The Refugee Zakat Fund impacted 584,586 beneficiaries in the first six months of 2021, with total contributions of over $27.5 million, 70% of which came from Zakat donations, a UNHCR report has shown.

In partnership with the Muslim World League (MWL), the United Nations Refugee Agency launched on Thursday its mid-year report on Islamic Philanthropy.

The report underlines the impact of Zakat and Sadaqah donations raised on the refugees and forcibly displaced people in 12 countries including Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Mauritania, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Malaysia.

UNHCR’s mid-year Islamic Philanthropy report was released in its new digital and interactive format at a panel discussion organized at the MWL’s at its Expo2020 Dubai pavilion, attended by representatives of humanitarian and international organizations and media.

It emphasized the Islamic philanthropy partnerships as a key enabler of sustainable impact on the lives of vulnerable displaced communities, citing the longstanding collaboration with the MWL.

It pointed to the MWL’s Islamic Fiqh Council’s issuance of a new fatwa that adds to the Refugee Zakat Fund’s record of more than 10 fatwas by credible scholars and institutions.

In addition, MWL has generously contributed to support refugee and internally displaced children in Africa, in particular their recent contribution to support UNHCR’s psychosocial support for the most vulnerable children in North-east Nigeria, which is expected to help 3,699 internally displaced children by the end of 2021, the report stated.

UNHCR’s Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council states Khaled Khalifa underscored the importance of expanding strategic partnerships with organizations and bodies involved in Islamic Philanthropy to support international humanitarian efforts.

Khalifa, also a senior advisor for Islamic Philanthropy, said Islamic Philanthropy plays a pivotal role in responding to the growing humanitarian needs, through its key tools such as Zakat, Sadaqah and Waqf, to achieve shared humanitarian goals and explore further means to support forcibly displaced people globally.

This comes in light of the uninterrupted increase of forced displacement records in recent years and the protracted crises caused by wars, violence and persecution, he added.