With the support of UKAid, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is working with the Mountain Society Development Support Programme and local grass roots organisations, the University of Central Asia as well as the Accelerate Prosperity initiative, to tackle the sources of resource instability in the border areas of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The programme, entitled Improving Stability and Natural Resource Management in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, has been working to improve access and management of irrigation water, drinking water and grazing lands by rehabilitating existing infrastructure. The programme has rehabilitated 109 sites to date. More than 300,000 people in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have benefitted from the programme, through improvements to irrigation canals, drinking water systems, access routes to pasture lands, as well as to improved pasture infrastructure for livestock such as veterinary and watering sites.

A free outdoor exhibition capturing the world’s oldest trade route, with travel photographer Christopher Wilton-Steer will feature at the Aga Khan Centre from 8 April to 16 June. Comprised of over 160 photographs, The Silk Road: A Living History invites visitors to take the journey, to encounter fascinating people, places and cultures along the way. The Silk Road: A Living History exhibition celebrates the diversity of cultural expression found along the route, highlighting how historical practices, rituals and customs live on today. Created with the Aga Khan Foundation, the show also seeks to engender interest and understanding between distant cultures and challenge perceptions of less well-known and understood parts of the world.