Could you briefly introduce your organization and its mission?
For 30+ years, Islamic Relief Pakistan (IRP) has pioneered sustainable development solutions across Pakistan’s diverse communities. Our operational excellence is defined by a core principle: “Reaching the Unreached”. Through strategic interventions, we address critical challenges including poverty alleviation, water security, climate resilience, healthcare accessibility, and inclusive economic empowerment and orphan sponsorship.
Our enshrined values of compassion, custodianship, sincerity, social justice and excellence guide us to serve humanity in the finest way possible.
During the last three decades, we have been delivering on our promises to bring a lasting change in Pakistan. With ‘Reaching the most in Need’ and ‘First on Ground’ as our hallmarks, Islamic Relief Pakistan has been addressing the deep-rooted issues faced by the country like poverty, water, sanitation and hygiene, food security and livelihoods, climate change, health, orphans and women empowerment including emergency responses and disaster risk reduction.
As we work to come up with solutions for the most pressing issues of our times, Islamic Relief Pakistan will always stay indebted to the resilient people of Pakistan who helped us to grow and serve.
Mission:
“Together we will inspire and enable people to respond rapidly to disasters and fight poverty through our Islamic values, expertise and global reach.”
How does your work connect with social justice, human rights, peacebuilding, MHPSS, or community resilience, and what role do you see faith actors playing in these areas?
IRP’s work is deeply interconnected with social justice, human rights, peacebuilding, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), and community resilience. Our approach is holistic, driven by Islamic values, and aims to empower vulnerable communities. Here’s how these connections manifest in our work:
Social justice (Adl) is one of IRP’s foundational values. We believe that our work is “founded on enabling people and institutions to fulfill the rights of the poor and vulnerable. IRP tackles deep-rooted issues like poverty, food insecurity, lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and health disparities. By addressing these systemic issues, we aim to create a fairer society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We work to empower the marginalized and vulnerable. This includes initiatives for women’s economic empowerment and supporting street children’s access to education. IRP’s interventions directly safeguard fundamental human rights, particularly for marginalized groups. For instance, our work in providing access to safe drinking water, food, and shelter directly addresses basic human rights. Our programmes are inclusive, aiming to “leave no one behind” and ensuring that support reaches all, regardless of gender, age, race, or ethnicity, which aligns with human rights principles.
We acknowledge that structural inequalities and economic marginalization can fuel conflict. We engage local communities in fragile areas to build social cohesion and manage the impact of disasters. This often involves improving the participation of women and young people in local dispute resolution, conflict prevention, and peacebuilding processes. By helping vulnerable individuals build sustainable livelihoods, IRP aims to reduce the economic pressures that can lead to participation in conflict.
Moreover, IRP actively provides specialized psychosocial support services, particularly for women and girls affected by gender-based violence (GBV) or other forms of abuse or exploitation. IRP’s MHPSS services are integrated into overall GBV programming, aiming for holistic survivor support by coordinating with shelter management, legal aid officers, and healthcare providers. Most recently, IRP has initiated a unique initiative on Mental Healthcare and Spiritual Development of Children in collaboration with the Ministry of Development & Special Initiatives.
A significant part of our work focuses on building community resilience against natural disasters, especially in flood-prone areas. This includes investing in climate-resilient infrastructure (e.g., check dams, reservoirs), developing early warning systems, and implementing emergency evacuation plans. Recognizing the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable communities, we promote climate-smart agricultural practices (e.g., rainwater harvesting, soil conservation) to enhance food security and adapt to changing environmental conditions.
We empower communities through education, capacity-building, and inclusive decision-making processes, ensuring that local communities are actively involved in designing and implementing resilience strategies. IRP takes an integrated approach to development, considering the wider context and causes of community needs to promote sustainable outcomes.
In essence, our work is not confined to delivering aid; it aims to create systemic change that promotes justice, upholds rights, fosters peace, addresses mental well-being, and builds the capacity of communities to withstand and recover from challenges.
Why did you decide to join JLI, and what value do you find in being part of this community?
IRP is a prominent faith-based organization, with its work deeply rooted in Islamic values of compassion, social justice, and humanitarianism. JLI provides a platform specifically for faith actors to share knowledge and experiences, which aligns perfectly with IRP’s identity and operational philosophy. JLI actively promotes the “localization” agenda in humanitarian aid, emphasizing the importance of local actors and communities leading responses. IRP, being a national entity within a global network, is committed to empowering local communities and fostering self-reliance. Strengthening this partnership with JLI would enable both organizations to contribute to and learn from best practices in this area.
How can the JLI community best support you and your work moving forward?
JLI serves as a hub for research, learning, and collaboration on issues at the intersection of faith and development/humanitarianism. With this collaboration and partnership, IRP can access valuable insights, research, and case studies, enhancing its programs and strategies or conduct joint researches, studies and assessments. IRP can share its extensive experience in Pakistan, contributing to the broader understanding of faith-based action.
What advice would you give potential JLI members?
JLI is dedicated to increasing the evidence and understanding of how faith actors contribute to humanitarian and development goals. This isn’t just about general good intentions, but about demonstrating impact through research and data.
It emphasizes partnerships between faith actors, public sector entities, secular organizations, and among religious groups themselves. In essence, becoming a JLI member is about aligning with a community dedicated to understanding and leveraging the positive impact of faith actors in global challenges. By joining the JLI network and being part of this learning circle, members can contribute to this mission through active learning, sharing, and collaboration and be a part of this great learning community and network.
Is there a “hidden gem” from your organization that you believe more partners should adopt?
IRP’s pioneer initiative in Pakistan is the establishment of National and Provincial Interfaith Child Protection Forums across Pakistan, bringing together leaders and scholars from all faiths and schools of thought to collaborate and galvanize the efforts of all faith actors to protect children of Pakistan from all types of harm and abuse.
The initiative aims to mobilize and facilitate social dialogue among interfaith/religious forums/leaders and representatives from various faith and religious communities to collaboratively address and combat child protection issues at national and provincial levels.
Taking this into account, there is a genuine and dire need to strengthen this forum and initiative as a point of convergence for all the contributions made in this regard so far and focus upon the agenda of child protection.
At present, there are two existing forums on national level which are focusing on child protection from faith perspective; Faith and Positive Change for Children, Families and Communities (FPCC) Multi-faith Action Coordination Committee for Children, Families & Communities (MFAAC) in Pakistan (led by UNICEF Pakistan) and GNRC Pakistan (The Global Network of Religions for Children, Pakistan) led by Arigatou International. Learning from the experiences and building on the contributions made by these forums as well as IRP’s Channels of Hope – Child Protection methodology and its takeaways from the extensive community engagement in the form of Community Hope Action Teams (CHATs) will be helpful in strengthening this forum. Taking all these learnings and contributions forward, IRP & JLI can join hands to focus on strengthening and adding value to the work which has already been done by these forums. This would lead to strategic integration of faith engagement with systematic capacity development of religious forums and faith leaders.