Despite a strong economy, over a third of people survive on less than $1 per day, India is home to the largest concentration of poor people in the world.
In the major cities, thousands of children live in slums or on the streets, and in rural areas, a lack of critical infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools holds communities back from improving their situation.
Islamic Relief has been working in India since 1994, and provided emergency relief following several emergencies including the 1999 Orissa cyclone, the Gujarat earthquake in 2001 and 2004’s devastating tsunami.
As well as emergency relief, including running camps, community kitchens and rescue teams, Islamic Relief is also working in the slums to provide long-term solutions to some of the millions stuck in a cycle of poverty. We support vocational training programmes in the slums, which provides key skills to people, increasing their chances of gaining employment and thus earn a living to support their families. We also implement an education programme in Uttar Pradesh, to give individuals the best chance at a brighter future.
As well as these ongoing development projects, we also support more than 1,000 children through orphan sponsorship, which provide orphans with school equipment and medical care and conduct Ramadan and Korban food distributions each year in remote areas of the country as well as the major cities.