Islamic Relief after the GPMS launch: a turning point as aid cuts tighten

islamic relief Worldwide launched a digitalised solution in January to help country office staff manage project data and MEAL, rolling out a Global Programme Impact & MEAL System (GPMS) that is now live in 27 countries. The system is intended to enable field teams to report updates, manage data and track project lifecycles with information immediately available to colleagues around the world, reducing administration and freeing staff to support communities directly.

What Happens When Islamic Relief’s GPMS runs in 27 countries?

The GPMS is the result of a three-year collaborative design and implementation process that prioritised input from country and local office staff. It was built on the ActivityInfo platform after a review of around 30 platforms and the project team emphasised the need for a system that could function independently in 27 countries while remaining linked globally. Operational benefits already described include faster reporting, easier project management, and reduced administrative burdens. The project team named for this rollout includes Juwairiyah Khurram, Assem Kassim, Muhammad Sadiq Rohei and Ganesh Bahadur Thapa, and senior management backing has been credited as a factor in driving the initiative through.

What If funding cuts hollow out women’s programmes?

These digital gains arrive amid stark reductions in development funding that threaten programming for women and girls. Global aid declined by up to 17% in 2025 on top of a 9% reduction in 2024. Specific cuts include a 40% reduction in one major donor’s international development budget; bilateral aid to parts of Africa has been cut by 12%; and another donor’s overseas aid contracts were reduced by more than 90% in 2025, forcing programmes across Africa to close or scale back, including those for girls’ education and health. The cumulative effect risks shuttering women peacebuilding projects—up to 50 organisations in one cited instance faced cancelled funding—and ending funding streams for programmes focused on preventing sexual violence and female genital mutilation. The human consequences are already evident in education and peacebuilding indicators: 272 million children and youth are out of school, including 133 million girls, and in Sub-Saharan Africa nearly 100 million children ages 6–18 are affected. The role of women in peace processes is also highlighted by examples where female negotiators were central to durable agreements; peace accords that include women are 35 percent more likely to last a generation.

What If real-time programme data can shield vital work?

• Best case: GPMS scales with planned additional functionality, enabling clearer, faster reporting that demonstrates impact and accountability. Field teams use time saved on administration to sustain delivery, and better data helps prioritise scarce resources to preserve women’s programmes.
• Most likely: GPMS improves internal coordination and reporting, but deep donor cuts still force some programmes to close or scale back. Data enables smarter triage and more evidence-based appeals, yet it cannot by itself replace lost funding.
• Most challenging: Even with real-time data, the magnitude of funding reductions leads to widespread programme closures. Gains in efficiency are insufficient to prevent the erosion of services for women and girls, and longstanding initiatives face termination despite improved monitoring.

The launch of GPMS marks a practical inflection: the organisation now has a tool designed from the ground up by and for colleagues on the front line, and it has clear short-term benefits in reducing admin and linking country offices. Still, the effectiveness of that tool in protecting frontline services will depend on whether donors and governments reverse or mitigate funding reductions and whether additional functionality is delivered as planned. Leaders, funders and practitioners should track rollout, functionality and resourcing in tandem so that improved programme data translates into sustained services for women and girls—and not merely a better record of losses for islamic relief