LocationsBeyond the check book: A fractured world needs strategic cooperation
October 21, 2026
For a farming family in a conflict zone, crisis is rarely a single event. Drought destroys the harvest, food prices surge, and the local clinic loses funding. Any one of these shocks is difficult to withstand. Together, they can erase years of progress in a single season.
This is how many crises now unfold. Climate shocks, economic instability, and conflict converge, placing enormous pressure on communities already struggling to cope. More than two billion people, a quarter of the world's population, now live in contexts of high or extreme fragility, yet official development assistance fell by more than 23 percent last year.
That combination threatens decades of hard-won progress. The answer is not simply to stretch existing aid budgets further. It is to build broader partnerships that bring additional resources, institutions and expertise to the table.
The power of Islamic philanthropy and Islamic social finance
Islamic philanthropy and Islamic social finance can be part of that response. Rooted in centuries-old traditions of compassion and giving, they have supported communities in need for generations. Islamic financing systems are prevalent in all corners of the world, and their potential is estimated at billions of dollars annually.
Their strength lies in two complementary mechanisms:
Immediate relief: Zakat and Sadaqah
Zakat, an obligatory act of giving, and Sadaqah, voluntary charity, act as immediate lifelines – providing highly flexible funding that can be deployed quickly to deliver cash support, strengthen food security, and provide urgent livelihoods support.
Long-term resilience: Awqaf
Awqaf are perpetual, asset-backed endowments that are uniquely suited to helping build and maintain the long-term foundations of resilient communities: the clinics, schools, housing, and water systems people rely on for generations, not just weeks.
Individually, these acts of giving already transform lives. Connected to global human development systems, they become something far more powerful: a coordinated force for countries to accelerate recovery, expand opportunity, and strengthen resilience. Just as importantly, this approach supports nationally owned solutions to both new and protracted crises.
In a world of complex overlapping crises, broader partnerships and additional resources are needed to achieve development progress. Islamic social finance can be part of the solution.
Laying the foundations in Riyadh
That vision is beginning to take shape across the Arab States and the wider Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). In September 2026, partners gathered at the UN House in Riyadh to establish the strategic and legal foundations needed to bring these two worlds together.
Opened by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the roundtable brought together delegations from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, as well as other countries from the region and wider OIC members. It was underpinned by a landmark decision: a formal statement from the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) recognizing the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a trusted strategic and technical partner.
To translate that recognition into action, UNDP, the OIC, and IIFA signed three cooperation agreements, establishing a transparent framework aligned with Islamic principles that enables Islamic social finance to be mobilized safely and effectively for the world's most vulnerable communities.
"Individually, these acts of giving already transform lives. Connected to global human development systems, they become something far more powerful."
Turning potential into impact
This work is already moving from agreement to implementation. The coalition of partners is already designing the Islamic Philanthropy Fund for Early Recovery and Development (IPF-ERD).
At the same time, the newly launched Awqaf Excellence Index is helping build joint data platforms that can map and measure these financial flows for the first time, strengthening transparency while respecting the privacy of individual donors.
The foundations established in Riyadh are regional, but the ambition is global. As Ramadan approaches in February 2027, a period marked by increased charitable giving, a powerful proposition is moving from concept to reality: Islamic philanthropy and international development can work as one system. By combining the agility of Islamic social finance with UNDP’s development expertise, charitable giving becomes a coordinated force for sustainable recovery, resilience, and long-term human development.
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