Russian Federation

North Caucasus in the south of the Russian Federation is one of Russia’s poorest regions. In Chechnya, two wars throughout the 1990s devastated the local economy, job market, and infrastructure, leaving many people impoverished. Our teams are working with local communities to provide greater food and financial stability.

In North Caucasus – composed of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria – poverty levels are incredibly high. At a rate of 13.5%, around 19.5 million people live below the national poverty line.

In the Republic of Chechnya especially, years of repeated conflict and political instability have devastated the lives of local families. Chechens are now trying to rebuild yet unemployment is extremely high with 80% of people out of work. With a population of one million, many families still don’t have permanent homes as they were lost during the conflict and families cannot afford repairs.

With many Chechens living in governmental Temporary Accommodation Centres, locals lack basic food, medication, water, and sanitation. Winters are harsh and to make matters worse, Chechnya is one of the worst areas in the world, affected by mines, leaving communities in fear of activating landmines buried across the region.

The situation in the Russian Federation

Many communities living in the Russian Federation are struggling amid poverty.

28%

of people in the Russian Federation do not have access to adequate sanitary facilities (World Bank, 2016)

50%

of Chechens live on less than $1.10 (80 pence) a day (UNICEF, 2017)

200,000

people are internally displaced across Chechnya (UNICEF, 2017)

1 in 5

are aged between 3 and 17 years (UNICEF, 2017)

Islamic Relief in the Russian Federation

Islamic Relief registered as a charity operating in Russia in 1998, with our first office in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, Northern Caucasus.

Throughout the difficult years of war, we were the first on the ground helping the poorest and most deprived communities within the region.

In our early years our interventions focused on responding to food shortages, providing shelter and health and education facilities. Our very first project was directly assisting people living in Chechen refugee camps in Ingushetia, by providing food and shelter provisions, establishing mobile clinics, and setting up water wells.

Today we support vulnerable people with access to microfinance, so they can improve their living conditions and livelihoods; while our winter programmes help poor families keep warm. Our orphan sponsorship programme supporting orphans in Chechnya was launched in 2005, and today is a lifeline for around 1,700 children.

We respond to various emergencies in the region. In 2004 an attack at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, triggered Islamic Relief sending ambulances and medical items to the hospital tending to casualties. In May 2005, when floods destroyed more than 200 homes and roads in 10 districts, we provided emergency relief to affected families.

We have delivered numerous interventions focused on building and reconstructing education and public health facilities. These include a hospital in Sayasan village of Nozhay-yurt district in 2009, supporting 45,000 people; and using funding from International Waqf Fund to repair a clinic in Karpinka, Grozny, in 2016, serving 3,000 people.

Barakat Fund is Chechnya’s first fully licensed Islamic microfinance institution, setup by Islamic Relief in 2012 in Grozny, to help poor families in Chechnya. With an initial staff of 4, the fund started offering interest-free loans to low-income families raising orphaned and disabled children. It also offered loans to help unemployed people. Since 2018, it has won 5 consecutive annual awards for the best socially-oriented microfinance institution, run under the Central Bank’s aegis.

Today, we prioritise fundraising for seasonal programmes; supporting children and adults with disabilities; business grants for young people from vulnerable families; vocational training; agricultural projects; and microfinance projects.

Islamic Relief staffing Chechnya putting materials in a bag.

Image: Islamic Relief aid workers collecting materials as part of Islamic Relief's livelihood project in Chechnya.

Islamic Relief has really played an important role in the life of blind people living in the republic. Many children and adults, as well as elderly people who are totally or partially blind learnt to read the Holy Qur’an in Braille. Thanks to their Qur’an reading skills, 6 of them went for Umrah and read Qur’an in the Masjid al-Haram this year.

Ramzan Mustaev, Head of ‘sport for the blind’ activities, Grozny