Islamic Relief became the first Muslim organization and only the tenth organization in the world to attain the Core Humanitarian Standard certification last year. This August, we were recognized as members of the month for CHS.
The global recognition of attaining the Core Humanitarian Standard acknowledges the high quality and effectiveness of Islamic Relief’s humanitarian work around the world, as well as its accountability to the communities it serves.
Islamic Relief’s commitments to accountability and transparency, community empowerment and resilience, to research, innovation and change, staff training and development, and to establishing a strong quality management system for its operations were identified as key strengths in delivering the Core Humanitarian Standard.
The Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance on Quality and Accountability (CHS) sets out Nine Commitments that organisations and individuals involved in humanitarian response can use to improve the quality and effectiveness of the assistance they provide. It facilitates greater accountability to communities and people affected by crisis: knowing what humanitarian organisations have committed to will enable them to hold those organisations to account.
We were commended for our dedication to reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized, selected on the basis of need alone, regardless of their race, religion or nationality. The certification also demonstrates our commitments to providing relevant and appropriate assistance by involving communities and local government in the development of our programs.
Watch the video below to see Waseem Ahmad, International Programmes Division (IPD) Director, talk about just how important quality and accountability are to Islamic Relief across the world.