IDRF is a Canadian registered charity, working with partners locally and around the world. We facilitate relief and development programs for vulnerable populations, helping to alleviate and improve immediate and long term troubles.
Our Values
Human Dignity
Human dignity is the basic principle of humanitarian work. All humans deserve to live with a minimum standard of dignity and respect regardless of any circumstances. This includes a dignified quality of life. The dignity of those we serve, including how we work with them, is paramount in all of our work.
Social Justice
Social injustice is one of the root causes of many systemic issues for many communities around the world, even here at home. Social injustice perpetuates cycles of suffering, poverty and ongoing disadvantage and lack of opportunity. Long term solutions must take into consideration social justice and how development can lead to opportunities for all, especially those who are discriminated against. .
Self-Reliance & Determination
Building up communities and empowering them to become self-reliant and self-sufficient is the most powerful way to build a future of hope for generations to come. This is the ultimate goal of sustainable development and cannot be achieved without the experience, knowledge, and participation of affected communities.
Sustainability
Relief work and sustainable development need to go hand in hand to break the cycle of poverty and to empower disadvantaged people around the world. Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability and opportunity of future generations to meet their own needs. All of our programs are developed to increase the quality of life of those we serve, and to build a pathway for sustainable increase into the future.
A Message from our Leadership
CHAIR
Zeib Jeeva
Together we are facing one of the most challenging periods as a global community. COVID-19 has devastated millions of lives as doctors and nurses work tirelessly in hospitals and clinics treating people diagnosed with the disease.
2020 has been an unprecedented year in the history of International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF). For a second year in a row IDRF has seen substantial growth in our efforts here at home, and around the world.
We are facing a challenging period as a global community. Covid-19 has devastated millions of lives, and in many ways made the plight of the most vulnerable, even more precarious. As doctors and nurses work tirelessly in hospitals and clinics treating those afflicted with the virus, businesses have permanently shut their doors as people lose a lifetime of hard work and investment, and laid-off workers face a bleak economy. In response to the immediate onset of the pandemic, IDRF provided vulnerable Canadian families with quarantine kits, including food items, household cleaning supplies, hygiene items and PPEs. We also supported frontline health care workers nationwide with PPEs to ensure that they were protected as they provided services to Canadians in need. As we here in Canada are grappling with our second wave’s effects, we must also keep the world’s most vulnerable in mind.
Globally nearly 80 million refugees have fled their homes, many living in squalid refugee camps now facing a pandemic with minimal access to health care. IDRF responded with humanitarian assistance to refugee families by providing PPE and COVID-19 tests to public health care centres in Syria and Palestine. In Yemen, while attention has largely vanished on the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, we established two of the few COVID-19 testing centres available in the country, providing tests and primary care to over 40,000 IDPs. In Bangladesh, Somalia, Uganda, India, Lebanon, and Pakistan, we distributed hygiene kits, monthly food packages and PPEs, and also implemented clean water and hygiene programs to prevent the spread of illness and disease.
In this time of many challenges, we have anchored ourselves to IDRF’s purpose, mission and values. We continue to assist the most vulnerable communities in creating lives of dignity, equality and self-respect towards a more just world.
Much like every other organization, we also had to adapt to social distancing and in how to implement our programs here at home. This pandemic forced us to pivot our programs. It brought the inequalities within our communities to the forefront. We saw our children home from school without their peers or teachers, seniors grappling with social isolation, people leaving the safety of home for their work in the service sector, and lines at food banks circling several blocks. IDRF’s focus on educational support and economic development helped face these problems and continue to serve Canadians. I am pleased to share that our Licensed to Learn program achieved a significant milestone this year, having supported 40,000 school age students since 2002. Meanwhile, our Women Learning to Code and Take Leadership program has a 100% employment rate, and our Get Job Ready program is now available to Canadians in large cities and rural communities via Zoom.
While many of us understandably would prefer to forget 2020, this year’s annual report details photos, stories and achievements of what we can accomplish in challenging times. With your donations, our work improved the lives of the world’s most vulnerable communities and reaffirmed the importance of giving.
Thank you to everyone that contributed over the past year.
Mahmood Qasim
CEO, IDRF
2020 has been an unprecedented year in the history of International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF). For a second year in a row we’ve seen substantial growth in our efforts here at home, and around the world. We have fed over 398,000 people, provided water to 215,300 people, established income generation programs for over 1,400 people, and helped 6,000 youth right here in Canada prepare for overcoming challenges they face in an ever-changing world. This is all a testament to the commitment and compassion of our donors, partners, volunteers and staff.
This year has not been an easy one. We’ve had to adjust along the way and make difficult decisions about the work we can and cannot take on, as the needs have never been greater. We have asked more of our supporters this year than ever before. And the results of all of our efforts and the number of people we have been able to help this year are undeniable.
We stand for People Helping People – by working together, we helped thousands of people around the world and right here at home. Whether it was through relief aid in the form of food, medicine and water, or in supporting growth and development, we met their needs the best we could. As we reflect on the past year, what we stand for becomes even more evident.
Thanks to all the support we’ve received we were able to invest 90 cents of every dollar towards our relief and development projects around the world. As a result, more than 840,000 of the most vulnerable were supported through IDRF. As you can conclude from the results and details of the projects in this annual report, supporters like you have helped us deliver meaningful programming that has made a tremendous, positive impact on the lives of beneficiaries.
We know that our work does not stop here and with the ever-increasing demands for what IDRF does, our work is not getting any less urgent. IDRF will continue needing supporters like you. Thank you for the critical role you play in our ability to deliver these programs. As we continue in our journey together, we are honoured that you have chosen to support IDRF. We couldn’t have done it without you. A heartfelt thanks to all our supporters, partners, volunteers and staff.
At a Glance
Your Donations in Action
850,000
people reached
200 million
meals
1.5 million
cups of water
203,000
people aided in COVID relief
27,000
students helped
Behind every statistic, buzzword and headline are real people. A person with hopes and dreams, memories and tears, spirit and determination. That’s why with every dollar you donate, there is a real world of change and benefit brought to someone’s life. Through your active support of our appeals, suffering is relieved, fears are overcome, distress is eased, and the horizon of what is to come lightens with the hope of opportunity and possibility.
Your contributions and care matter. For people around the world, your help makes all the difference.
We are people helping people. It’s that simple.
Emergency Relief
IDRF is committed to helping those in need around the world when emergencies happen. 2020 was a particularly catastrophic year for everyone, and our aid was needed more than ever.
Helping people stay safe and protected during the Pandemic.
Gaza
India
Pakistan
Palestine
Syria
Yemen
Somalia
Uganda
Canada
COVID-19 disturbed the entire world this year and IDRF was at the forefront of relief.
IDRF helped with providing:
Hygiene kits to individual families to fight the virus
Educational sessions to ensure practicing good hygiene
Delivering food parcels to families who couldn’t leave their house during quarantine
COVID-19 testing centres, ambulatory support, and other PPE for hospital staff
Countries reached: Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Uganda.
Canadian Muslim Response Network
Supporting families during quarantine
IDRF, in partnership with the Canadian Muslim Response Network (CMRN), launched a campaign to support Canadians affected by COVID-19.
The program aimed to help vulnerable populations with hygiene items, PPE and household cleaning supplies. IDRF procured the relevant hygiene items in bulk and transported them to our Toronto office. From there, we assembled, and delivered packages to hundreds of households across the GTA.
COVID-19 PPE Relief
Support Frontline Health Care Workers
IDRF, in partnership with Conquer COVID-19, launched a national effort to support frontline healthcare workers with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The project’s impact relied on identifying the most pressing needs through consultation with front line physicians. Leveraging storage facilities, our group filled the critical gap in healthcare worker’s access to PPE. We ensured thousands of frontline healthcare workers across Canada stayed safe as they provided essential services to all of us.
Yemen
Relief for a resilient nation
2020 was an extraordinary year for Yemen. Along with the civil war and cholera outbreak, COVID-19 added to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country. Millions of people were forced from their homes to camps and shelters, seeking refuge for themselves and their families.
IDRF provided monthly food packages, built solar wells, built two COVID-19 testing centers, and aided with transportation with one of the only ambulances in the Abyan district.
21,000
received food packages to last 2 months
11
solar and motor water wells build to provide clean water
2
COVID-19 test centres built
Uyghur Refugee
Providing support to an oppressed people
The continuous oppression of the Uyghur population in their homeland has led to tens of thousands of refugees escaping persecution to settle in Turkey.
IDRF provided essential supplies and clothing for students aged 5-12 in Istanbul, as well as provided food parcels to cover the nutritional needs of children and their families.
From Relief to Development
BRIDGING THE GAP
IDRF works to bridge the gap between emergency relief and sustainable development. Our unique multifaceted approach ensures that people receive quality aid, while providing resources and support for them to live a life of dignity, self-justice and self-reliance.
How do we do this?
Step 1:
IDRF receives your donation
Step 2:
We identify people in need of support
Step 3:
We respond to immediate needs of the community
We provide immediate food/water needs
We provide emergency healthcare services
Step 4:
We monitor and ensure needs are met, and people’s immediate distress is relieved
but it doesn’t end there
Step 5:
We then continue to provide adequate resources and long term support to those we serve, empowering them to live sustainably, while contributing to their community.
We guide farmers in capacity building and learning how to rehabilitate land and maintain their businesses.
We provide health and hygiene workshops to ensure families stay clean and safe.
We provide families with food vouchers for local markets to empower them with the ability to meet their dietary needs.
We provide professional development training to teachers in IDRF funded schools to maintain quality of education.
Our Sustainable Development Programs
Sustainable Development
Water
Our programs keep families healthy by giving them access to:
Safe drinking water
Adequate sanitation facilities (washrooms, hand wash stations)
Increasing droughts since 2013 have led to almost no rainfall in most of the rural villages this year. In the absence of rainfall, groundwater is the only available water source.
IDRF installed deep hand pumps at schools and in communities. This year, IDRF installed 15 sanitation facilities at schools and another 125 Latrines, while we also distributed 270 Hygiene kits, 500 school kits and 820 dignity kits to help raise awareness on menstrual hygiene.
Thousands of people have gained access to clean drinking water, ensuring the domestic water needs of women and school children are met, while water is also available for livestock.
Yemen
Through the devastation of war and recent famine, ongoing problems such as the cholera outbreak, poor hygiene conditions and lack of necessary equipment and consumables have created a massive burden on existing Yemeni health institutions. There have been epidemics such as cholera and polio, with not enough resources to combat the outbreaks. The leading cause of the cholera outbreak is dirty water, lack of garbage collection by the local authorities and poor condition of health facilities.
IDRF installed eleven water wells in the Abian and Lahj camps. These camps were in dire need of assistance as the heavy influx of IDPs has created serious logistics and health problems by overextending capacities of existing infrastructure. In total, IDRF has constructed 3 solar wells and 8 regular wells.
11
water wells were built
90K
received access to clean water
22,750
students had water trucked to them daily
Gaza
Across Gaza, sources of clean, potable water are extremely scarce. As outlined by the UNOCHA, over 97% of water from Gaza aquifers is unfit for human consumption, and only 10% of Palestinians in Gaza have access to safe drinking water through public water networks. This is a result of the high levels of groundwater pollution through fertilizer usage and wastewater seepage into the main reservoir.
IDRF has purchased several water trucks to ensure that clean water is transported to 35 schools regularly. Over the coming year, we will be supporting the purchase of a desalination plant to ensure that families in Gaza have access to clean water at schools and in their homes.
Sustainable Development
Food
We provide urgent food relief to families in vulnerable regions around the world. We educate communities about nutrition and sustainable food practices to address malnutrition and its impact.
Malnutrition among children under 5 years in India has increased between 2010 and 2019, highlighting the urgent need to address food insecurity.
COVID-19 has disrupted the nation’s fragile food system. Severe restrictions continue to be implemented as the infection rate keeps growing, with a milestone of 9 million infections reached by November 2020.
IDRF implemented a food distribution initiative to help poor and vulnerable families meet their basic nutritional needs. Food essentials like pulses, oil, tea and other staples were packaged and distributed to 4,260 marginalized and impoverished families in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.
As COVID-19 has severely impacted the businesses of families, IDRF is also helping low-income households with small business support to increase their livelihoods.
Somalia
Across Somalia, an estimated 4.1 million people are currently food insecure. Food assistance needs have deteriorated throughout 2020 due to harsh climatic conditions, and poor crop and livestock production. COVID-19 has further deteriorated economic conditions in Somalia due to international and local movement restrictions, and declining business activity.
This year, IDRF supported over 22,000 people internally displaced by conflict and drought. Among those directly supported by our food distributions were pregnant and nursing women, the elderly, sick and disabled, as well as female or child-led households.
We are also exploring ways to help pastoralists and farmers with livestock and agricultural support to help them maintain their businesses.
22K
people received food parcels to last a month
4,260
families received food parcels
Lebanon
Prior to the devastating explosion in Beirut on August 4th, Lebanon’s situation had deteriorated drastically in recent years. The cost of basic needs went up as a result of a deep economic crisis, exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic. In the days and weeks following the explosion, need for first aid and hospital assistance was immense, as thousands were injured or left homeless. Hospitals struggled with COVID-19, as cases of the virus spread.
In response, IDRF provided both food and hygiene items to protect the health of the most vulnerable. A total over 4,260 people received food packages and over 500 people received hygiene kits in Beirut. IDRF is also working in the Bekaa Valley to support refugee households and host communities. We are currently exploring ways to ensure families can grow produce and build sustainable businesses
Sustainable Development
Health
IDRF’s health programs provide access to premium, essential health care services to families in need. Families who are otherwise unable to access even the most basic medical care.
COVID-19 treatment centres established in conflict zones
24
midwives trained
Pakistan
Across South Asia, thousands of women experience severe complications during pregnancy and childbirth. In 2018, an estimated 2.5 million newborns died globally within their first month of life; a third of them within their first 24 hours (UNICEF Pakistan, 2020). Many of these children died from preventable causes including premature birth, complications during delivery and treatable infections.
IDRF is working towards improving maternal, newborn and child health in Pakistan. We completed a two-year midwifery training program in Karachi. The program involves direct training and certification of 24 midwife practitioners from the Tharparkar district of Sindh province. Returning to their homes and villages, each is now the local midwife for over 300 community households.
South Africa & Lesotho
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a permanent movement disorder that appears in early childhood. Being the most common motor disability in children, its symptoms include poor coordination, stiff and weak muscles. Across Lesotho, inadequate funding, insufficient resources, and lack of knowledge around treatment has created a need for rehabilitative care. On average, these children would otherwise only receive 35 hours of therapy in their lifetime.
This year, IDRF provided training and rehabilitative therapy to 385 children along with their caregivers, and facilitated workshops for others in the community.
385
children with Cerebral Palsy received rehabilitative therapy
Sustainable Development
Education
IDRF’s education programs provide children and youth with access to basic, high-quality education. By teaching skills that make them employable, we aim to improve their long-term well-being by taking them out of poverty.
In Gaza, access to quality education in a safe, friendly environment for children is compromised by conflict and ongoing instability. With such poor conditions, retention rates in schools across Gaza continue to fluctuate.
IDRF improved the education engagement of 12,699 students between the ages of 5-15. By busing 1500 of these students to school, and providing curriculum improvements in the areas of literacy, cultural and visual arts, science, and IT, we’re ensuring that these students get the opportunity for success.
12,699
students were given the opportunity to study
340
children, including orphans received resources to help them attend school
Guyana
In Guyana, IDRF focuses on the needs of orphan and vulnerable children nationwide. To ensure children are not neglected and attend school every day feeling healthy and equipped with the support services they need. IDRF provides 340 orphans and vulnerable children with transportation, food and vitamins, school supplies, stipends and Eid gifts.
Canada
Licensed to Learn (L2L)
Despite a strong education system, the Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-being 2019 Report suggests that students still need more support after school. 1 in 4 feel unable to handle the workload put on them at school and less than half of students feel positive about school.
The L2L Program is a peer-tutoring and youth development initiative. The program is based in schools and community agencies serving youth across Canada. The program has established a strong reputation and partnerships with the major school boards in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. Helping the youth excel both academically and personally, it is geared towards developing essential life skills, confidence and a sense of inclusion.
This year, over 4,000 students have participated from over 100 schools.
For two-thirds of Pakistanis, government schools remain the only option for education. Facing a vast range of different challenges, the quality of education in these schools are very poor. In response, IDRF provides 900 female youth with diverse academic and co-curricular education. IDRF also supported the professional development of 65 female teachers. We support the health and wellness of 200 kindergarten students from low-income households, providing fresh breakfast prepared and served to students every day.
Responding to the pandemic, IDRF has also provided 2,875 individuals from two schools with COVID-19 Care Packs and learning packs designed to support them with hygiene tips during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Sustainable Development
Economic Development
Our Economic Development programs assist women, men, and youth in need. Our vocational programs allow individuals to learn valuable skills to enable them to find work and become self-reliant.
youths participated in online Get Job Ready Sessions
Canada
Get Job Ready
IDRF’s ‘Get Job Ready’ program trains youth ages 19-29 to successfully navigate the job market across Canada. When Canada was hit with COVID-19, we quickly pivoted to create online versions of our workshops.
Young Canadians joined Get Job Ready and learned how to:
build a professional LinkedIn account
practiced job interviews
gained financial literacy skills, and
gained insights on how to establish a positive social media footprint.
Canada
Women Learning to Code and Take Leadership
In its third year, the Women Learning to Code & Leadership program is IDRF’s solution to the gender and diversity gap in the technology industry.
This year, IDRF provided six young women full paid scholarships to learn how to build websites and apps using popular coding languages such as JavaScript & Ruby on Rails.
Despite the job market challenges faced by many youth, our newly minted Full-Stack Developers all secured employment. In addition to bringing greater diversity to the digital space, they bring energy and enthusiasm to tech firms and departments across the GTA.
This year also brought a special milestone for our community as five graduates from Year 1 returned to teach the program and mentor the new cohort. Apart from being instructors, these graduates are role models who strengthened our growing community and demonstrated outstanding leadership.
100%
employment rate
60
participants trained
Canada
SalesForce Certification Training
In 2020, IDRF continued to expand its digital programming to help Canadians launch their careers in tech. We struck a new partnership with The Rainbow Cloud Initiative to provide Salesforce’s 201 ADM certification training to women and newcomers across Canada.
The program teaches participants how to manage Salesforce’s cloud-based software and gives them the skills necessary to work at one of the 150,000 clients that use Salesforce’s cloud-based solution.
Palestine
Agriculture is one of the most critical sectors for the Palestinian economy as it leads to income, exports, food security and job creation. As a result of the ongoing conflict, crops and livelihood of many have been affected.
IDRF has implemented a project which enables struggling farmers to:
secure a source of income for their families
become self-reliant
contribute towards community food needs
We identified 72 farmers in need of support and helped rehabilitate over 36 acres of land. IDRF also provided farmers with capacity building, equipment and training, a connection to local markets, and purchased food from the farmers for our yearly Fitrah programs.
36
acres of farmland rehabilitated
Financials
Driven by our Mission. Inspired by You.
It takes a team of dedicated collaborators, working toward a meaningful goal, to effect change. We are grateful for the ongoing generosity of our donors, and the support of gift-in-kind partners for their commitment to the world’s most vulnerable.
Expenditures
89.2%
Programs
7.5%
Fundraising
2.4%
Admin
0.9%
Other
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Thank you for enabling us to fulfill our mission of people helping people these past 36 years. Through your generous donations, we have been able to provide food, water, shelter and education to vulnerable people in 45 countries.
