Question Period Note: Canada's humanitarian engagement with Islamic Relief Canada

Aug. 9 article from Jerusalem Post on GAC Lebanon Matching Fund with the Humanitarian Coalition, alleging connections between Islamic Relief Worldwide and Hamas.

• Islamic Relief Canada, a registered Canadian charity, is the Canadian branch of Islamic Relief Worldwide, a UK-based organization with more than 34 years of experience providing humanitarian and development assistance in more than 40 countries.
• Islamic Relief Canada provides life-saving assistance to vulnerable populations, including treatment for acute malnutrition, clean water, health care, and psychosocial support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
• Canada has a robust due diligence process for the allocation of all its humanitarian assistance funding. This includes a systematic partner screening process, ongoing oversight, regular site visits, and strong anti-terrorism provisions in funding agreements.

Islamic Relief Canada (IRC)'s stated objective is to provide humanitarian assistance to whoever needs it most, regardless of race, religion or gender, in line with Islamic teachings on the value of every human life. GAC currently supports humanitarian programming with IRC in Iraq, Yemen, and small-scale natural disaster contexts through the Humanitarian Coalition.

IRC joined the Humanitarian Coalition in January 2017, a group of 12 charitable member agencies: Action Against Hunger, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Canadian Lutheran World Relief, CARE Canada, Doctors of the World, Humanity & Inclusion, Islamic Relief Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan International Canada, Save the Children Canada, and World Vision Canada. The Humanitarian Coalition strives to maximize Canadian fundraising efforts for members' assistance programs in international humanitarian disasters. Members seek to increase awareness of needs, reduce the duplication of costs and simplify humanitarian giving for Canadians.

Islamic Relief Canada's CEO Zaid Al-Rawni is a member of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC)'s board of directors, and a board member of the Humanitarian Coalition.

Islamic Relief USA is a member of InterAction, an alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs. InterAction members adhere to comprehensive Private Voluntary Standards, ethical guidelines ensuring accountability and transparency in financial management, fundraising, governance, and program performance.

As of 2020, the United Nations Financial Tracking Service reports that since 2003 Islamic Relief Worldwide has implemented over US$380 million in humanitarian assistance. IRW is supported by donor countries such as Canada, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. IRW is also a large implementing partner of UN agencies such as the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

In recent years, Islamic Relief Worldwide has received allegations of links to terrorist groups overseas. A 2014 audit commissioned by IRW and carried out by a leading global audit firm found no evidence of any link to terrorism.

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