From Combat to Reconstruction: Canada’s development role in Afghanistan
.As Canadian engagement in Afghanistan evolves, the international community re-examines its role in the country’s long-term development.
Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan didn’t end in the summer of 2011 when the flag was lowered at Kandahar Airfield. The Canadian Government and non-government agencies remain deeply involved in rebuilding of the country, as Afghans begin to take the reins of their social and economic development.
Partnering with local development organizations, Canadians are making valuable contributions to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. But the fragile security situation and overwhelming development needs cast an uncertain light on the country’s future.
To discuss the prospects for long-term development in Afghanistan, Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) is pleased to invite you to a special event featuring William Crosbie, Canada’s former Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Kevin Moorhead, former CEO of Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan.
Our featured guests will share their thoughts on the future implications for Afghan development, followed by a Q&A where attendees will be invited to join the discussion. Refreshments will be served.
We hope you will join us:
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
5:00PM - 6:30PM
The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat
199 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 1K6
Please note that there is no parking at the Delegation. Street parking is available nearby, on Boteler Street, Dalhousie Street, Parent Avenue, and Bolton Street. Please take care to respect all posted parking regulations. The Delegation has visitor entrances on Sussex Drive and Boteler Street.
Take steps to help end global poverty at the 28th annual World Partnership Walk on Sunday, May 27th at 10:00 am Lumbermen's Arch, Stanley Park.
An initiative of Aga Khan Foundation Canada, the Walk is organized by volunteers in ten cities across Canada, and attracts thousands of Canadians united in a common effort to bring hope and renewal to some of the poorest communities in the world. The Walk has raised over $60 million and 100% funds raised go directly to international development programs.
It's a family and dog friendly event with a 5 km walk, live entertainment, fun activities, great food and lots more! Registration is FREE.
Media Advisory - World Partnership Walk kicks off this weekendCanadians taking steps to end global poverty
OTTAWA, May 25, 2012 /CNW/ - Over three Sundays this spring, Canadians will come together to participate in the World Partnership Walk, Canada's largest annual event to raise funds and increase awareness to fight global poverty.
The event, which begins Sunday, May 27, 2012, unites tens of thousands of Canadians from all walks of life in a common effort to bring hope and renewal to impoverished communities in Asia and Africa. Every dollar (100%) goes directly to international development programs. Not one cent is spent on administration.
DATES:
Sunday, May 27th in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria
Sunday, June 3rd in London, Montréal and Regina
Sunday, June 10th in Edmonton, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa
TIME: The Walk begins in each city at 11 a.m.
LOCATIONS:
Toronto—Metro Hall
Vancouver—Stanley Park, Lumbermen's Arch
Victoria—Beacon Hill Park, Cameron Bandshell
London—Springbank Gardens (June 3rd)
Montréal—Parc Jean-Drapeau (June 3rd)
Regina - Legislative Grounds, Wascana Park (June 3rd)
Edmonton - Legislature Grounds (June 10th)
Calgary—Prince's Island Park, Enmax Stage (June 10th)
Kitchener-Waterloo — Waterloo Public Square (June 10th)
Ottawa - Major's Hill Park (June 10th)
PRESS KITS: At 10 a.m., press kits will be available at the media desk at each location and representatives of the Walk will be available to answer questions.
THE EVENT:
The Walk is an initiative of Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), a non-profit international agency that supports social development programs in Asia and Africa. The Walk brings together Canadians from every background to support and learn about programs that help individuals and communities in Asia and Africa rise from poverty. All of the funds raised by the Walk (100%) go to international development initiatives.
Last year nearly 40,000 Canadians came together to raise more than $7 million in Calgary, Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Ottawa, Montreal, Saskatoon, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. Since the Walk's inception, individual and corporate supporters, volunteers and walkers have helped raise more than $70 million in support of international development initiatives.
WHEREAS since its inception in 1985, the World Partnership Walk has grown from modest beginnings to being the largest annual event in Canada that promotes and supports effective international development based on partnership with the people of the developing world.
On May 27, 2012, thousands of people of all ages, from cities across Canada and from different backgrounds and walks of life, will participate in this event as volunteers, walkers and sponsors, to show their support for those less fortunate in communities around the world.
The objective of the Walk is to increase public awareness of the vital role Canada plays in the field of international development and to highlight the significant advancements being made by the people of the developing world.
The Walk also raises funds to help reduce global poverty through cost-effective and innovative undertakings that seek to improve the standards of health and education, enhance gender equality, protect the environment and increase incomes in poor areas of Asia and Africa.
NOW THEREFORE, I, Mayor Rob Ford, on behalf of Toronto City Council, do hereby proclaim May 27, 2012 as "World Partnership Walk Day"in the City of Toronto to recognize the tremendous commitment and contribution of everyone to raise awareness and bring positive change to developing communities around the world.
A World of Experience – Celebrating Young Canadians
Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s (AKFC) International Development Fellowship Program is underway for its 23rd year, sending early-career Canadian professionals to work for eight months in international development placements overseas. The 2012 fellowships cover a variety of fields, such as health, microenterprise, early childhood education, and journalism.
As the country celebrated Canada Day, 20 young Canadians were getting ready to bring a little bit of Canada to parts of the developing world.
“I applied for the fellowship because I feel that in order to effectively understand the intricacies of development, field experience is absolutely essential,” says Gillian Griffin, a 2012 fellow who has been placed with Aga Khan Foundation Tanzania, in Mtwara. “My goal is to learn, have fun, and to step outside of my comfort zone as much as possible.”
AKFC fêted the 2012 fellows on June 6th, hosting a reception at the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat to celebrate their achievements and wish them luck.
Khalil Z. Shariff, CEO of AKFC, spoke to the assembled guests, congratulating the fellows and highlighting the importance of investing in leadership among young Canadians working overseas.
Current and past fellows also took to the stage, to participate in a panel discussion on the impacts of the fellowship on their personal and professional paths.
Among the panelists was Tracey Clark, managing director of Bridgehead – a café chain and coffee roastery in Ottawa committed to fair trade, organic products. She pinpointed her participation in the fellowship 20 years ago as an important chapter in her life, cementing her commitment to working on issues of global development.
On June 7th, the outgoing fellows joined AKFC staff and other members of the development community to hear from the 2011 fellows returning from the field.
The returning fellows highlighted their diverse experiences overseas: one detailed her work designing educational materials for home gardening techniques in Mozambique; another spoke of drafting a code of rights and responsibilities for microfinance clients in Tajikistan; a third outlined his experiences promoting beekeeping as a method of income generation for farmers in Kenya.
The reception and presentations were part of a broader program to prepare the 2012 fellows for their overseas placement. Each year, the new cohort of fellows gathers in the nation’s capital for a month-long seminar, participating in sessions that cover the gamut of international development, from grant management to intercultural effectiveness to gender theory.
“I want to learn about the practical side of working in international development,” says Ada Sonnenfeld, a 2012 fellow who has been placed with Aga Khan Foundation Bangladesh, in Dhaka. “I applied for the Fellowship because I thought the seminar would provide a crucial practical instruction in international development, [which is] missing from academic studies.”
At the end of the seminar, fellows briefly return to their hometowns before departing for their placement at the beginning of July.
Check back to akfc.ca, to keep up to date with the 2012 fellows’ dispatches from the field as they each begin their journey in one of eight countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mozambique, Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
.
More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print Share on reddit Share on stumbleupon Share on favorites Share on gmail
Global Challenges: Multilateral Solutions – Launch of the 2011 Canadian Development Report
.On February 9th, the North-South Institute (NSI), in partnership with Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), was pleased to unveil the 2011 Canadian Development Report (CDR). The event was part of International Development Week, which encourages Canadians to engage with Canada’s development community.
More than 200 people attended the launch of the report, Global Challenges: Multilateral Solutions. The report focuses attention on the multilateral aid system’s ability to address global challenges, as the landscape of world economic power shifts.
Margaret Biggs, President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), delivered the opening keynote address, highlighting the changing face of the development community.
“This new ecosystem… will be an interaction among many different development actors,” said Ms. Biggs. “In my view, the future probably lies in… working for a common cause, on common objectives and shared principles.”
The 2011 CDR draws on NSI’s conference in June 2011, Multilateral Development Cooperation in a Changing Global Order, which broached the future of development cooperation. The report analyses the evolving aid landscape, proposes alternative models for development cooperation, and recommends reforms to the current system.
In his remarks, Joseph K. Ingram, President and CEO of the NSI, highlighted the importance of engaging emerging actors.
“It means taking into account the collective concerns of the key global stakeholders – the emerging economies, the low-income countries many of which are fragile, and potential threats to regional and global stability – as well as the so-called developed economies,” Mr. Ingram said.
The CDR – now in its fifteenth year – is the NSI’s flagship annual publication. It includes analysis and topical essays on international development, as well as a comprehensive statistical annex which provides important insights into Canada's relations with developing countries. AKFC has supported the national and international distribution of this year’s CDR.
Attendees also got a sneak peek of the Canadian International Development Platform (CIDP) – an online data platform hosted by the NSI. The CIDP gathers open-source data on Canada’s engagement with the developing world, not only in terms of development aid, but also on issues such as trade, investment, and migration. The CIDP aggregates and analyses the data, making it available to the public on an interactive web platform, which is due for official launch later this year.
Agakhan Foundation Canada co-funds regional cooperation conference in Central Asia
29/08/2012 - Regional cooperation conference strengthens ties between Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
Category: Politics, Analyses & Opinions
Published on Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Written by Victor Winner BISHKEK, August 29 (TCA) — The project "Regional cooperation and confidence-building in Afghanistan and Central Asia", funded by the Government of Canada and the Aga Khan Foundation in Canada (AKFC), implemented by the University of Central Asia (UCA) together with the Centre for Trade Policy and Law under Carleton University, is hosting a seminar for 60 government officials from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan at lake Issyk-Kul from August 25 to September 2.
Building Regional Cooperation in Afghanistan and Central Asia: A Visit from Dr. Bohdan Krawchenko
A new project at the University of Central Asia (UCA) seeks to strengthen economic relations between Afghanistan and the countries of the wider region of Central Asia, by undertaking a program of policy research, dissemination and professional development for public servants.
In partnership with Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the UCA has recently launched the Regional Cooperation and Confidence Building in Afghanistan and Central Asia (RCCB) project.
“Central Asia is a region geographically and it has a common past. It has common problems [but] there is no common vision of today, let alone tomorrow,” says Prof. Bohdan Krawchenko, Director General of the UCA. “If you live in Ukraine, despite the political difficulties there, you know the European Union awaits you 10 years down the road. If you live in Central Asia, in that very difficult neighbourhood, what is your future?”
He made the remarks during a visit to Canada on June 18th and 19th, where he met with senior officials to discuss the new project.
Prof. Krawchenko has strong links to Canada. He taught at the University of Alberta and worked for many years with lawmakers in the federal and Alberta governments. He is now translating that governmental experience overseas, by overseeing the Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA) – a new institution formed under UCA’s Graduate School of Development as part of the RCCB project.
“This is a very difficult topic, when you talk about Afghanistan in Central Asia everybody talks about it at the geopolitical level. It’s talked about as a problem of security, as a problem of the narcotics trade,” said Prof. Krawchenko during his visit. “But economic relations, and the possibility of economic growth underpinning a more stable political environment remains less explored.”
By engaging the governments of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan, the IPPA will help public servants improve their policy analysis and recommendations on regional cooperation, as well as offer networking and professional development opportunities.
Prof. Krawchenko says public servants from all four participating countries are keen to participate in the program.
“These are countries that frequently go into trade negotiations… with very little background in the economics of trade, trade policy, and trade negotiation,” he says. “Because this is training at a professional level that is geared very much to what they do at work, they are quite enthusiastic about this.”
The 15-month, $2.4-million RCCB project will train 60 public servants drawn from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. The IPPA will also undertake a comprehensive research program on cooperation in Central Asia, and Prof. Krawchenko says this research will be important in mapping the economic future of Central Asia.
Because of the project, he says UCA will have the largest and most systematic body of knowledge on economic relations between Central Asian countries in the world, adding, “What we are fundamentally concerned about is economic development, and the creation of conditions that will facilitate that development. Our tool is education.”
Lees: Innovative surgery gets golf fanatic back in the swing of things
By Nick Lees, Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON - A creative surgeon made sure Eric Newell could play last week in a golf tournament that raised a Canadian record of $534,400 to fight global poverty.
The Aga Khan Foundation’s World Partnership in Golf is played in eight cities across Canada and was this year held at the Derrick Golf Club.
Nutrition on the Table: Micronutrients and Global Child Survival
.A conversation with Dr. Robert E. Black and special guests
Reducing hidden hunger – a chronic lack of essential vitamins and minerals – is vital not only to individual child development, but to building strong, healthy societies for the future. That was the message of esteemed child health researcher Dr. Robert E. Black, at the Nutrition on the Table: Micronutrients and Global Child Survival panel discussion on September 7.
Sep 22-28: AKFC Univ. Series in Toronto, Montreal, London, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa
Courtesy of BC Ed Board.
Summary: The 2012 Aga Khan Foundation Canada University Series is going to be held at 6 Canadian Universities between September by 22-28. Apologies for the short notice.
The theme is: Against All Odds: Gender and Education in the Developing World.
The 2 speakers are:
Jane Rarieya, Associate Professor and Head of Teaching Programmes at Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development in Tanzania
Ms. Jennifer Blinkhorn, Director of Education with Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan.
Details below. Registration needed. If anyone has or plans to attend, can you please let me know to get some requested feedback? Thanks.
Details:
Against All Odds: Gender and Education in the Developing World
September 22nd – 28th, 2012
AKFC is pleased to announce the 2012 University Seminar Series—an opportunity for students to interact with development practitioners from the South and to learn more about key issues and challenges in the field of international development. The series will be held at universities across Canada between September 22nd and 28th, 2012.
Drawing on Experiences from Afghanistan and East Africa
The 2012 University Seminar Series will focus on the challenges and successes of education in the developing world – particularly for girls and women. This year’s distinguished speakers are Dr. Jane Rarieya, Associate Professor and Head of Teaching Programmes at Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development in Tanzania, and Ms. Jennifer Blinkhorn, Director of Education with Aga Khan Foundation Afghanistan. Drawing on examples from Afghanistan and East Africa, the speakers will provide a window into the educational context of their respective regions, particularly the barriers overcome by girls who succeed in school and continue on to higher learning.
Dr. Rarieya and Ms. Blinkhorn will be presenting together in the following cities across Canada:
September 22nd
University of Ottawa, Ottawa
Click here to register
September 24th
University of Toronto, Toronto
Click here to register
September 25th
McGill University, Montreal
Click here to register
September 26th
Western University, London
Click here to register
September 27th
University of Alberta, Edmonton
Click here to register
September 28th
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Click here to register
For more information please contact Melisa Yoon: melisa@akfc.ca, or 1-800-267-2532, ext. 131.
AKFC thanks the Canadian International Development Agency for its support.
Disclosure of Grant and Contribution Awards Over $25,000 Reports | 2012 - 2013 - 1st quarter
Recipient Name: Aga Khan Foundation Canada
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Date: 2012-06-08
Value: $74,750,000.00
Type: Contribution
Purpose: Partnership for Advancing Human Development in Africa and Asia 2012-2017
Comments: 1. Multi-year award for fiscal years 2012-13 to 2017-18
Against All Odds: Gender and Education in the Developing World
.AKFC is pleased to announce the 2012 University Seminar Series—an opportunity for students to interact with development practitioners from the South and to learn more about key issues and challenges in the field of international development. The series will be held at universities across Canada between September 22nd and 28th, 2012.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Profile
Login to check your private messages
