JUSTICE FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS

Islamic Relief is committed to ending gender injustice in humanitarian and development contexts, creating a brighter future for women and girls. With this aim in mind, our programming and advocacy work aims to address three main issues: Gender-based violence, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and early/forced marriage.

Early marriage and child labour are pressing concerns in Nepal’s Rautahat district, where extreme poverty places children at risk of neglect and exploitation. Since 2020, an Islamic Relief programme has been working to create a supportive, protective and caring environment for Ruatahat’s children through providing direct support to children in need and raising community awareness of child protection issues.

The programme formed child protection committees to advocate against early marriage and child labour. The efforts of these committees led to the prevention of 15 marriages involving children. Community input helped identify families in need of support, enabling Islamic Relief to provide educational materials to children as well as training and materials to help boost parents’ incomes. These efforts saw 150 child return to school, having previously dropped out.

Engaging with key figures in the community, such as teachers, police and faith leaders, was central to emphasising the importance of child protection. When the project concluded in 2023, Islamic Relief found that 94 per cent of children who had married early or were at risk of early marriage or child labour were successfully enrolled in schools.

In 2023, Islamic Relief offices around the world invited men and boys to join efforts to combat FGM/C. The campaign aimed to address the root causes of FGM/C by engaging men and boys as allies in transforming the social and gender norms that perpetuate the practice. We recognise that the whole community must be engaged to achieve social change. Along with raising awareness, the campaign also provided support to survivors.

Islamic Relief seeks to enhance the working environment, career and professional development opportunities for women at Islamic Relief.

In 2023, the Gender Steering Group developed the Five Steps to Empowerment for Women at Islamic Relief Worldwide implementation plan. The three-year plan sets out how the organisation will make progress in key areas: Improving the selection, recruitment and progression of women through the organisation – including to senior leadership positions – enabling better representation of women and girls in our public communications and fundraising; and improving our organisational culture to be more supportive of women.

Kefah and her family fled Syria with little more than the clothes on their backs. With support from family and neighbours, they began making a new life for themselves in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

One day, Kefah, 39, saw a Facebook post about Islamic Relief’s Together We Can project, which offers financial support to people looking to start businesses.

She decided to apply and soon began training in entrepreneurship and practical skills at a beauty centre.

While gaining valuable experience, Kefah developed business, sales and marketing plans for her own future business and used the initial payment from Islamic Relief to buy materials and equipment.

Now running her own beauty salon from home with her sister, Kefah makes enough each day to cover her daily household expenses as well as to pay for her mother’s cancer medication. She also manages to allocate funds to further invest in her business. Since opening her business, Kefah has expanded the services she offers and even hired employees.

“My thanks go to the donors. They have provided us with huge opportunities. Now we can cover my mother’s chemotherapy. Our life is better now.”

Islamic Relief’s Together We Can project directly supported more than 2,600 people to build more stable incomes through vocational and business training, and grants to establish their own businesses. The skills, business acumen and financial literacy they developed empowered them to face economic challenges and ensure the ongoing success of their enterprises.

Islamic Relief’s work to ensure the rights of women and girls are protected and respected is constant. But these major international days give us an opportunity to celebrate the progress that has been made so far, as well as highlighting what still needs to be done:

6 February International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM

8 March International Women’s Day

25 November – 10 December 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence