AKDN’s programme in Pakistan is, in experiential terms, the most studied development programme in the Network. Many of the methods employed elsewhere by AKDN agencies, and replicated by other NGOs and governments, were tried first and then refined in Pakistan. AKDN’s earliest coordinated area development programme included community mobilisation, infrastructure development, microfinance lending and savings, agricultural programmes that encompass land reclamation, irrigation and forestry, curative health care, preventive community health schemes and world-class medical training, education from pre-primary to postgraduate levels, the introduction of clean-water supplies and sanitation facilities, the construction of mini hydro-electric plants in remote communities, and the restoration of historic buildings, monuments and housing. Activities are largely concentrated in the mountainous Northern Areas, North West Frontier (Chitral) and Baltistan provinces as well as in the Punjab, Baluchistan and Sind provinces.
The Talloires Network and the MacJannet Foundation today (16/04/2009) announced the winners of the first annual MacJannet Prize for Global Citizenship. The first place winner is the Urban Health Program based in Aga Khan University in Pakistan. From the press release: "This innovative and long-standing program run by Aga Khan University’s Department of Community Health Sciences provides critical health and socio-economic support to the squatter settlements of Karachi."
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