The year 2018 witnessed a great charitable movement within the International Islamic Charitable Organization. Through its volunteer teams and field offices, and in coordination with its partners around the world, the organization launched a number of activities and campaigns which had a significant impact on alleviating the suffering of thousands of poor and afflicted people.

 IICO’s founding Amiri Decree of 1986 states that the organization provides humanitarian services to those in need without discrimination, and over the past year the organization has spared no effort in its charitable  initiatives, all of which were the focus of considerable discussion and evaluation at its board meetings.

Syria has been first and foremost on the IICO agenda since the outbreak of the Syrian war in March 2011, and a wealth of projects have been instigated, including educational initiatives, health and psychological programs, winter campaigns and international donor conferences. The Syrian people remain a special priority for the organization due to the far reaching extent of the crisis.

The humanitarian situation in Iraq was also a prominent feature of IICO’s work during 2018. The organization hosted an NGO Conference to provide support for those affected by the humanitarian situation there and in this context succeeded in mobilizing dozens of local, regional and international organizations to contribute $337 million to this cause. In addition, the Kuwait International Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq, saw participating countries pledge some $30 billion.

On 26 November, 2018, IICO hosted the ‘Feeding one billion hungry around the world’ initiative, part of the ‘Eighth Annual Conference of Effective Partnership and Information Exchange for Better Human Action’. Under the kind patronage of HH the Amir, the initiative responded to its call for dozens of local, regional and international humanitarian organizations for a participatory program to combat hunger with 2.4 billion in commitments to launch 325,000 projects, expected to benefit some 76 million people worldwide and create 2,159 humanitarian partnerships.

In light of the continuing humanitarian challenges in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere, IICO feels its humanitarian and moral responsibility keenly, and encourages its staff to make 2019 a year of big ambitions during which the organization will continue to address the global imbalances and shortcomings and expand its circle of partnerships and the development of its financial resources.

Quality and performance standards will be a major focus this year and the organization will strive to implement them in terms of its humanitarian programs, beneficiaries, human, financial and administrative resources, as well creating a culture of quality among its employees and enhancing their sense of belonging within IICO.

The consolidation of a culture of quality requires a variety of efforts, including lectures, conferences, workshops, seminars, training programs and the exchange of experiences and know-how with other successful humanitarian institutions.

In order to maximize these experiences and support the mechanisms and tools of encouragement and motivation, supervision and follow-up, strategic planning and management of challenges can be implemented by the institution of a quality program, particularly in terms of our direct work with the poor, needy and affected; our biggest priority being to improve their social and living conditions in the spirit of solidarity urged by our Islamic religion.

Good intentions do not justify the provision of humanitarian services in a random or haphazard manner, lacking in quality. This does not lead to success but rather perpetuates problems. Our service should be performed optimally to achieve the best results. As they say, ‘Do it well, or not at all’.

What this means is that the improvement of charity work and the development of our programs and performance is a legitimate and humanitarian necessity, and we must pay attention to our work, just as profit driven institutions do.

This, of course, involves our staff investing their work time, daily tasks and priorities with wisdom and accuracy, and the organization must create a successful and productive environment in which they may do so.

We ask that this year be a year of good, a year in which the IICO will achieve more successes and great achievements; a year in which it will move towards the future with determination, accomplishment and perfection.