Founded in 1979, Human Concern International (HCI) is a Muslim charity with a mission to end global poverty.  It funds emergency relief projects and sustainable development initiatives in countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It also runs child sponsorship programs and uses funds raised through annual Zakat, Qurbani, and Ramadan campaigns to provide food and other basic necessities to people in need. HCI follows a community needs-based approach in its activities. It completes needs assessments on the communities it plans to work in, and then partners with local organizations, institutes and governments to deliver programs.

HCI’s most recent annual report, which includes F2018 results, provides a spending breakdown for the F2019 operating year. Its spending breakdown by region was: 38% to activities in the Middle East, 37% to activities in Asia, 22% to activities in Africa, and 3% to other regions. Its spending breakdown by program is as follows: 21% for disaster relief, 16% for education projects, 13% for child sponsorship, 12% for social and economic development initiatives, 11% for healthcare projects, 13% for Zabiha and Ramadan food distribution initiatives, and 6% for other food projects (the remaining 8% represents administrative costs, gifts in kind, and water and sanitation projects).

HCI reports on its website that its child sponsorship program operates in over 15 countries. HCI partnered with the Centre for Development Service in F2018 to provide 50 children in Egypt with packages containing food as well as school and medical supplies.

One of HCI’s sustainable development initiatives in F2018, a water project in India, built 15 tube wells in rural villages that provide access to clean drinking water for ‘up to 30 families.’ In Pakistan, HCI partnered with Leprosy Patients Welfare Trust (LPWT) to help areas affected by water shortages – LPWT dug six long term deep wells.

To provide emergency aid in Yemen, HCI partnered with Social Health Care Association and supplied 10 health centers with cholera medicines and education sessions on preventing disease and proper hygiene practices in F2018. HCI also distributed 408 food baskets to displaced families in Yemen affected by conflict. To help Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myanmar, HCI set up a rehabilitation center in Bangladesh during the year. The charity reports on its website that between 800,000 and 1.1 million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh.

News: July 7, 2019, Associated Press reports that Pakistani Ali Nawaz, using multiple bank accounts linked with Human Concern International, was arrested for funding al-Qaeda militants. 

Human Concern International did not provide audited financial statements upon request. The following financial analysis uses unaudited statements received from the CRA after filing a request for information.

Human Concern International is a large charity, receiving just under $9.0m in donations in F2018. Administrative costs are 14% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 11% of donations. Per dollar donated to the charity, 75 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Funding reserves of $4.3m can cover annual program spending and grants at the F2018 level for just under eight months.

The charity’s F2018 T3010 CRA filing reports two grants to other charities: $17k to Humanitarian Mobility International and $10k to Muslim Community of Quebec.

This report is an update that has been sent to Human Concern International for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 12, 2019 by Katie Khodawandi.