Islamic Relief’s regional coordinator in the Middle East:”9-11 boosted Islamic Relief’s work” [Archives:2007/1033/Business & Economy]
Interviewed by: Raidan Al-Saqqaf
[email protected]
Contrary to the belief that the 9-11 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center in New York had a negative impact on Islamic charity work, Islamic Relief has witnessed a six-fold increase in donations during the period 2001-2006 reaching US$ 180 million to date. Since its establishment in 1984 by Dr. Hany Al-Banna in Birmingham, UK, Islamic Relief has established itself in the international arena as an important player in international aid in spite of its limited resources. Yemen Times met with Mr. Lutfe Mohammed Ali, Regional coordinator in the Middle East and spoke to him about issues concerning fundraising for Islamic Relief in the region and beyond.
Please brief us on Islamic Relief and its funding.
Islamic Relief has a history similar to that of other International Organizations working in the field of development, with the exception that Islamic Relief has an Islamic philosophy and a mandate based on the honorable values of Islam as inspired by its name. What we aim to do is to provide international aid and humanitarian assistance in a non-discriminatory manner in over forty countries. Islamic relief has a number of sources for funds, but is primarily funded through private donations. Currently we have 12 fund-raising centers scattered throughout Europe and North America, our strategy of non-reliance on a particular country or center for funding allows us to maintain neutrality, independent of any political influences or affiliations, this strategy proved most beneficial especially after the attacks of 9-11 which changed how the world views Islamic Organizations.
How were you, and other organizations, affected by 9-11?
At that time the administrators of Islamic Relief had their doubts about how the world would react or if Islamic relief would be accused of terrorism in a similar manner to that of other organizations which have been labeled as financers of terrorism especially in the Gulf area. There was a huge publicity campaign against Islamic organizations, being accused of non-transparency, accused of working with terrorists and financing terrorism, and as a consequence many of those organizations were shut down or starved-out of donations; transactions and money orders sent in favor of several charities were disallowed, and as a result they didn't have sufficient funds to keep even the offices open and pay the salaries of the staff, but the real victim was the orphans and humanitarian work done by these organizations in South Asia and Africa.
Having said that, Islamic relief was blessed to have the support of the British government and the moral support of the Royal Family. Shortly after the 9-11 attacks Price Charles paid a visit to our offices and made a donation. This act was in itself a strong message in support and solidarity with Islamic relief. In fact, the British government has put us among the official British relief organizations in order to do emergency relief work in the name of her Majesty the Queen.
Interesting indeed, were there any control mechanisms to monitor where Islamic Relief works or what sort of work it does?
Interestingly, Clare Short, who was the UK's secretary of State for International Development, has visited Islamic Relief in Birmingham in 2002 – shortly after 9-11 – and had stayed in our premises for almost nine hours during the working day, after which she was very impressed with the work we do and has sent letters to all UK embassies and missions abroad that Islamic Relief is a British Organization and to be supported by all means possible.
The other thing, being an international relief organization, we are under strict legal and financial monitoring to the extent that we were ranked as having the third-best financial monitoring the transparency system in the UK. Therefore our main funding and support is the result of the support and endorsement of the British government, as well as our exceptionally high levels of transparency that ensure that the donations we receive go into good causes.
These two factors have contributed the most into our growth during the past few years, as many international organizations and bodies have awarded us with their relief work, for example the United Nations has entrusted us to do humanitarian work in Indonesia worth 17 million Euros, and Similarly in Sudan worth 8 million Euros. Now our budget exceeds US$ 180 million, compared to less than US$ 30 million in 2001.
Please tell us about your project-marketing fundraising technique.
This is precisely why I visited Yemen, as it is my responsibility to contact prospective donors and inform them about our different development and relief projects that we do in various places and try to convince them to donate in order to agree to fund projects. We do not embark on any project until we are sure there are funds and donors who are willing to fund the project all the way to completion. In Yemen I see an opportunity to market a special kind of project, what we call the good-will loan, this is a loan we give to impoverished people in order to buy equipment or to establish tiny businesses in order to create a sustainable income for themselves as well as be able to repay the loan, these loans are interest-free with the objective of helping people escape the poverty trap. Now, after collecting information for this project, I would start visiting prospected donors in the Gulf countries since they seem to have a genuine interest in helping Yemen's economy and society, and try to raise the required funds for this project and so forth. It may be disappointing to you to know that less than 2 percent of all donations that are donated to Islamic Relief come from the Gulf countries, and this visit is an attempt to increase that percentage and also to further expand our relief operations in Yemen.
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