Islamic Relief celebrates its life-saving legacy at London’s Science Museum
The Welcoming Ramadan dinner will be attended by more than 300 guests including diplomats, faith leaders, high-profile personalities, community activists and international leaders of all faiths and none.
The global aid agency will celebrate its legacy of helping some of the world’s most vulnerable communities through the launch of its Ramadan campaign, which demonstrates how it has been saving lives since 1984.
Imran Madden, UK Director of Islamic Relief, said:
“Over the past 33 years, from Ethiopia to Syria, Bangladesh to Haiti, Bosnia to Sierra Leone, Islamic Relief has been there on the ground from the moment disaster strikes. This Ramadan we acknowledge the significant contribution Islamic Relief has made to every major humanitarian crisis since 1984 and that we have been able to assist more than 100 million people.
“After we respond to a crisis, our dust-covered aid workers risk their lives daily to reach people that many other aid agencies cannot get to. However, once the emergency relief work is done, we don’t disappear. We stick around and help build lives and communities and societies through long-term sustainability projects so that the next time disaster strikes, local people can respond better and faster.”
The keynote speaker at the gala dinner is Gillian Joseph, an award-winning broadcaster on Sky News, who recently visited South Sudan with her young daughters to learn more about the hurdles girls face to gain access to education, skills and protection. She said:
“I am delighted to be speaking at Islamic Relief’s pre-Ramadan dinner as it has been carrying out life-saving and life-sustaining work around the world since 1984.
“As a journalist I have reported on various humanitarian disasters including the aftermath of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004, which devastated 14 countries, killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people and left millions homeless. Such disasters underline the need for the important humanitarian work Islamic Relief does, responding to emergencies, helping communities to rebuild, and to empower people to set up businesses and work their way out of poverty.”
The Welcoming Ramadan dinner will be hosted by Shelina Janmohamed, an influential journalist and commentator on Islam in Britain and the award-winning author of Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World and Love in a Headscarf.
The other speakers are:
- Yusra Mardini, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and Olympic swimmer, who was part of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
- Dr Tim Winter (also known as Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad), a scholar and religious speaker, who is Dean of Cambridge Muslim College. He was once referred to by The Independent newspaper as “Britain’s most influential Muslim”.
Islamic Relief’s commitment to sustainability is underlined by its minimal use of paper during the evening, with most logo banners replaced by digital projections, and no menus or goodie bags, eliminating the need for thousands of leaflets.