Algiers, Algeria, 20 May 2025: The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has organised a closed session on the Tadamon Community Empowerment programme with development stakeholders committed to tackling poverty issues. The session centred on the thematic subject of "Empowering the Hard-to-Reach: Tadamon's Journey from Civil Society Mapping to Community Transformation" was held at the margins of the 2025 Annual Meetings in Algeria.

In 2019, the Bank introduced the NGO Empowerment for Poverty Reduction Program (Tadamon) to empower Civil Society Organizations in its Member Countries to contribute to reducing poverty through development and humanitarian initiatives. IsDB Director General, Global Practices and Partnership, Dr. Issa Faye, emphasised the crucial role of partnership in creating positive changes and solutions to tackling poverty. He underscored that the success of Tadamon is due to the collective efforts of a community of partners, including governments, the private sector, civil society, and donors, in unlocking the potential of community-led organisations and driving meaningful progress in IsDB member countries.

Director General Faye said Tadamon has evolved into a flagship initiative for engaging civil society organisations in advancing poverty reduction, resilience, and inclusive development across MCs. He stressed that the programme is a home-grown IsDB-led initiative that brings together a community of partners to improve the socio-economic well-being of the hard-to-reach communities in Member Countries.

Over the past five years, Tadamon Phase 1 has been a resounding success. It has successfully mapped and screened over 5,000 CSOs, built the capacity of more than 700 organisations, and mobilised more than a hundred million dollars in financing from over 28 development partners. These efforts have translated into tangible impact: providing access to healthcare during COVID-19, ensuring food security, promoting education and skills development, and generating income for the most vulnerable across 34 MCs. This success sets the stage for the even more ambitious Phase 2.

Stakeholders at the meeting unanimously agreed that addressing the pressing socio-economic challenges in IsDB Member Countries, such as poverty, fragility, conflict, and natural disasters, requires concerted efforts from all development stakeholders: governments, the private sector, civil society, and donors. Civil Society Organizations, in particular, play a pivotal role in this ecosystem. They deliver life-saving humanitarian support and long-term development solutions, often in the most underserved areas.

Tadamon involves strategic key partners, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Al Awn Foundation, the NAMA Foundation, the International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO), Sheikh Abdullah Alnouri Charity Society, Qatar Charity, African Development Bank (AfDB), and Monash University.

This year the overall objectives of the Tadamon closed session are to (i) reflect on its success, best practices and lessons of the past years of its Phase 1, (ii) share key findings of outcomes of the self-assessment of the program, (iii) and introduce the enhanced Tadamon Phase 2 a multi-stakeholder program that will, in principle, further align Civil Society Organizations with public project pipelines, Qard al-Hassan financing, digital platforms, and community-based delivery systems. The session has facilitated strategic existing and new partnership statements in support of community-driven approaches during the next 5 years.