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In the Media

The "In the Media " page lists links to articles about the Aga Khan Development Network and its activities that appear in on-line versions of the press. The views expressed on these pages do not necessarily reflect those of the Network and are provided here only as a public service. For information from the Network, please see the e-mail bulletins, which are available by subscription.

Des pavés recyclés contre le fléau des déchets à Mopti
France 24
25 août 2008 - "Depuis des années, des tonnes de déchets plastiques s'entassent aux quatre coins de la ville de Mopti, au Mali. Une solution pour mettre fin à un tel fléau a été trouvée : le recyclage et la transformation de ces déchets en pavés urbains. La prolifération des sachets plastiques à Mopti, au Mali, pose un véritable problème de salubrité et d'assainissement. C'est dans ce contexte que le Trust Aga Khan pour la Culture (AKTC) s'est inspiré d'une expérience qui a fait école au Niger et a collaboré avec l'ONG RESEDA afin de former des apprentis artisans à la technique de transformation des déchets plastiques en pavés urbains..."

Blooming in Cairo
Saudi Aramco
July/August 2008 - "A daring “green” experiment closely linked to Cairo’s past is blossoming in an unlikely spot—next to the city’s ancient eastern ramparts, on the site of a vast, almost equally ancient rubbish dump. For half a millennium, residents had tossed and hauled household garbage and building debris “over the wall,” creating a hilly landfill that rose as high as 40 meters (130') in the medieval heart of Cairo. Today, the site has been turned into a park modeled on the traditional Islamic garden, offering peace and quiet, and a view like no other. The $30-million park project was spearheaded by the Aga Khan, whose family ties to Cairo date back to its founding by the Fatimids in 969..."

Why the world needs more Canada
Vancouver Sun
12 June 2008 - "Twenty-five years ago, in the geographically isolated and economically marginalized regions of northern Pakistan, Canada - through funding from the Canadian International Development Agency and the Aga Khan Development Network - began an ambitious development effort. Built on the premise that beneficiaries, over time, must become the masters of the development process, the program brought together communities in local village organizations and helped them to define priorities and begin working towards achieving them."

The French government, the Afghan government and the Aga Khan sign a letter of intent on medical projects in Afghanistan
ReliefWeb
12 June 2008 - "The French Development Agency (AFD), an institution under the patronage of the French government ministries, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan decided to pursue their partnership for the benefit of the French Medical Institute for Children (FMIC) in Kabul."

La mosquée de Djingareyber - Tombouctou, Mali
TV5
Avril 2008 -"Restauration de la plus grande mosquée de Tombouctou : la mosquée de Djingareyber construite au XIVème siècle. La fondation Agha Khan est venue financer les travaux de ce patrimoine dont l'architecture en terre est très fragile. La beauté du site est une ressource essentielle à la survie de Tombouctou : c'est une halte touristique. Le chantier permet également d'apporter une vraie qualification professionnelle à la population locale... "

Broadband Infrastructure Progressing Well
Highway Africa News Agency (Grahamstown)
22 November 2007 - "The Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) has joined other African investors in backing the construction of a US$ 650 million undersea optic fibre cable linking Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya, and Tanzania with international broadband cables in South Africa, India and Europe (France)."

Aga Khan Trust Revives the Middle Ages
Al-Ahram
7 November 2007 -"The Khayrbek and Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban monumental complexes, two of the finest examples of Islamic mediaeval architecture in the Darb Al-Ahmar district of Cairo, have been restored."

Uganda: Bujagali Dam Work Starts
New Vision (Kampala)
21 August 2007 - "President Yoweri Museveni and the Aga Khan yesterday laid the foundation stone of what will go down in history as the biggest private investment in East-Africa and the largest independent power project in sub-Saharan Africa."

Works of art from the Aga Khan's collection on show in London
The Economist
26 July 2007- “The supposed ‘clash of cultures' is in reality nothing more than a manifestation of mutual ignorance,” writes the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world's 15m Ismaili Muslims, in his introduction to “Spirit & Life: Masterpieces of Islamic Art from the Aga Khan Museum Collection”. Be reassured: the exhibition, at the Ismaili Centre in London until August 31st, is no judgment-paralysing blockbuster. It is small but with big ambitions, both to educate and to delight."

Stunning debut for Toronto-bound treasures
Toronto Globe & Mail
Canada, 11 July 2007 - "On the top floor of the Ismaili Centre in London there is an architect's model for a building that will one day be built across the Atlantic Ocean: the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto."

First telemedicine system launched in Afghanistan
China View (Xinhua)
China, 20 June 2007 - "The first-ever telemedicine system in volatile Afghanistan was launched in capital Kabul on Wednesday to improve health services. The system, supported by an Afghan leading cellphone operator Roshan, will provide hospitals in Afghanistan with real-time access to specialist diagnosis, treatment and training expertise from abroad. Afghan Minister for Communications Amirzai Sangin formally launched the system, which is linked to Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi city of Pakistan. In the first phase, the system would link the Kabul-based French Medical Institute for Children (FMIC) to Aga Khan University Hospital, enabling access to a broad array of radiology expertise provided by the foreign hospital, he said."

Private sector role in Afghanistan's uplift underlined
Pajhwok Afghan News
Afghanistan, 4 June 2007 - "Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Prince Karim Aga Khan Monday called for the private sector to play a greater role in Afghanistan's development."

A prince of the Islamic world
The News
Pakistan, 13 November 2006 - "At a time when the Muslim world is groping in all directions for viable economic and development models, they should go and see how the Aga Khan Development Network, the world's largest private development network, operates. How it has helped millions to free themselves out of the poverty net..."

One on One: Interview with Peter Mansbridge
CBC
Canada, 28 October 2006 - "His Highness the Aga Khan is a friend of prime ministers and presidents, and someone who rarely shies away from dealing with the issues that confront the world, whether they concern conflicts, development or religion... This week, the Aga Khan joins us to discuss politics, relations and bridge-building between the West and the Islamic world."

"Islam is a Faith of Reason"
Der Spiegel
Germany, October 2006 - "Karim Aga Khan IV, descendant of the prophet Muhammad and spiritual leader of 20 million Ismaili Muslims, discusses the foundations of his faith, the controversy over the Pope's recent statements about Islam and ways of preventing a global clash between religions."

River Deep, Mountain High
Marie Claire
UK, Ocotber 2006 - "At the bottom of the mountain, Alam and Fatima remove their climbing gear. The sense of urgency has dissipated, and the women eagerly rehash the details of their latest rescue mission... Both Alam, 30, and Fatima, 35, are members of a search-and-rescue program for Focus Humanitarian Assistance, an emergency-response group affiliated with the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of international private agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities in the developing world."

"Aga Khan Speaks Out on Understanding of Muslims"
National Public Radio (NPR)
USA, October 2006 - "The Aga Khan is a Muslim leader of global stature who rarely appears on the airwaves..."

Teaching in Africa: A handful of educators struggles to bring order to the chaos of under-equipped schools
Vancouver Sun
Canada, 8 April 2006 - "The Aga Khan Development Network stands out as an example of an agency that almost always takes the longer view. It is involved in every aspect of development -- health, education, the economy and culture. It stresses sustainability, and it frequently uses business tools to attain social goals."

Kyrgyz, Afghan and Tajik Concert Sponsored by Aga Khan Music Initiative
New York Times
USA, 23 March 2006 - "The instruments were ancient, the music was old and new, and the presentation was subtly high-tech in "Music From Central Asia," a triple bill of ensembles from Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan on Tuesday night at the Miller Theater. The concert was part of a project sponsored by the Aga Khan Music Initiative, along with releases of albums by all three groups (and more to come), seeking to open Western ears to Central Asian music."

Alcan Sustainability Prize Awarded to Pakistani Urban Planning Organization
GreenBiz.com
Canada, 7 December 2005 - "Alcan Inc. and the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) have awarded the $1 million 2005 Alcan Prize for Sustainability to the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS) for its efforts to improve Pakistan's urban infrastructure, including water and sanitation facilities."

Goodwill Ambassador Jolie sees urgency of more aid in Pakistan
Alertnet.org
International, 28 November 2005 - Jolie and fellow actor Brad Pitt, jointly making the UNHCR-facilitated tour, had flown on board Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) helicopters that were carrying food into the isolated mountain-side strewn with the wreckage of wooden houses. AKF, an international aid and development organization which has been present in this part of Pakistan for many years, has worked closely with UNHCR in carrying aid into the mountains and evacuating thousands of injured.

Top-end hotel fills gap in Kabul
BBC
UK, 8 November 2005 - The Afghan capital, Kabul, has a new, international standard five-star hotel, the first to be built since the fall of the Taleban four years ago. President Hamid Karzai opened the Serena hotel, which has been built around the remains of another hotel badly damaged by fighting. It is hoped that it will help attract more business people to invest in the poverty-stricken country and in the longer term attract wealthy tourists.

Aid to a remote part of Pakistan
CNN
International, 12 October 2005 - Video: "The Aga Khan provides relief to earthquake vicitims in remote parts of Pakistan. Andrew North reports. Click on report on right under "WORLD" section.

Foundation helped her, now she walks for them
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
USA, 21 September 2005 - "Even local celebrities such as Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva had run out of food as another harsh winter tightened its grip on the remote Badakhshan region of Tajikistan. It was December 1992. The Soviet Union had collapsed, and civil war had plunged the former Soviet republic into chaos, cutting off food supplies.... One night, as fat snowflakes fell, Aslamshoyeva was called to the television station to broadcast an announcement. The words were the most important of her career. A group called the Aga Khan Foundation USA had arrived with food. The people of Badakhshan wouldn't starve." (requires registration)

Aga-Khan Schools Celebrate Centenary
The Monitor
Uganda, 4 September 2005 - "This year marks 100 years of existence of the Aga Khan Schools in East Africa dating back to 1905, when the first school was built on Zanzibar Island. The schools have since promoted quality education to students and the communities where they hail."

L´Afrique de l´Ouest a reçu la visite de l'Aga Khan
TV5
France, 4 August 2005 - "Entretien avec son Altesse l´Aga Khan, chef spirituel des Ismailis (Interview with His Highness the Aga Khan in Bamako, Mali)". Edition du 04/08/05, 7 et 8.

Ancient European Music Meets Central Asian Masters
RFE/RL, Europe - "Artists trying to preserve Europe's ancient music traditions have gathered at the St. Chartier Festival in central France for the past 30 years. In July, their knowledge of ancient music was illuminated by Central Asian masters -- both performers and instrument makers -- who were guests of the festival."

Market in the Park
Cairo Magazine
Egypt, 28 July 2005 - "Crocodile, snake, lizard, cow and sheep hides have been used since prehistory for creating durable leather goods, but at the Darb Al Ahmar craft exhibition at Al Azhar Park you can see something new in the ancient art - fish-scale leather. This original local craft is just one of many small businesses that have received a boost from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. After building the park itself, the Aga Khan Foundation is now focusing on the economic development of the adjacent neighborhood."

Firm Helping Small-Scale Farmers Penetrate EU Markets
The Nation
Kenya, 21 July 2005 - "Margaret Wambui might not realise it, but the French beans she grows in her small parcel of land are in popular demand in some of the biggest supermarkets in Europe. And she is not alone. She is among 30,000 small-scale farmers, spread out across rural Kenya, whose produce is eventually stocked in supermarket shelves in Europe." (Link is to AllAfrica.com; article is also available after registration at The Nation.)

Aga Khan helicopters head for Asia
EUropean Business Air News
UK, 14 July 2005 - "The Aga Khan Development Network has now taken delivery of all four AB139 helicopters for use in south and central Asia... The AB139s will operate in the remote and mountainous regions of south and central Asia to ferry personnel and materials for the construction of the three campuses of the University of Central Asia."

Best of Asia: Best Restored Treasure: Baltit Fort, Hunza Valley, Pakistan
Time Magazine
USA, 27 June 2005 - "Seven hundred years' worth of earthquakes, avalanches and neglect had turned it into a rubble-strewn heap, prompting the Mir to turn it over to the The Aga Khan Trust for Culture in 1989. The charitable foundation embarked on a restoration, which took six years and more than $3 million - and the results are stunning."

Hill forts restored in the Himalayas
The Times
UK, 13 June 2005 - "The enchantment of these forts is due not just to their majestic surroundings, with 12 of the world’s top 30 peaks. Here you can also see superb husbandry, with stone-walled terraces brimming with wheat and wild flowers. The Aga Khan Development Network is a remarkable enterprise, and this is one of the better thought-out aid initiatives. A new society is being fostered and, as the locals proudly point out, you do not see beggars here." (Use Search to locate)

Bringer of hope and fine architecture
The ArtNewspaper
Italy, 9 May 2005 - "In a rare interview, His Highness the Aga Khan describes his global approach to helping Islamic communities help themselves, while also restoring their past heritage."

Afghanistan's hospital midwives
BBC News
UK, 14 April 2005 - "The first class of 138 midwives graduated from a two year course funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the Aga Khan Development Network."

Greener pastures
Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt, 31 March 2005 - "Spreading over a hill in the heart of Islamic Cairo, the new Al-Azhar Park offers 15 million Cairenes, as well as tourists, some much needed leisure and recreational space with magnificent views of historic Cairo's countless architectural treasures."

Aga Khan to expand microfinance
Financial Times
UK, 23 February 2005 - "The creation of an agency aimed at expanding microfinance services in some of the world's poorest communities was announced yesterday by the Aga Khan development network with the support of the World Bank and donor governments. The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance will bring together the network's existing microfinance activities, now operating in 10 countries, and develop products relating to micro-insurance, small housing loans, savings accounts, education and health costs and small businesses."

46 Graduate in First Fete for Aga Khan Varsity
The Nation
Kenya, 7 December 2004 - "The Aga Khan University (Kenya campus) yesterday held its inaugural graduation ceremony, during which 46 students were awarded diplomas. At a simple but impressive ceremony at the institution's Nairobi grounds, it awarded five specialist diplomas in accident, emergency and disaster management (a one-year course), and 41 in Kenya registered community health nursing (which takes 18 months)."

Lavish ceremony celebrates visionary design
The Times
UK, 6 December 2004 - "The world of architecture overflows with awards, including the $100,000 American Pritzker Prize, the $200,000 Japanese Praemium Imperiale and Britain’s RIBA Gold Medal, which was founded in 1848. All are trumped in key ways by the Aga Khan’s triennial Awards for Architecture, which carries a bounty of $500,000 for projects that benefit Muslim communities."

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2004
ArchitectureWeek
USA, 1 December 2004 - Made of mud, sand, stone, glass, and steel, scaled from tiny to immense, designed for living, working, learning, and worshipping, a select collection of projects reveals a "comprehensive approach adopted to discover, understand, and explain the challenges of architecture in the Muslim world as it confronts modernity in all its diversity."

Le trophée hors normes des murs d'islam
Libération
France, 30 December 2004 - "Le prix Aga Khan pour l'architecture dans le monde musulman a été remis hier à sept lauréats. Fruit de trois ans d'enquêtes, il récompense autant des prouesses technologiques que des abris de fortune."

Monumental magic at Aga Khan Awards
Times of India
India, 28 November 2004 - "As the Humayun tomb glowed like a jewel, the 9th Aga Khan Architecture Awards were presented by the Aga Khan in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."

Aga Khan Award for Architecture Goes to Turkey
Zaman
Turkey, 28 November 2004 - "One of the world's most respected architectural awards, the 9th.Aga Khan Foundation Awards for Architecture, went this year to the B2 House designed by Turkish architect Han Tumertekin for Bilsar Tekstil's owners Selman and Suha Bilal. In the contest, which aims to understand and evaluate Islamic culture through architecture, a jury of nine people including artists, philosophers, architects and city planners evaluated 378 projects from 44 countries."

Cairo Digs Into Its Past to Give Park-Starved Residents an Oasis
Los Angeles Times
USA, 28 November 2004 - "In an unusual initiative combining horticulture, community development and archeology, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has created a 74-acre park atop a 500-year-old garbage dump. The rare green space offers Cairenes what they have been missing: an oasis to call their own. Dubbed Cairo's "Central Park," Al Azhar Park has been an instant hit." (Requires subscription)

The Spirit Behind the Aga Khan Awards
Washington Post
USA, 27 November 2004 - "At a ceremony today in Delhi, India, the ninth triennial Aga Khan Awards for Architecture will be conferred on seven winners. With a payout of $500,000, it's the world's most lavish design prize. Winning entries combine design excellence with the humanistic spirit of Islam. Worthiness can trump glamour."

Reclaiming lost musical legacy
The Hindu
India, 25 November 2004 - "Bringing alive traditions that were drowned in the louder sounds of gunfire for years is a group of musicians like Homayun who are trying to reclaim their lost legacy. Helped by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the old "ustads" have finally been reunited and found students who are willing to carry the rich past to a future."

Old Cairo transformed by park project
BBC On-line
UK, 23 November 2004 - "Most urban areas have one - an area that is a sort of no-man's land where no-one lives and which becomes ever more rundown. The site lies on the edge of Cairo's medieval Islamic city In Cairo this was the case of the land adjoining the Darb al-Ahmar district. For almost a millennium assorted dust, debris and rubbish was piled up along the eastern rim of Cairo's medieval city walls.... But thanks to a $45m seven-year project by the Aga Khan Development Network, the dumping ground has been transformed into al-Azhar Park - North Africa's largest urban green space."

In a Decaying Cairo Quarter, a Vision of Green and Renewal
New York Times
USA - "Can thoughtful urban planning heal deep cultural wounds? That is the question raised by the new 74-acre Azhar Park, whose luxurious hilltop gardens are meant to spawn a revival of this city's old decaying Islamic quarter. Conceived 20 years ago by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, a font of revitalization projects in the Muslim world, the project's aims could not be more noble. The park is the largest green space created in Cairo in over a century, reversing a trend in which unchecked development has virtually eradicated the city's once-famous parks. Built over a mountain of debris that had served as the city's garbage dump for centuries, it also replaces one of Cairo's most trenchant symbols of poverty and decay." (requires subscription)

Paradise is a garden, and Cairo now has its own
Daily Star
Lebanon, 21 September 2004 - "The 30-hectare park is a superb aesthetic achievement. Situated at a significant elevation adjacent to medieval Cairo, it provides stirring panoramas of centuries of Islamic grandeur, including the dense geometries and domed mausoleums of the City of the Dead. This cemetery, inhabited for generations by the poor, is revealed in all its poignant beauty, a vast and living memento mori skirting the edges of the city's heartland. The park and its several constructions (including a hilltop restaurant and a cafeteria beside a small lake) embody Islamic building and landscaping traditions to great effect. Scheduled to open in October, the park is already green, cool and inviting. By virtue of its presence, the surrounding neighborhoods have reacquired their prestige as generational communities and guardians of a rich legacy of Islamic architecture."

Ancient voices of the steppes
The Independent
UK, 20 September 2004 - "Abdurashidov has certainly been helped by the fact that Unesco has accorded shash maqam world-heritage status, but he's also supported by the Aga Khan, whose Central Asian "music initiative" funds both this academy and many others in the region. The Soviets may have done their best to obliterate national identity in the Stans, but they did encourage traditional musicians to meet and exchange ideas: in the post-1990 vacuum, those musicians found themselves cut off from both funding and fellowship, and the Aga Khan has moved to fill the gap, in the belief that music can help make these shattered nations whole again."

Yurts and yakkety yaks
The Observor
UK, 19 september 2004 - "The Aga Khan Trust for Culture has organised the first major European tour by Central Asian musicians. It arrives at the English National Opera in London on 1 October - one of the first times the venue has opened its doors to a non-operatic event."

"There's No Conflict Between Islam and Democracy"
Deutsche Welle
Germany, 12 September 2004 - "In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the hereditary imam of Shiite Ismaili Muslims, argues that today's Middle Eastern terrorists are fueled by political motivations and not religion." Deutsche version.

Water into Wires
Green Futures
UK, August 2004 - "Over 180 micro-hydro plants have now been installed all across Chitral by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). This NGO works not only with Ismaili communities (for whom the Aga Khan is spiritual leader), but with Sunni Muslims too, as well as the Kalash people - non-Muslims living in three valleys just east of the Afghan border, who proudly claim to be descended from the armies of Alexander the Great, passing through en route to India…."

Living under the Crescent Moon at IVAM
ArtDaily.com
12 June 2004 - "The Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) is presenting the first major exhibition to make an in-depth exploration of domestic culture in the Arab world, both in the past and in the present...The exhibition is sponsored by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is a collaboration with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in Geneva and the Fondation Arabe pour l’Image in Beirut and is subsidised by the Berlin Cultural Fund."

Egypt gets its own "central park"
Christian Science Monitor
USA,27 May 2004 - "Cairo's new Al Azhar Park, which began construction in 1997, is designed to reflect the Islamic heritage of the area. At a cost of $30 million, the park includes a citrus orchard, rows of palm trees, and waterfalls. A long, marble walkway in an Islamic geometric pattern directs the eye to a splendid view of Cairo's Citadel and its Mohamed Ali Mosque on the facing hill. The park also includes a playground, sports fields, an amphitheater, and an Islamic restaurant.To create the park, which was a garbage dump for about 500 years and later a mountain of dirt, 80,000 truckloads of rubble and soil had to be removed. A nearly one-mile stretch of Cairo's 12th-century Ayyubid Wall was uncovered and is being restored..."

If you have come across other mentions of the work of the Aga Khan Development Network, please send us an e-mail with the link.