Saving lives and reducing vulnerability to humanitarian crises

From natural disasters to prolonged crises, Islamic Relief supported people at their moment of greatest need.

Page 10 of the printed report

Two men in high-visibility vests clear ground with hand tools during a cash-for-work scheme in flood-affected Pakistan.
  • 306 emergency projects
  • 6,198,717 people reached
  • 31 countries with an emergency response

We provided lifesaving food, water and shelter when crises struck. In the aftermath, we helped people to take their first steps on the road to recovery. Some of our emergency responses in 2025 were supported by fundraising appeals.

The year’s crises

Sudan

Sudan is experiencing what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Violence is widespread, the health system has collapsed, and an estimated 15 million people are displaced. Many are on the brink of famine.

1,124,745 individuals supported in 2025

Syria

Despite major political change, Syria’s dire humanitarian situation persists. Millions of people remain displaced by the country’s protracted crisis, which has also taken a severe toll on the health and education sectors. Over half of the population does not have enough food.

1,204,518 individuals supported in 2025

The Occupied Palestinian Territory

Amid ongoing violations of a ceasefire, survival for many in Gaza remains uncertain. Almost every family has been displaced – often multiple times – and famine or famine-like conditions have become the norm. Relentless bombardment has destroyed most infrastructure, and the loss of life is staggering.

1,138,005* individuals supported in 2025

Yemen

After more than a decade of crisis, mass displacement, extreme food insecurity and the breakdown of essential services plague Yemen. Over 19.5 million people are desperately in need of aid and over half of all children are malnourished.

854,112 individuals supported in 2025

Afghanistan

Almost 2,000 people are killed and over 3,600 injured after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes eastern Afghanistan in September. The impact on infrastructure is severe as the earthquake was very shallow, striking just five kilometres below the Earth’s surface.

707,131 individuals supported in 2025

Lebanon

Many people were already struggling to cope with Lebanon’s crippling economic crisis before Israeli bombardment began in late 2023. Despite a ceasefire, brutal bombings continue to target all parts of Lebanon, and tens of thousands of people remain displaced in harsh conditions.

459,721 individuals supported in 2025

Pakistan

Monsoon floods affect over 6.9 million people and kill more than 1,000 people across Pakistan. A hunger crisis looms, with the floods decimating food production in Punjab, which produces around 50 per cent of the country’s staple crops.

357,869 individuals supported in 2025

Morocco

Flash floods sweep through Morocco’s coastal Safi province during sudden and intense rainfall in December. The city’s drainage systems are overwhelmed and displaced people need food, water and shelter.

9,367 individuals supported in 2025

Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa – the strongest storm in the island’s modern history – causes major devastation to homes and infrastructure. Despite not having a presence in the country, Islamic Relief joins hands with Concerned Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago (CMTT) to support survivors.

1,500 individuals supported in 2025

* This is higher than the total number of people supported by Islamic Relief in Gaza in 2025 (500,000) because it is based on the type of project (‘emergency’ and ‘humanitarian’) and includes individuals who have received support from more than one emergency project. For example, a family in Gaza may receive fresh vegetables from one emergency project and psychosocial support from another project.

Where we ran an emergency response in 2025

  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Bangladesh
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • DRC
  • Ethiopia
  • Indonesia
  • Iraq
  • Jamaica
  • Jordan
  • Kenya
  • Kosova
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Malaysia
  • Mali
  • Morocco
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • Niger
  • Occupied Palestinian Territories
  • Pakistan
  • Philippines
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Türkiye
  • Yemen

Srebrenica Genocide: 30 years on

In July 2025, the world marked 30 years since the genocide committed at Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A major campaign by Islamic Relief honoured victims and survivors and shared how we continue to support affected communities.

On 11 July 1995, Bosnian Serb soldiers captured Srebrenica and, over the next few days, systematically murdered more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys.

These atrocities were the largest massacres carried out on European soil since World War II, and continue to haunt survivors. Even now, mass graves are still being uncovered and remains identified.

In 2025, much of Bosnia is still scarred by the impact of the Bosnian War – known locally as the Aggression in Bosnia – during which the genocide took place. In many rural areas damaged and destroyed homes have yet to be rebuilt, while buildings in the capital, Sarajevo, remain riddled with bullet holes.

An entire generation of Bosnians only know their parents from photographs and home videos. Whether they lost fathers and brothers in the genocide, or mothers and sisters in the conflict, thousands carry a sense of loss with them every day. Ethnic tensions remain high and many survivors still regularly cross paths with those who committed atrocities against them and their families.

  • 100,000+ people were killed and more than 2 million displaced during the Bosnian War
  • 8,372 Bosniak men and boys were killed in the Srebrenica Genocide
  • 94 mass graves containing remains of those murdered at Srebrenica had been discovered as of 2025
  • 161 individuals were indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in court proceedings that took 24 years to complete
Rows of white marble grave markers at the Srebrenica–Potočari memorial cemetery, with green hills behind.
Mass graves containing the remains of those murdered at Srebrenica are still being uncovered.

Three decades of support

Just one month after the outbreak of war, Islamic Relief began delivering lifesaving aid in Bosnia. Thirty years later, we are still supporting survivors and others in need. Our work in Bosnia today includes projects providing people with livestock and agricultural materials to help them earn a stable income amid high unemployment, and support for individuals impacted by gender-based violence (GBV).

Each year, we distribute Ramadan food packs and qurbani meat packages to families in need. While in winter, we provide blankets, clothing and heating materials to help them cope with the bitter cold.

Our Orphan Sponsorship Programme was launched during the war and supported 1,300 orphaned children in the country at the close of 2025. In the past, children supported by the programme included hundreds who had lost their fathers at Srebrenica.

Umija stands in a field feeding a small flock of sheep, with her son behind her.
With Islamic Relief’s support, Umija has rebuilt her life. Here, she and her son feed their sheep.

Umija was a teenager when the war began. She lost her father, stepmother, an aunt and an uncle, and was among 11 children in her family left orphaned by the conflict. The war had been over for more than a decade when Umija received the news that the partial remains of her uncle and father had finally been recovered.

“They were found in three mass graves… they were tossed around into this grave, then this one, and the graves were very far apart. That’s why some of their remains weren’t found.”

In the aftermath of the war, the bodies of Srebrenica victims were moved to other graves – sometimes again and again – in a bid to hide evidence of the mass murder. Umija’s uncle was finally given a funeral in 2009, and she was able to lay her father to rest the following year. This has brought her some comfort, but the trauma lingers.

“All of that hits hard to this day. When I rewind the tape, everything hits me, and I feel depressed. I pray it doesn’t happen anywhere [else].”
Emir Cica, Country Director of Islamic Relief Bosnia and Herzegovina, speaking in an office beside a large wall map of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Emir Cica, Country Director of Islamic Relief Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I directly witnessed everything, and I saw a lot of suffering and death. Children bled tears. Unfortunately, it is part of war,” says Emir Cica, Country Director of Islamic Relief Bosnia and Herzegovina. Emir was a teenager living in Sarajevo when the war broke out. He and his family were trapped in the besieged capital where they struggled for food. Humanitarian aid became their lifeline.

“I once received support from Islamic Relief. I remember receiving a food parcel. It was very important for my family, because we didn’t have enough food then.”

Emir has now been working for Islamic Relief for nearly 20 years and has seen firsthand how many lives have been touched by the vital work we do.

I am so proud because Islamic Relief is a humanitarian organisation that supports people from different nations, different religions and cultures, and we never discriminate. We support people who are in need. We recognise the needs of each person and their rights as a human being.
Emir Cica, Country Director, Islamic Relief Bosnia and Herzegovina