AKDN and its institutional predecessors have been active in Kenya for nearly a century. Many AKDN institutions began as voluntary organisations but grew into strong institutions - the Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) and the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS), among them - that opened their doors to all East Africans and went on to make important contributions to the development of the nation. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) has also made key investments in Kenyan industry and infrastructure, including electricity generation, agriculture, media and tourism. In coming years, the Aga Khan University (AKU) will expand its activities in health care and the professional education of doctors, nurses and teachers.
The “brain drain” of medical professionals from developing to developed countries hampers the delivery of quality health programmes in many developing countries, but its cause is not simply the attraction of better paying jobs abroad. The quality of the equipment and the facilities, the availability of advanced training, and opportunities for research and career advancement also play a role in retention. More
Speech by Prince Hussain Aga Khan at the Launch of Lions Clubs International-AKDN Tree Planting Initiative in Nairobi City Park (Nairobi, Kenya)
19 October 2011 - Speech by Prince Hussain Aga Khan at the Launch of Lions Clubs International-AKDN Tree Planting Initiative in Nairobi City Park
1.5 Million Trees to Be Planted in Kenya by AKDN and Lions Clubs International
19 October 2011 - To address the rapid deforestation taking place in Kenya, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and Lions Clubs International have teamed up to plant 1.5 million trees in Kenya by June 2012. The programme is part of a broader effort by AKDN institutions to plant 10 million trees by 2014.
New Graduate School of Media and Communications Launched at Aga Khan University in Kenya
28 July 2011 - Aga Khan University’s Graduate School of Media and Communications in Nairobi was launched at a foundation stone ceremony held in the presence of Prime Minister Raila Odinga and His Highness the Aga Khan. The School, which will begin accepting students in 2014, is dedicated to educating media leaders – and fostering media institutions – who will advance the highest standards of competence, ethics, professionalism and social responsibility in their industry.
A milestone in the work of the AKDN in East Africa was the Enabling Environment Conference in Nairobi in 1986. This Conference was in many ways a watershed in donor/government relationships in Africa. It highlighted the crucial and complex relationships between civil society and development, between effective legislation and individual enterprise and between macro-economic policies and growth. It came at a time when structural adjustment programmes were calling for somewhat simplistic macro-economic measures and helped to highlight the complexities of development issues in Africa. The conference also provided impetus to a shift in strategy for East Africa. By the early 1990s, a marked emphasis on strengthening civil society began to emerge.
The Conference had an important impact on the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) which had been active in Kenya since 1974, working in health, education, rural development, civil society enhancement and the environment (in 1996, the Foundation’s branches in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda merged under a common regional management and governance structure).
Today, several AKDN agencies contribute to Kenya’s development. AKES provide 10,000 children with education. AKHS serves over 460,000 patients every year in medical institutions throughout the region. AKF works to improve the quality of life in resource-poor coastal areas. The Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa is the first of an international network of schools dedicated to excellence in education. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), which has made bold but calculated investments in economic projects ranging from power generation to agri-businesses, operates some of Africa’s most successful companies, including many listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It also provides employment to tens of thousands of Kenyans.
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Since its establishment in 2005, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) has taken over 25 years of microfinance activities, programmes and banks that were administered by sister agencies within the AKDN. The underlying objectives of the Agency are to reduce poverty, diminish the vulnerability of poor populations and alleviate economic and social exclusion. more
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