March 10, 2022 China –
After 20 years, Islamic Relief has concluded its operations in China. Over 2 decades, we have helped more than 32,000 vulnerable people to access food, water, shelter and other necessities.
We worked through local partners to deliver seasonal projects including supplying fuel, food and shelter to families in need during the winter months and providing food during Ramadan and Eid al-Adha.
Islamic Relief began working in China in 2002, responding to devastating floods in Ninghan County in the northwestern Shaanxi province. That year, severe flooding killed at least 1,532 people across the country.
In Shaanxi, some 80,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged, while bridges, highways and railway lines were washed away, and several hydropower stations were ruined.
Islamic Relief worked through trusted partners in China to deliver emergency aid to those affected by the flooding. We helped to ensure food, water and shelter reached those who needed it most.
Supporting long-term development
Through our work in China, we managed to access some of the most deprived areas in the less-developed western provinces of Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Sichuan, Guizhong, Qinghai and Gansu.
As well as responding to emergencies, Islamic Relief also supported programmes aimed at spurring longer-term development. These included loaning beef cows and providing husbandry training to families in Gansu, and an ambitious scheme to alleviate poverty in Lingshan village in Sichuan.
In Lingshan, Islamic Relief constructed a new school and a new healthcare centre. We helped to improve the village road, making travelling easier for farming families, and installed a water supply system and biogas pools, which provided energy for home cooking. More than 1,500 people benefited from these improvements to the village’s infrastructure.
A similar project in Huanggu village in Gansu saw 1,900 metres of roads improved, the construction of 100 household toilets and a sewage system, and the installation of water tanks and an underground pipe network to supply households with clean drinking water.
Creating a lasting impact
Projects such as these have a lasting impact on communities, and it is our hope that the benefits will be felt for generations.
Islamic Relief would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to our wonderful team in China for their inspiring work and dedication.
Thanks are also due to our local partners – China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and Gansu Association for NGO International Economic and Technical Cooperation (CANGO) – who made it possible for us to reach those most in need of support, and whose vital work in China continues.
