Bearing witness, demanding change

Sudan: keeping an overlooked crisis on the global agenda

November saw Islamic Relief publish a major report highlighting the vital role of community kitchens in addressing Sudan’s hunger crisis and calling for more international support for local responders. We amplified Sudanese voices to policy-makers throughout the year. For example, at the UN’s Humanitarian Networks and Partnership Week in March we organised an event where local speakers provided authoritative testimony on conditions facing displaced people and Sudanese traditions of collective solidarity and mutual aid.

Gaza: driving global calls for a ceasefire

Islamic Relief continued to campaign for an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians, and unimpeded humanitarian access in Gaza. We raised the alarm about Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon of war, which pushed Gaza’s population into famine. We worked in coalition with other organisations to highlight the growing attempts to militarise aid distribution, bringing the issue to the attention of global policy makers and media. After a ceasefire was announced in October, we continued to highlight the ongoing violations, the catastrophic humanitarian situation on the ground, and the need to pressure Israel to stop blocking aid. We advocate for lasting peace through an end to Israel’s illegal occupation.

Empowering and protecting women and girls

After several years of transformative work, in 2025 we wrapped up the EMPOWER project, which worked with local faith leaders to tackle domestic violence and early/forced marriage. In Indonesia, the project trained over 200 faith leaders, government officers and teachers; facilitated the drafting and revision of 20 gender-insensitive policies; and conducted public awareness campaigns – by the end of the project GBV case reporting in parts of Aceh province had increased by 19 per cent. In Pakistan we established four local advisory councils of faith leaders and organised a series of national walks and rallies to highlight women’s rights. Eighty-four per cent of training participants showed increased knowledge of GBV and child protection afterwards.

Climate justice: amplifying calls for inclusive adaptation and financing

Ahead of COP30 in Brazil in November, we organised ‘Talanoa Dialogues’ as part of the presidency’s Global Ethical Stocktake. These dialogues involved people from affected communities in more than a dozen countries and gathered their opinions and recommendations, which we then raised at international climate negotiations. Through active participation in the Climate Action Network and Interfaith Liaison Committee, and representation at COP and other UNFCCC conferences, we continued to amplify calls for equitable climate finance, local leadership to achieve the global goal on adaptation, and the inclusion of women, children, disabled people and other marginalised groups in climate action.

Advocating for solutions to food crises

Building on our research on community kitchens in Sudan, we advocated for systemic responses to global hunger. Our evidence from projects around the world demonstrated how conflict, climate shocks and economic inequality combined to create food crises. We emphasised that 193 million people facing acute food insecurity is not inevitable – it required political will to address root causes through fair distribution, sustainable livelihoods and climate adaptation.

Faith and development: building bridges

Together with Tearfund, we launched a new UK working group, bringing together non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from various faiths to understand and demonstrate how faith-based organisations bring unique perspectives, community trust and operational reach to humanitarian challenges. Throughout the year we were part of the UN Multi-Faith Advisory Council, co-organising events such as the annual briefing in New York on the vital role of faith in helping the world achieve the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Representing the communities we support on the world stage

At the UN Social Development Summit in Doha in November, Islamic Relief staff from Gaza highlighted a project to support embedding citizen data into national planning in order to ensure the lived experiences of marginalised people are represented to policy makers. At global forums, such as the ICRC Policy Dialogue in Geneva, Islamic Relief made the case for urgent reform to the humanitarian system as aid cuts and growing criticism erode trust.