When did Islamic Relief (IR) first start doing emergency response?
Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) began its emergency programme in 1985 in response to the famine in Sudan. Over the years, it has grown rapidly and now operates in 40 countries around the world.
What is considered an emergency?
An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to life in mass proportion, health, shelter, livelihood, or environment anywhere in the world. War and impending escalation of confrontation. Natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, cyclone, famine, tsunami, etc. can cause an emergency. A large-scale emergency can give rise to the humanitarian crisis. Emergencies require immediate response to prevent or minimise the loss and damage of lives and properties.
What kind of emergency projects will Islamic Relief Australia do?
Islamic Relief generally works on varies categories of Emergency Relief. On special circumstances, some categories have immediate precedence from another. We engage Field Officers in conducting on the ground needs assessments at the place of the situation. It is analysed, processed and upon approval mobilised on the critical provisional requirement.
Islamic Relief Emergency Aid is committed to responding to crises all over the world. Our communication media during a crisis will be updated on all situations and support material will be published in our mainstream media.
How can I find out where and how my support on Emergency Reliefs used?
A donation to our emergency relief fund is highly valued. Islamic Relief has a central emergency fund that is accumulated specifically for Emergency Relief. These funds will be used for ongoing Emergency Relief. This is our pre-reaction strategy and readiness to mobilise funds within the critical period. Our policy is not to wait for fundraising efforts after the emergency. For that reason we are unable to exactly announce which emergency your funds will be used in advance. As a good measure, we update all our communication on our media platforms. Our annual report is published once a year and all information on emergency projects will be announced. Rest assure your donation support is transpired.
What enables IR to respond so quickly to an emergency?
The two main factors is generosity of our community and IR’s presence in 40 countries. This enables IR to respond to an emergency quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Our community makes generous donations to every emergency appeal we announce. IR has offices in 40 countries around the world. Country offices are well organised, staffed and coordinated. The country team of IR enhances our ability to deliver emergency responses almost anywhere in the world.
Who is the emergency aid/support delivered to?
We deliver emergency aid and supports to the people who are most affected and most vulnerable, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religion, culture and nationality. Among the most affected and needy, children, people with disability, elderly persons and women heads of households get the priority in receiving the aid.
How do you know what people need?
IR responses to an emergency in accordance with the needs of the people affected and impacted by the devastation. IR country team undertake the needs assessment by meeting, interviewing and surveying households, community leaders, the line departments/agencies of the government and other organizations. Where it is unsafe to meet and interview people on the ground, the needs assessment is done in consultation with other organisations, including United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In every emergency, we try to identify differentiated needs of men, women, children, elderly persons and persons with disability.
What happens after aid is delivered?
After Aid is delivered a secondary assessment is conducted on the reach out to the number of persons affected. It will be checked against the list of affected persons and any new updated list and inventory of designated items. The audit is conducted and is repeated twice for formality.
How long does IR remain on the field in an emergency?
Generally, IR remains in the field as long as the affected people need external supports and assistances coping in the emergency and restart life on the aftermath the emergency. In an emergency, IR provides people with lifesaving supports such as food, water, shelter, clothes, hygiene kits, medicine and health care. IR continues its supports in the forms of skills, training, capital and other inputs – to the affected people to restart life and make living in the aftermath of the emergency. Where it is possible and feasible, IR supports the local hospitals and rehabilitation centre to provide medical assistance and therapeutic services to the people with injury, disability and trauma caused from war and calamities.
How long does it take to reach the people in an emergency?
IR reaches to the people in an emergency within the shortest possible time, days or a week or weeks, depending on the severity of the emergency and security situation. In an emergency, IRW office asks partners to commit funds as soon as the situation receives global and national attention. The partners commit fund immediately.
IR country office begins the groundwork and delivers the assistances immediately.The groundwork and delivery of the assistances do not necessarily wait until the fund is reached to the field. Available funds are mobilized to begin the response. The partners transfer the fund to the field through IRW office after completing relevant paper work, which are to do to comply government’s rules and legislations. This process takes a while.
How are you getting supplies into Disaster/Crisis Area?
IR works directly or in partnership with other International Relief agencies. In most cases, the logistics and location of supplies are in surrounding area or in IR Warehouses arrangement. Aid items are being ordered through local suppliers to keep the cost and be economical viable. Upon the security and scrutiny of the situation and operational location supplies are mainly transported into safe areas or to a disaster headquarters zone.
Does Islamic Relief only help Muslim victims?
Islamic relief is a faith base organisation. It does not have any political affiliation or any religious preference or any country of crisis in distribution of Emergency Aid. It has in its 32-year history come to the aid of the vulnerable and critical mass in a global scale.
Can we send people from Australia to help in emergency?
Generally, IR does not encourage sending people from Australia to help in emergency for two reasons. Firstly, sending people from Australia to countries in other continents such as Africa and Asia (middle-east and South Asia, for examples), where an emergency occurs, can axe a significant amount of money from the budget for emergency deliverables to bear the cost of their airfare, accommodation and insurance. Secondly, IR country teams demonstrated capacity to carry-out any country team, we maximize the amount of supports we deliver to the most-needy people.
However, we do closely monitor the progress of all emergency projects overseas that regional desks. In some cases, IRAUS sends delegates to attend and observe emergency response interventions.
