Donate to Libya

Over 11,000 people have died  and 10,000 are missing after Storm Daniel made landfall in northeast Libya, resulting in strong winds, heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding on Sunday September 10, 2023.

Two dams near the eastern city of Derna have collapsed, submerging much of the area. Entire neighborhoods are believed to have been washed away.

Extensive damage to vital infrastructure, telecommunication networks, roads and bridges is separating families from reuniting in the aftermath and isolating communities from aid.

Please donate generously  and help save lives today.

How your donations can help people in Libya

You can help ease the burden of this catastrophe by donating towards our life-saving work. Islamic Relief is working through local partners and has so far distributed mattresses and blankets, hygiene kits, medical supplies, and food items including milk, oil, flour and sugar.

We are focused on continuing to provide urgent urgent food supplies, emergency shelter and basic essentials at the moment.

Islamic Relief’s thoughts and prayers are with the people of Libya, as they face the aftermath of one of the deadliest floods in North Africa in recent years.

Libya at risk of second humanitarian crisis in aftermath of floods

The Libyan city of Derna faces a second humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the floods: water contamination. With growing risk of water-borne diseases and shortages of food, shelter and medicine, this is exposing communities to grave health risks.

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. At least 150 people have become sick due to water contamination in the 10 days since the flooding, including 55 children in Derna.

The deadliest flood in North Africa in recent years

September flooding in Libya is the second deadliest flood North Africa has seen in more than a century, with a death toll in the thousands. The floods have affected several cities, including Al-Bayda, Al-Marj, Tobruk, Takenis, Al-Bayada, and Battah, as well as the eastern coast all the way to Benghazi.

Two dams on the Wadi Derna River burst after heavy rainfall overwhelmed them, sending millions of cubic metres of water downstream, hitting Derna – home to approximately 100,000 people.

“An entire city is in grief and the psychological impact of people losing their families and homes in a split second is huge. Our partners in Derna met one young girl who saw her mother swept away before her eyes. The girl has barely spoken since and only speaks to ask where her mother is.”

– Salah Aboulgasem, Islamic Relief’s Deputy Director of Partner Development

Apartment blocks collapsed, a seafront bridge and entire neighbourhoods washed away as water rushed to the sea. Some 20,000 people have been displaced, with a death toll that is continually rising as rescue operations take place.

Powerful earthquake kills hundreds in Morocco’s High Atlas region

A powerful quake struck at 11pm on September 8, injuring thousands and killing  over 3,000 people  – a grim death toll that is likely to rise in the days ahead.

Many of the dead are in remote villages in the High Atlas mountains, the epicentre of the earthquake. Residents are using whatever equipment they can find as they struggle to reach their neighbours under the rubble.

Aftershocks have left families too frightened to seek shelter, with exhausted survivors forced to sleep in the streets.

Please support our Emergency Response today,  giving anything you can  to help save lives.

Islamic Relief’s Response

Islamic Relief teams are on the ground in Morocco, and we are rapidly working through local partners to provide relief to those affected by the earthquake.

We are focused on providing urgent food supplies, emergency shelter and basic essentials at the moment.  Help us send relief today.

Islamic Relief’s thoughts and prayers are with the people of Morocco, as they face the aftermath of one of the strongest earthquakes in years.

Historic Marrakech badly damaged

The earthquake, which was felt as far away as Algeria and Portugal, also shook historic Marrakech, the nearest major city to the epicentre. Homes and other buildings in the UNESCO World Heritage Site have collapsed.

The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, at a depth of 18.5km. The earthquake killed people in the provinces and municipalities of al-Haouz, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, Azilal, Chichaoua and Taroudant.

Blocked roads are preventing ambulances from reaching the wounded, and while officials are scrambling to clear debris, rescue and relief efforts are difficult amid the mountainous terrain, risk of landslides, and large distances.

Your Donations in Action

Islamic Relief teams are on the ground right now responding to the disaster alongside our local partners in Tadcherte, Tourit, Azru Mellene (Chichaoua), Douar Tigdlt, and Amizmiz among other villages, towns, and cities in Morocco.

Islamic Relief’s Immediate Response:

• Emergency food aid

• Shelter items such as blankets, mattresses & pillows

• Hygiene kits and water bottles

Your Current Impact:

• 400 blankets and pillows

• 400 mattresses

• 100 hygiene kits
  

Your Donations in Action in Afghanistan

Because of your generous donations, Islamic Relief teams on the ground have already delivered over 800 food packs that are supporting thousands of people, alhamdulillah!

In the coming weeks we will continue to deliver even more food packs, shelter and hygiene support.

It is imperative that food and other essential aid reaches these communities immediately, or the death toll could be catastrophic. Help us reach more families.

Why the people of Afghanistan need your help

Many people are getting increasingly desperate as food runs out, prices skyrocket and unemployment rises. With at least 12 million people facing extreme hunger and more than 3 million people just one step away from famine, your donations for Afghans reach these communities immediately to provide urgent food assistance.

Residing in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sher Agha is a 19 year old son and the sole breadwinner of his household. He dropped out of school to work in the fields, harvesting crops and earning an income for his family of 4.

“I wish to have the opportunity to study in school. But because of the current crisis, I don’t go to school and instead work every day to support my family. I need to earn income and provide them with the basic needs of life.”

Sher Agha hopes to one day earn enough to meet his family’s basic needs. Still, with his father unable to work due to a terrible accident and his two older brothers murdered in conflict, Sher Agha finds it very difficult to make ends meet especially during a time of immense devastation.

“Most of the time, we don’t have enough food and some nights we all sleep with empty stomachs.”

Through Islamic Relief’s food pack distributions, Sher Agha and his family did not have to worry about buying food for a month. Instead, they were able to enjoy eating nutritious meals while allocating their finances to other essential needs. He gratefully shared, “Receiving the food pack has made me so happy knowing that it can support my family.”

How your donations are making a difference to the people of Afghanistan

Islamic Relief has been a leading charity in Afghanistan since 1992, and remained as one of the few aid agencies to continue providing emergency support during the military incursions.

Together with local communities, government agencies, and partners on the ground, we’re working to tackle food insecurity, poverty, poor sanitation and hygiene practices, and more.

The Afghanistan emergency has pivoted our response to improving access to food, hygiene services and facilities, livelihood opportunities, education, and increasing the resilience of communities to calamities.

Community remains central to our work, and we’re cultivating more collaboration and community-led work to make sure the needs of the Afghan communities we are serving are met first and foremost. This ensures the communities we are servicing retain the tools and knowledge to be self-sufficient and break the cycle of poverty.

Your donations to Afghanistan are funding vital emergency and development programs across the country, reaching over 68,420 Afghans.

Some recent examples of our work includes:

• Providing 2,500 food packs containing wheat flour, oil, rice, sugar and other staple items to communities in Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat and Kandahar

• In underserved communities, enrolling women in classes where they undergo literacy, vocational and life-skills training

• Installing clean water systems, handwashing points and latrines, as well as distributing water storage, hygiene items and dignity kits to vulnerable displaced people, returnees and host communities in settlement areas across the Nangarhar province
  

Islamic Relief works with communities to strengthen their resilience to calamities, and we provide vital emergency aid when disasters occur.

We help the impoverished access basic services, including education, water and sanitation, as well as healthcare. We provide lasting routes out of poverty through our sustainable development schemes. Our integrated approach to progress is transforming communities worldwide.

We tackle the root causes of poverty and make sure that the world’s most vulnerable people have real influence in both our programs and advocacy.

Our key values, of compassion, justice, custodianship, sincerity and excellence – a critical part of our Islamic faith - inspire us each and every day to create positive change and remember the sanctity of life.

In line with Islamic teachings on the value of every human life, we provide assistance to whoever needs it most, regardless of race, religion or gender. We work to transform and save lives of people in crisis both Canada and across the world.