CONTENTS

politics first | Interviews
September / October 2016 | www.politicsfirst.org.uk
Delivering aid
to all humanity
Taking action to counter
women’s risk issues
Imran Madden, UK Director
of Islamic Relief, tells
Marcus Papadopoulos
about the work of his charity
and the role it plays in
delivering humanitarian
aid in hard to reach areas
Q What does the work of Islamic Relief UK involve?
Islamic Relief is an international aid agency founded and based in the UK, and the biggest independent
Muslim charity in the world. The generous support we receive means that, generally speaking, we have
around £150 million per year to spend on emergency aid and poverty alleviation. The work we do is inspired
by our Islamic values of social justice, compassion and environmental custodianship but also by core
humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence. Our programmes are a combination
of humanitarian response and resilience work and long-term development projects. We assist people of all
faiths and none – people in need are the people who count, irrespective of race or religion.
We understand conflict zones well from our long experience delivering aid in difficult and dangerous
situations in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and countries like Afghanistan. While Islamic Relief is, of
course, a Muslim organisation, we have many non-Muslims working for us. We are free from government
control and sectarianism, and we work very hard to deliver aid to any people who we deem require it.
During the Bosnian civil-war, for example, we helped the Serbian community in Sarajevo, while in Iraq we
assist Christians and Yazidis affected by the conflict, as well as both Shia and Sunni Muslims.
Islamic Relief has field offices in 34 countries and some of these are non-Muslim countries, such as
the Philippines and Nepal. So we are dedicated, in principle and operationally, to helping people in need
anywhere in the world. And we have worked with Christian charities, such as Christian Aid and CAFOD, to
help to achieve that; for instance, during the Ebola response in Sierra Leone.
Q How is money raised?
We raise money through appeals to the public and approaches to institutional donors such as DFID and
UN bodies. We appeal via direct mail and email, community events and social media, as well as some TV
and print advertising. Over 40 per cent of donations are online, and we work closely with Google as one of
a handful of favoured charity partners.
Of the money we raise, 90 per cent goes straight to supporting the communities we serve, with the
remaining 10 per cent going towards overheads, campaigning for change and fundraising costs. So we
very much pride ourselves on being a value-for-money charity.
Q Do you work with UK parliamentarians?
Indeed, we do – and quite extensively. We are just about to publish a report on the challenges facing
Syrian refugee women, and will take a cross-party delegation to Lebanon to meet some of those affected.
Since the refugee crisis engulfed Europe last year, we have taken Mary Creagh to Lebanon, Andrew
Mitchell and Clare Short to Turkey (with the Muslim Charities Forum), Diane Abbott to Somaliland and we
hosted Tim Farron on the Greek island of Lesbos. As a result of those trips, these MPs have all spoken to
the media about their experiences, with some giving evidence before select committees and others asking
parliamentary questions to raise awareness and press for government action.
Islamic Relief engages MPs on our issues of focus, such as climate change, disaster response, refugees
and gender. Incidentally, we are a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and, currently,
the only Muslim faith-based NGO among their membership.
One specific point that we have been lobbying on recently is the negative impact of some counterterrorism
measures on aid distribution – particularly in conflict zones. Muslim charities could do a better
job of getting aid through if the regulations were not so restrictive – something that is really tough for all
kinds of charities, not just Muslim ones. Transferring money is one particular impediment. Saving lives
is about rapid intervention and charities need to be able to transfer money quickly, so banking restrictions
need to be reassessed. Refreshingly, parliament appears to be reviewing the situation and a government-
NGO working group will shortly be convened to explore concerns and identify solutions on the impact of
regulation and banking practices on NGO operations.
Q Finally, will Brexit have any effect on your work?
I think it would be naive to say that Brexit will not have any impact on the work of Islamic Relief. If and
when Brexit is implemented, a number of links that we currently have will be affected, especially with the
European Union as many of the humanitarian funds come from Brussels and, of course, Europe is where
many of the refugees are. I think it is fair to say that most aid agencies would prefer the UK to continue to
maintain its strong links with Europe, something that can only benefit all humanity.
Sian Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of
the Chartered Insurance Institute, explains
to Marcus Papadopoulos how a new
programme will aim to achieve gender
parity within the insurance profession
Q What is Insuring Women’s Futures?
In March this year, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), the professional standards
body for insurance, established Insuring Women’s Futures (IWF), a programme of
change. Its purpose is to lead the insurance profession in refining its approach to
women and risk; specifically, how the profession may improve insurance solutions and
services to enhance women’s risk resilience in wider society, and how it may develop
in a gender balanced way enhancing career opportunities for women in the profession.
Q What are IWF’s aims?
IWF aims are to: better understand the risks women face in life, and their experience
of insurance and protection products and services in managing their risk exposures,
and in empowering themselves; improve the way the profession engages with women
from a business perspective, both as personal and professional buyers, through product
design, service delivery, marketing and education; and progress gender parity within
the profession itself, creating a more inclusive culture and business environment for
employees, customers and clients.
Q What is the rationale behind IWF?
The UK insurance profession contributes £29 billion to GDP, protecting over 20 million
households. Women represent just over half of the UK population, and yet research
indicates women’s access to, and use of, insurance and financial protection is limited.
That is at a time when, in today’s society, women are exposed to an array of risks distinct
from men; for example, health, life expectancy, their role as carers and working parents,
and as a consequence of financial dependence on family or partners. Furthermore, the
evolving demographic of women in society, and hence their needs and expectations
as consumers, and increasingly as professional buyers of insurance, creates the
imperative to tackle this issue from a societal as well as a business perspective. IWF
seeks to better understand women’s risks in life, both now and in the future, and the role
of insurance protection and long-term savings in solving and mitigating these, having
regard to product, distribution/sales, marketing, education and awareness. The initial
focus will be in the UK, with scope for a wider global reach.
Q How are you going to achieve your aims?
Considerable research has been undertaken highlighting women’s risk issues by
various organisations seeking to influence government policy and societal structures,
and also by the profession. IWF will engage with external organisations and experts on
women’s risks, to consolidate these insights through an insurance lens, and to develop
the profession’s response to women’s risk solutions. The focus, initially, will be on UK
personal protection insurance, life, pensions and long-term savings for women. IWF
will develop channels with external organisations, and through media, to profile women,
risk and insurance to a broader societal audience.
Q What are the next steps for IWF?
Having secured support from both inside and outside the world of insurance for IWF,
we are working with UN Women in support of the global HeForShe campaign. We
are launching, this September, a drive to encourage the entire profession to make
public personal commitments to advancing gender equality. We are also working on a
report that will look at the risks faced by women and how the insurance responds at the
moment. That will be launched later in the year.
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