Qurbani 2024: 5 lessons learned

I have been delivering Qurbani projects for the last 7 years, often coordinating them remotely and at times being directly involved in the field to oversee the entire project value-chain. Although Qurbani (meat parcel delivery associated with Eid Al Adha) is straightforward project in terms of design, the short deadline and local contexts of delivery always leaves those involved exhausted and best pleased when the 3 days delivery time are over.

This year, in Lebanon, I had the role of overseeing quality of project delivery and offer some recommendations for next year to the local NGO implementing on the behalf of 16 donors. We managed to reach approximately 103,312 households across Lebanon with fresh meat parcels, adding a nutritious variety to the beneficiaries diet. I have detailed some of these observations and hope its sets the scene for those who will donate to have their Qurbani delivered in countries where its really needed like Lebanon, Afghanistan and Yemen.

As preparations were underway, I sat with the project manager to design the tools that would be used for the exercise; we agreed that my observations should focus on two key themes:

- Slaughterhouse cleanliness and slaughter compliance with Sharia

- Parcels distribution with dignity to beneficiaries and with transparency to donors

The findings below are fact-found and coupled with recommendations that I hope will be of help to donors and implementers alike.

With the adage of ‘fail to plan – plan to fail’ in mind; its important to have a clear yet flexible plan that is able to anticipate more Qurbani animals being added before the end of Eid Al Adha. Teams must plan well their procurement & logistical operations that include flexible slaughterhouses to cooperate in during tight time-brackets.

To best manage donor expectations and ensure these expectations are compatible with the local culture where slaughter, processing and distribution will take place, it’s necessary to communicate early with the donor to ensure requests such as ‘reading out the names of contributors’ before every slaughter can be fitted into the programme, for example.

For donors, it’s important to be aware and consider local practices in animal selection, transport, slaughter & processing and finally distribution, to best manage expectations. Overseas donors, along with local implementing NGOs/partners, can play a critical role in educating all those contributing to Qurbani about local culture and to read reports more kindly. Judging developing nations practices against standards that come from the UK, USA, Malaysia or elsewhere will leave a lot to be desired that is difficult to achieve year on year.

As the animals will be processed quickly, being aware of basic cleanliness standards and best practices is important to ensure that clean and safe to eat meat is being distributed. Project teams must work with slaughterhouse staff on regularly washing away blood, the animal’s offal and other parts that will not be distributed. Also, being aware of the right temperature during slaughter and meat hanging and constantly monitoring it is critical for food hygiene and safety.

Distribution plans must consider shaded areas for beneficiaries to be under when receiving their meat parcels as well as shaded areas where the meat-bags will be displayed ahead of distribution. This will ensure people are waiting in a dignified and comfortable way and receiving unspoiled meat.