Since June 2022, Pakistan has been suffering from extreme monsoon weather. As of September 1st, rainfall patterns in the country stand at 2.87 times the national 30-year average. This has resulted in massive flooding and landslides – with devastating effects on human life, property, and infrastructure. To date, 80 districts across Pakistan have been declared ‘calamity-hit’ by the government. These figures remain in flux due to the ongoing weather changes, and the number of calamity-declared districts is only expected to rise. Having already possessed one of the largest …
Author: tamara
The Supreme Council of Imams and Islamic Affairs of Brazil was established in Brazil in 2005. It aims to establish a unified legal Islamic authority representing Muslims in Brazil and recognized by Brazilian authorities and by Islamic institutions from across the Muslim world. It counts over 60 clerics and preachers from different regions of the country as members. In July 2022, the Council issued a fatwa endorsing the view that UNHCR is eligible to receive Zakat funds from Muslims in …
Muslims around the world celebrated the new Islamic calendar year, 1444 AH, on July 29, 2022. This occasion, which took place in 622 CE, draws its significance more as historical event than religious celebration. However, Hijra, or the migration from Mecca to Medina, is a momentous event that shaped Islamic civilization and is used to chronicle its history. At its core, Hijra is a human story and its main actors are refugees who sought a new beginning in a distant …
Nawal is a Syrian refugee mother from Daraa. She has been living in Lebanon since 2014 and, like thousands of other refugee mothers, Nawal is the sole provider for her family and the sole caretaker of her two daughters Shireen and Lava. Shireen, her younger daughter, is autistic. She survived breast cancer and today suffers from gland disease and severe diabetes. Lava, her older daughter, suffers from cerebral palsy. She can’t walk or move properly, stays in bed all the …
On the occasion of Dhul Hijjah, UNHCR sheds light on the increasing poverty and food insecurity facing refugees, internally displaced people and host communities in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, in light of deteriorating economic conditions. Until the situation improves in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan, community members in these countries will continue to suffer. They urgently need your generous support to help them secure their basic needs, such as shelter, food, and clean drinking water, at a time when …
Ayman, 53, fled his home in Damascus in 2012. He describes how he lived a good life in Syria before the conflict started. He owned a workshop making women’s purses and a shop to sell them. He travelled to Dubai, Libya and Syria for work, trading with customers across the Middle East and worked side by side with his brother on a daily basis. But then everything changed. “We didn’t expect that events would happen like they did. We thought …
The Tri-State Imams Council is a non-for-profit organisation, established in the state of New Jersey in 2011. It aims to benefit from the expertise of Muslim scholars and develop their skills and qualifications for jurisprudence in the Muslim community of the Tri-State area (New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut). It counts one hundred imams from the area as members. In April 2022, the Council issued a fatwa allowing UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund, as a reliable and trustworthy organisation, to collect …
Umm Ibrahim, an Iraqi IDP, lost her husband, and two of her sons were kidnapped by an extremist group. The loss of breadwinners in her family prompted her to take difficult measures as to the amount and type of food that she and her children eat, especially during Ramadan. During Ramadan this year, Umm Ibrahim struggles to secure a livelihood for her family. She says: “One day I cook and another I don’t. During the whole of Ramadan, I only …
The month of Ramadan always brings good times for millions around the world, as families and loved ones gather, charity and solidarity with those in need grow, and everyone, old and young, awaits Eid. This was the case for Aisha since her childhood and after her marriage. However, about two years ago, Eid brought her and her children news that changed their lives. This displaced Yemeni mother tells us her story and shares her sorrows with us. She remembers that …
This year, UNHCR continues to deal with several protracted situations of displacement, which produced many refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the globe, including Syrians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Rohingyas, Malians and Nigerians, among others. As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic consequences, displaced people affected by these crises remain to be in need for humanitarian assistance, for them to continue to live in safety and dignity. Needless to say, the highest social and economic …
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