distribution and implementation on the ground.

Needs Assessment

Our caseworkers, staff and volunteers in our field offices use a standardized system to collect information, record notes and categorize to determine the support that each individual and family needs.

Your Donations in Action

Your Zakat reaches the hands of those who need it most, providing rights-holders with the tools to support themselves and pass it on to the next generation.

Collecting Zakat

Throughout the year, especially in Ramadan, Islamic Relief Canada collects your Zakat donations to continuously fund projects that assist the poorest of the poor.

Your Impact

Our work does not end once a rights-holder receives your Zakat donations. They remain in our system to continue receiving support through projects and funds implemented in the area until they are self-sufficient.

Thank you for readily extending your hand to the world's most vulnerable, and making them a part of your community with love and compassion!

Your Zakat in Action this Ramadan

Your Zakat donations were allocated to fund the Zakat-eligible portions of our Zakat Catalogue projects this year as well as our many ongoing Zakat-eligible projects!

The following 8 projects , which were a part of our Zakat Catalogue, are just a snapshot of an ongoing 55 projects in 2023 which contain Zakat-eligible components. These 55 projects are providing for the needs of 908,644 people worldwide.

Impact of Zakat Donations for 2023

908,644+ People Being Reached

55 Zakat Projects Supported

133,343+ People Reached

Impact of Zakat Catalogue Donations

8+ Projects Supported

Afghanistan

Lebanon

Pakistan

Socio Economic Empowerment for Women

Your Zakat is providing the women of Herat and Nangarhar provinces with income generation tools, equipment and business capital to help them take ownership of their own lives. They are undergoing literacy, vocational, life-skills training through self-help groups, and awareness of their right to education to ensure long-term success.

This project particularly focuses on the importance of education for girls who are often discouraged from pursuing education and face limited resources and facilities. It aims to reduce the gender gap in both enrollment and completion by reducing the barriers they face.

Your Zakat also funds community awareness sessions, educational material and processes for teacher retention. The education provided focuses on literacy and basic schooling for both women and children, alongside literacy courses conducted for women and girls living in rural areas and internally displaced persons camps.

800 Women

Food Assistance in Bekaa

To address food insecurity in Lebanon, our team is providing food assistance to those most in need through food packs and vouchers. Your Zakat is reaching women, children, the elderly and those in poverty living within the Bekaa area, ensuring vulnerable families can access essential food supplies for 12 months.

526 households have been reached to date, having received 3 food packs of 18 kg/pack so far. They will continue to receive food packs throughout the upcoming months while additional households are being assessed to receive food vouchers and any remaining food packs.

Each food parcel contains:.

• Brown & red lentils

• Camolino rice

• Coarse white bulgur

• Vegetable ghee

• Sunflower oil

• White flour

• Tomato paste

• White sugar

• Vermicelli

• Loose black tea leaves

• Khodari dates

• Canned fava beans

4,200 individuals

Economic Empowerment & Safe Drinking Water for Women

Your Zakat is installing water purification solutions including rainwater harvesting structures and water filtration plants to improve access to water for communities in Muzaffarabad.

Meetings have been conducted with 6 community organizations and key stakeholders from The Public Health and Engineering Department and Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources, finalizing the sites for the installation of 5 water filtration plants.

Access to safe drinking water will be beneficial for the rural communities of union councils Kahori and Pattika, improving health and hygiene practices. By building closely located water facilities, your Zakat is helping to minimize risky water collection for women and girls and ensure safe drinking water for all

10,560 individuals

Your Zakat helped here! Your Zakat helped here! Your Zakat helped here!

Palestine

Somalia

Syria

Multi-Sectoral Humanitarian Assistance

In response to the lasting effects of violence in Gaza, we are providing multi-sectoral support in the form of cash assistance to help families in the Al Zawayda neighbourhood purchase life-saving essentials and meet their basic needs.

250 households are receiving cash grants for 6 months to support their food, education, water, sanitation and hygiene, health and shelter needs. Your Zakat is also supporting 250 households with income-generating activities, where cash grants are helping their existing microbusinesses stay afloat.

You are providing struggling households, neighbourhoods, microbusinesses and communities the support they need to survive in Gaza amidst ongoing violence and restrictions.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

2,164 individuals

Health & Livelihood Support for Women

You are helping to improve the lives of vulnerable women, internally displaced communities and poor households in Balcad, Banadir, Beledweyne and Afgoye districts through improved primary health care services and income-generating opportunities.

The Shibis, Daynile and Balcad Health Centres are receiving your Zakat, providing improved and new outpatient services, laboratory and pharmacy services, under five routine vaccination services and antenatal care services. Through medical supplies, drug management training and rehabilitation efforts, the 3 hospitals and 2 mobile clinics are now better equipped to reach and support the health needs of local communities.

Your Zakat strengthens communitylevel resilience by providing incomegenerating start-up capital to 400 women part of self-help groups. They are being trained on the village saving and loans association approach, as well as business and entrepreneurship skills. This empowers these women to create their own dignified livelihoods.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

Education & Clean Water for All

In Northern Syria, we are working to rehabilitate and support 15 schools to create a safe learning environment for students. Your Zakat will provide stipends to 272 teachers, school management and support workers over the course of 17 months, allowing them to continue providing highquality education to kids in need.

Clean water is a necessity for a safe environment, so we are also installing 2 solar panels to make water stations safe, sustainable, and accessible to all village members in Rael and Dweibeq of Suran district.

Local water committees have been assembled, consisting of community members from the 2 villages. They have been fully trained in the management of the water stations and will be responsible for the full oversight of the water networks. Your Zakat is providing the gift of clean water, sustaining generations to come.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

107,595 individuals

3,184 individuals

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Your Zakat helped here!

Syria

Yemen

Permanent Shelters for Displaced Families

Your Zakat is moving displaced families who are living in tents to permanent and earthquake-proof homes in a prime location that ensures easy access to water, health facilities, and local markets.

In Dana, in the Idlib governorate and Aleppo of Northern Syria, 50 m2 multistorey apartment complexes are being constructed. Each complex includes 8 apartments, and each apartment has a layout of 2 rooms, a kitchen, and bathroom.

Your Zakat helped here! RIGHTS-HOLDERS

348+ * Total Permanent Shelters Are Being Built

2,040 individuals

Your Zakat helped here!

Dignified & Sustainable Livelihood Support

Your Zakat is providing cash grants of $100/month over the course of 3 months to the most vulnerable families in the Bit Alfaqeh district as they undergo business skills and technical training in agriculture, beekeeping, livestock and entrepreneurship.

Each family receives mentorship, coaching, and advisory services as they develop their businesses. An additional 120 youth ages 18-29 years old are also receiving cash grants to establish new small businesses.

This is how your Zakat transforms lives and breaks the cycle of poverty, creating sustainable incomes and dignified livelihoods for people.

RIGHTS-HOLDERS

2,800 individuals

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS GIVING

Water Wells & Olive Trees

Water Well in Niger

Your Sadaqah Jariyah is helping to construct 4 solar powered water systems in the Fakara Region of Niger. Each water system will be composed of 120m borehole, metal tank of 20 cubic meters, and 3,000-watt of solar power.

Through your generous support, you are providing 5,600 people with access to safe drinking water, enabling farmers to provide drinking water to their gardens and animals and supporting livelihoods as well.

For donors who sponsored a personalized mural tile, we look forward to sharing a report with you soon on the completion of your inscription!

4 Solar Powered Water Systems Are Being Built in Niger

5,600 Rights-holders Reached Upon Completion

Planting Olive Trees in Palestine

Olive trees are an act of resistance, solidarity and hope in the face of brutality and violence. Your gift helps Palestinian farmer families make a living by rehabilitating agricultural lands and replanting olive trees while providing tools and resources to enhance cultivation and environmental sustainability.

This contributes to creating employment opportunities and improving income generation for 755 farming households, and is an act of Sadaqah Jariyah for both you and your loved ones.

7,213 New Trees Are Being Planted in Palestine

4,227 Rights-holders Currently Reached

Reaching Those Most In Need

Your donations in action this Ramadan

With your support, we were able to continue responding to emergencies around the world throughout Ramadan. Because of you, we are so often the first on the ground reaching those affected by disasters, violence or conflict. This is an overview of the key responses you helped fund this Ramadan, in addition to many of our ongoing emergency projects.

Syria-Turkiye Earthquakes

Through the Humanitarian Coalition’s government matching campaign and the Global Affairs Canada fund, Islamic Relief is providing WASH, health, food and shelter support to communities in Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaras, Kilis and Sanliurfa provinces of Turkiye; and in Idlib and Aleppo in Syria.

The provision of hygiene kits, water tanks, water trucking and solid waste removal services are underway in both countries. To address health concerns, essential medical supplies are being provided to health facilities and healthcare workers are receiving stipends while women and children continue to access traumainformed psychosocial services.

Vouchers and food packs consisting of rice, sugar, olive oil, bread and tomato paste have been distributed to vulnerable foodinsecure families to support their immediate nutritional needs. Displaced families have also received tents, blankets, solar light kits and shelter support.

In Turkiye & Syria, you helped distribute:

• 5,304 food packs

• 7,390 food vouchers

• 4,750 hygiene kits which include soap, towels, toothbrush and more

• 290,896 food items such as bread, cakes and drinks

• 408,431 medical items

• 23,486 mattresses, blankets and plastic sheets

• 613 child kits and diapers for kids and the elderly

• 305 fireplaces

• 2,141 m3 water

• 469,230 kg of heating material

886,186 individuals

Palestine

Working alongside local partners, Islamic Relief is providing medical supplies and equipment to local hospitals and mobile clinics, as well as trauma training to first responders. This is helping previously overwhelmed health facilities to support the treatment of injured civilians. Through the mobile health clinics, health care workers are able to reach and serve more vulnerable and marginalized communities.

In response to recent escalations of violence and border closures, Islamic Relief is also providing emergency fresh food distributions. This consists of vegetables like tomatoes, onions, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, eggplants and other staple food items to vulnerable families.

Our ongoing work and projects in Yemen include distributing cash grants to meet immediate food needs, rehabilitating water systems, providing hygiene kits, and livelihood support through mentorship and business training opportunities.

To address healthcare needs, we are supporting health centers and 4 hospitals through the procurement of essential medicine and healthcare equipment, rehabilitation efforts, stipends and training programs for healthcare workers, and the assembly of mobile outreach health teams to provide services to internally displaced communities.

Yemen RIGHTS-HOLDERS

367,894 individuals

Orphan Sponsorship

Your kindness transforms lives

With your support, our Orphan Sponsorship Program has helped transform countless lives, families, and communities around the world.

Your sponsorships protect the wellbeing, safety, health, education and social environments of orphans. Our field officers conduct yearly assessments, in addition to periodic check-ins to ensure the children are safe and looked after.

This allows them to be individually supported, improves family stability and helps sustainable development for the entire community. It’s your generosity that helps fill the gap in their lives!

Syria & Turkiye

When tragedy struck in Turkiye and Syria earlier this year, countless children paid the heaviest price. Newly orphaned, they were deprived of their basic rights and protection, subject to vulnerability, loss, and destruction.

Until you came in! This Ramadan, your kindness sponsored 431 orphans in Turkiye and Syria, bringing them the promise of hope and a brighter future. You’ve shown them that they are not alone!

This Ramadan 2,337 Orphans Were Sponsored Because of You

Stories of Your Impact

“I can now cook rice, potato, soup, and other local meals. I have a light in the room like other people. The important thing is that I can teach my children at night because of the light.”

– Mother of Shamk, an 8 year old sponsored orphan in Yemen

“Now I can achieve my dreams! Thank you for relieving this burden from my mother’s shoulders, and for allowing me to carry on with my third year of studies in the dentistry program.”

– Asmaa, a 21 year old sponsored orphan in Palestine

“Thank you for the gift you sent me, I could finally buy new clothes because my old clothes became too small. I am very happy! Thank you very much for what you’ve given me.”

– Falak, a 6 year old sponsored orphan in Syria

“Thank you for the assistance you provided us in a time when my family’s conditions were very bad and we were not able to afford to pay rent. Thanks to your generosity we were able to rent a house and pay all the costs, and I could bring safety to my daughter.”

– Mother of Meryam, a sponsored orphan in Syria

Eid Gift Distribution

Sharing the Joy of Eid with Children in Need

Your kindness gifted smiles to orphans and vulnerable children on Eid day through new clothes, shoes, school bags and educational material, toys, and sweets. These gifts full of joy were distributed across 18 countries including Yemen, Somalia, Lebanon, and Palestine!

Thank you for helping spread the joy of Eid globally to 17,558 children and letting them know that someone is thinking of them.

17,558* Children

*This is a reflection of all Islamic Relief offices around the world, and includes the 2,833 eid gifts specifically funded by Islamic Relief Canada and then distributed by the field offices on the ground to children in Lebanon, Palestine, Somalia, and Yemen.

In Your Community

From Coast to Coast

Grand Iftars

From Surrey to Edmonton to Montreal, you joined us to help raise funds for Palestine, as well as sponsor thousands of orphans worldwide.

We hosted 21 Grand Iftars across Canada, and celebrated the power of community alongside our special guests: Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy, Ustadha Ieasha Prime, Sheikh Majed Mahmoud, Sheik Ammar AlShukry and so many more inspiring changemakers.

Your Impact

1,786 Orphans Sponsored 8,333 Palestinians Supported RIGHTS-HOLDERS

17,262 Impacted Across the World!

Gifts for the Incarcerated

We know of Ramadan as a time of community and blessings. But this isn’t necessarily the case for incarcerated Muslims whose ability to fast or practice their faith is impacted by poor living conditions, harsh treatment, and inadequate services in correctional facilities.

To make it a Ramadan with community for all, we partnered with 36 Muslim chaplains and institutions to distribute wellness kits which included a Quran, prayer mat, miswak, tasbeeh and dates.

540 Incarcerated Muslims Felt the Love of Community

Cupcakes for Turkiye & Syria

Across 77 cities in Canada we delivered 650 boxes of cupcakes and 3,900 cupcakes in total! Thank you for your sweet tooth, as your generosity touches the lives of countless people in need across Turkiye and Syria.

340 Rights-holders Supported in Turkiye and Syria

Crowdfunding

We called on our community of changemakers and you truly answered the call! You got creative with your crowdfunding pages, posted across social media, and brought together your friends, family, and classmates to raise funds and awareness for causes dear to you throughout the blessed month.

510 Total Campaigns  $500,000 Raised

16,112 Rights-holders Will Feel the Relief

Volunteers Give Back to our Neighbours

Throughout the year and especially during Ramadan, Islamic Relief Canada takes on a community-driven model to support diverse communities across Canada. We provide warm meals to the unhoused, seniors and low income families, as well as fundraise and assemble food baskets with staple food items to ensure vulnerable people can enjoy healthy, balanced meals during Ramadan.

With the help of 91 volunteers and partner organizations across 15 cities such as Sadaqa Food Bank, Nisa Homes, Third Pillar and Muslim Aid of Saskatchewan, we were able to distribute 925 warm meals and 2,737 food boxes!

14,610 Canadians

Were Fed this Ramadan

Jazakum Allahu Khairan for your continued support and kindness for the world’s most vulnerable. We are extremely grateful to donors like yourself for supporting our work around the world. Your continued support and kindness for the world’s most vulnerable will never be forgotten. Their lives will be forever changed, and their futures made brighter.

We could not do it without you, thank you.

“Whoever relieves the hardship of a believer in this world, Allah will relieve their hardship on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever helps ease one in difficulty, Allah will make it easy for them in this world and in the Hereafter..."

- Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)