Hany Abdel Gawad El-Banna

Hany Abdel Gawad El-Banna OBE is the co-founder of Islamic Relief , the largest Western- based international Muslim relief and development NGO , established in 1984 in Birmingham , UK . A pathologist by education, Dr. Hany attended a medical conference in Sudan in 1983 during a time of famine in the region. The poverty and desperation he witnessed compelled him to return to the UK and set up Islamic Relief as an organisation to help people in need. In November 2003, after 20 years of humanitarian work , Dr Hany was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with an OBE for services rendered to the community . Dr Hany El Banna is the founder of Islamic Relief an international relief and development organisation which aims to alleviate the poverty and suffering of the world’s poorest people. Along with Ismayil Tahmazov he founded Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) and The Humanitarian Forum and at the moment he is the President and Chairman of Humanitarian Forum which seeks to foster partnerships and closer co-operation among the humanitarian and charitable organizations from Muslim countries and their Western counterparts. Dr El Banna has visited over 60 countries on behalf of these organisations. Dr El Banna was awarded the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004; in the same year Dr El Banna also received Ibn Khaldun Award for Excellence in Promoting Understanding between Global Cultures and Faiths (UK). It was also in 2004 that the Egyptian Medical Syndicate awarded him for his services to humanity and medicine. In 2005 he received the Kashmiri and Pakistani Professional Association Award and in 2006 he was awarded the Asian Jewel Lifetime Achievement Award. Acknowledging his worldwide work and influence in 2007, the UK Muslim Power 100 awarded him with their lifetime achievement award and the University of Birmingham has awarded him an honorary doctorate. Dr El Banna is also a Chairman of Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) a newly registered charity that aims to improve British Muslim charities' contribution to international development by promoting the exchange of experience, ideas and information amongst the members, between networks of NGOs in the UK and internationally, with the Governments, and other bodies with the interest in international development. He is a Founding Partner and Board of Trustees member of the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA). Born in Egypt, Dr El Banna completed his MBBCH Medicine at Al Azhar University, Cairo, where he also obtained a Diploma in Islamic Studies in 1976. Dr Hany El Banna was awarded the Hamilton Bailey Prize in Medicine at City hospital (previously known as Dudley Road) in 1981, Birmingham UK. He then went on to further his medical training and completed a Doctorate of Medicine (MD) in foetal pathology from the University of Birmingham Medical School in 1991.¹