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The
Aga Khan Foundation is a non-denominational, international
development agency established in 1967 by His Highness the
Aga Khan. Its mission is to develop and promote creative
solutions to problems that impede social development, primarily
in Asia and East Africa. Created as a private, non-profit
foundation under Swiss law, it has branches and independent
affiliates in 15 countries. It is a modern vehicle of the
Ismaili Muslim community under the leadership of the Aga
Khan to realise the social conscience of Islam through institutional
action.
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The
latest AKF Annual Report.
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News
Archives
Annual
Report 2006, 3m, PDF (published July 2007)
Working Papers
in Early Childhood Development: Is Everybody Ready? (published
with the Bernard Van Leer Foundation)
AKF
Annual Report 2005 (published July 2006), 4m, PDF
Bellerive
Foundation Merges with Aga Khan Foundation, Press Release
in English and Fusion
de la Fondation Bellerive et de la Fondation Aga Khan (Communiqué
de Presse) and Brochure
2005
Global Development Awards for "Most Innovative Development
Project": The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme
in Pakistan has won the 2005 Global Development Awards for
Most Innovative Development Project. The award, which was
announced at the Seventh Annual Global Development Conference
held in St. Petersburg, Russia on 20 January 2006, was given
to the development projects that are judged to have the
greatest potential for benefiting the poor in developing
countries. For more information, please see the Global
Development Network website. For more information on
other awards received by AKDN agency, please see the Recent
AKDN Awards page.
Strategies
for Development and Food Security in Mountainous Areas of
Central Asia, a conference held 6-10 June 2005 in Dushanbe,
Tajikistan, was sponsored by the Aga Khan Foundation, Capacity
Building International, Germany (InWEnt), and Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.
Country
Pages: India
AKF
Annual Report 2004 (published June 2005), 3.3m, PDF
AKF
Annual Report 2003 (published August 2004), 2.2 m, PDF
Aga
Khan Foundation Annual Report 2002 (published August 2003)
- 632 kb
Aga
Khan Development Network Brochure (now available in English,
Arabic, Russian, French and Farsi)
Improving
Schools through Teacher Development: Case Studies of the
Aga Khan Foundation Projects in East Africa - A new
book that presents the Aga Khan Foundation's school improvement
activity, which focused on sustained teacher development,
in East Africa from 1985 to 2000 . The core of the book
consists of six evaluations of school-and district-wide
school improvement projects (SIPs) supported by the Aga
Khan Foundation in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. See flier
on information on how to order.
The
Next Ascent: An Evaluation of the Aga Khan Rural Support
Program, Précis of the World Bank Evaluation,
World Bank, 23 September 2002 - "By many measures
the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) is a highly successful
NGO-run rural development program. It reaches some 900,000
people in about 1,100 villages in the Northern Areas and
Chitral District of Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border."
Aga
Khan Foundation Annual Reports 2000-2001 (26 August 2002,
PDF, 2.6 MB)
Foundation
Receives Excellence in International Development Award from
Canadian Council for International Co-operation (PDF
on CCIC site)
NetAid
profiles Foundation work in education in Afghanistan
Tajikistan
Report 2002: A Summary of the Foundation's Activities (PDF,
3.0 MB)
Basic
education - a development priority, an article appearing
in January-February 2002 issue of the Courier ACP-EU,
which summarises the 7 November 2001 roundtable co-hosted
by the Aga Khan Foundation and the World Bank
European
Commission Awards Euro 25.5 million Grant to Aga Khan Foundation
for rural development in India (1 February 2002)
Press
Release: Prepare Children for a Multi-cultural World"
urges World Bank President; Aga Khan Foundation and World
Bank Host Landmark Roundtable on Early Childhood Development
Article
on AKF activities in Pakistan: Fighting
the Good Fight: The Aga Khan's millions are helping improve
Pakistan, BusinessWeek, USA, 26 Nov. 2001 - "What
makes the Aga Khan's rural development work so effective
is its emphasis on grassroots participation in setting development
goals, the mobilization of community savings, and the development
of civil society..."
Introduction:
What is the Aga Khan Foundation?
The
Foundation focuses on a small number of specific development
problems by forming intellectual and financial partnerships
with organisations sharing its objectives. Most Foundation
grants are made to grassroots organisations testing innovative
approaches in the field.
With a small staff, a host of cooperating agencies and thousands
of volunteers, the Foundation reaches out to vulnerable
populations on four continents, irrespective of their race,
religion, political persuasion or gender. In 2004, it funded
over 130 projects in 16 countries with a budget of US $
149 million.
Focus
Areas
To make the most of its resources, the Aga Khan Foundation
has a sharp focus, clearly defined objectives and a consistent
approach to its work. It concentrates on selected issues
in health, education, rural development and the stregthening
of civil society.
Within its thematic areas of interest, the Foundation looks
for innovative approaches to generic problems. Projects
are designed to be learning experiences that contribute
to the understanding of complex issues and identify solutions
that can be adapted to conditions in many different regions.
Replicability is essential to the creation of useful models.
Wherever appropriate, approaches are tested in urban as
well as rural settings, and in different cultures and geographic
environments.
Evaluation and dissemination are equally essential. International
teams, together with the implementers, conduct reviews at
agreed intervals in the project cycle. Their conclusions
are made available to Foundation affiliates, to grantees
and to other interested governmental and non-governmental
organisations.
The Foundation is highly selective in its programme choices.
The principal criterion is the potential for bringing lasting
benefit to project participants. AKF measures its success
by what its grantees achieve and the importance of what
they have learned for projects elsewhere.
It is equally committed to bringing valuable lessons to
the attention of policymakers and others whose decisions
affect the lives of the poor.
The Foundation shares what it learns with the public, raising
awareness of important issues facing disadvantaged sectors
of the international community.
Geographic Focus
The
Foundation's geographical spread currently encompasses activities
in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Kenya, the Kyrgyz
Republic, Mozambique, Pakistan, Portugal, Switzerland, Syria,
Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the
United States of America.
Within these countries, the Foundation chooses certain regions
for particular focus. Criteria include special needs in
poor environments as well as the presence of capable implementing
organisations. It normally intervenes where it has a strong
volunteer base to ensure knowledgeable and culturally sensitive
management of its local affairs.
Long-term
Involvement
Most Foundation grants are to well-managed, local organisations
interested in testing new solutions, in learning from experience
and in being agents of lasting change. If no established
group exists, the Foundation occasionally creates new organisations
to tackle particularly important problems. Its mandate enables
it to maintain long-term involvement in building social
institutions.
In every undertaking, the goals are essentially the same:
To
make it possible for poor people to act in ways that will
lead to long-term improvements in their income and health,
in the environment and in the education of their children.
To
provide communities with a greater range of choices and
the understanding necessary to take informed action.
To enable beneficiaries to gain the confidence and competence
to participate in the design, implementation and continuing
operation of activities that affect the quality of their
lives.
To
put institutional, management and financial structures in
place to ensure that programme activities are sustainable
without Foundation assistance within a reasonable time-frame.
Building self-reliance and forging new attitudes, skills
and organisational abilities takes time. The Foundation
has the option of making long-term commitments to a particular
region or problem.
A
Bridge between Two Worlds
With
affiliates that are important national institutions in North
America and Europe and grant-making offices in Africa as
well as in South and Central Asia, the Foundation has genuine
roots in both the developed and developing worlds. Experience
and skills flow in both directions.
Foundation units share common objectives and approaches.
They bring local knowledge, energies and resources to bear
on local problems. In addition, developed country units
serve to inform the public about development progress and
problems. They also channel interest, skills and resources
from the public and development agencies to activities in
the developing world.
Institutional
Support
Through endowments and capital investments, the Foundation
helps to ensure the permanence of institutions that contribute
to the well-being of the people they serve. It is helping
to build an endowment for Pakistan's first private university,
the Aga Khan University (AKU) in
Karachi, which has an international mandate and is developing
international programmes. The Foundation is also helping
community pre-schools in Africa to build endowments, and
providing fund-raising advice and contacts to a host of
current and former recipients of its grants.
The Foundation owns a large number of properties for social
and cultural activities, including several hospitals and
hundreds of schools and health centres in the developing
world. A portion of its income is used to maintain and improve
them.
Sources
of Funding
The Aga Khan Foundation is the principal grant-making agency
for social development within the Shia Ismaili Imamat. His
Highness the Aga Khan is its founder and chairman. He provides
the Foundation with regular funding for administration and
new programme initiatives as well as contributions to its
endowment. The Ismaili community contributes invaluable
volunteer time, professional services and substantial financial
resources. Other funding sources include income from investments
and grants from government, institutional and private sector
partners - as well as donations from individuals around
the world.
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