PAKISTAN INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Any Institutional activities in the world
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Microsoft, AFK sign memo

Karachi—Microsoft Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) have reached an understanding to explore the potential and challenges of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development with prominent Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country.

An announcement here on Wednesday said that under the agreement, the AKF(P), through financial assistance from Microsoft Pakistan, will organize a dialogue in Islamabad next month with prominent CSOs/NGOs who have been using ICTs to address challenges of income and other poverty, health, education, environment, cultural heritage and participation in the country. It said that Kamal Ahmed, General Manager, Microsoft Pakistan, commented that the initiative will help highlight and develop ICTs awareness amongst individuals and institutions from all across the country.

The CSOs/NGOs will become a more formidable player in the spread of knowledge and education which are the crucial tools of progress in today’s age. The one-day event will highlight areas where ICTs can benefit resource-constrained local CSOs/NGOs and identify opportunities to use these technologies as community-facing solutions that yield tangible outcomes for their beneficiaries.

Dr Karim Ali bhai, Chief Executive Officer, AKF (P) said that “the event will facilitate CSOs/NGOs to forge strong linkages and promote usage of technology for finding creative solutions to local challenges.” —APP
http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=16086
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Art competition in Pakistan raises awareness of environmental issues
Posted by admin on February 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment

In Islam, protection of the physical environment is one of humankind’s responsibilities as stewards of the Earth. As part of its “Ethic of Sustainable Environment,” the Aga Khan Development Network’s Ethical Framework notes that “care of the environment, in its comprehensive meaning, is a duty of trusteeship which humankind owes by virtue of its vicegerency over creation.”
As issues of climate change, pollution and energy consumption dominate world headlines, members of the Jamat, together with other citizens of the world, are increasingly aware of their own impact and responsibility over the environment. While younger generations in particular may witness the full force of these issues, they are also able to contribute towards solutions.


In December 2007, the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan launched an art competition with the objective of encouraging youth to participate in a fun activity, while simultaneously raising awareness about the importance of the natural environment and methods of preserving it. The Friends of the Environment competition brought together young participants from cities and villages across the country to explore these issues through drawing and painting.

Supported by the Ismaili Council for Pakistan, the contest was organised in three age groups comprising 9 to 20-year olds and drew some 40 000 participants at more than 1 000 screening locations. Artwork themes covered a variety of topics including contaminated water, noise pollution and the impact of earthquakes in Pakistan.

Based on the quality of their work, around 4 000 participants were selected to take part in local competitions where they were given an art kit and had 90 minutes to produce a new piece. A jury evaluated their work on criteria that included originality, skill, ability to inspire, and thematic relevance.

Three-hundred twelve local winners advanced to regional competitions held at ten locations across Pakistan, where they were asked to create works of art representing one of eight themes. A jury of artists of national repute then selected 30 winners. These larger events were also marked by presentations and small exhibitions on the environment, as well as the distribution of certificates.


The Friends of the Environment competition culminated at Lahore in June 2008 with an impressive final ceremony that celebrated all the contributions and recognised the top 30. Winning pieces were placed on display for the public and artists from the oldest age category inspired attendees by performing live paintings.

Addressing an audience of 700, Chairman Hafiz Sherali of the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan said “the paintings that are on display not only reflect the artistic abilities of our youth but also light a candle of hope, that we may live in a healthy environment.” The audience was also treated to a stunning musical performance by Shehzad Roy, President of Zindagi Trust, while major national media networks provided coverage of the festivities.

Friends of the Environment shed light on a number of talented artists and engaged many youth in issues affecting the environment. Some may seek to contribute to environmental initiatives, including projects already underway in Pakistan, such as the rehabilitation of the Altit and Baltit forts in the Northern Areas or the promotion of indoor air purification technologies for populations in rural areas.

With a generation of artists and youth better informed about the challenges of the environment, Pakistan may look to the future with greater hope.

http://www.heritage.com.pk/articles/art ... al-issues/
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Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS) and smoke-free stoves

http://www.ips.org/mdg3/pakistan-smoke- ... age-women/
PAKISTAN: Smoke-free Stoves A Godsend for Village Women
Posted by admin on February 25, 2010

By Zofeen Ebrahim
THATTA, Pakistan, Feb 25 (IPS) Forty-something and unlettered, Sona
Siddiqi never imagined she would become the most sought-after woman in her village of Ramzan Katiar.

Here in the Union Council Gharo of Thatta district in Sindh province, some
125 kilometres from the southern port city of Karachi, Siddiqi is happily
making a living by building earthenware stoves for the villagers.

No ordinary stoves, these are godsend for rural women. The low-cost
elongated stoves with two cells help save precious fuel wood in an area
already stripped of trees. They are also a boon to women such as Rozan
Nazar, who no longer have to walk five km, at times more, every day to
collect firewood.

Octogenarian Fatema Hasan recalled that there once was a jungle around her village. "We didn’t have to walk that far. But today these
women have to walk such distances because we cut down trees and did not plant any to replace them," said Hasan.

On the average, a woman would be spending 15 hours a week collecting wood. "It used to take me between two and three hours just to collect wood which is good for a day, sometimes two," said Nazar. "You
can’t imagine how much of a relief this is. My life has eased so
much."

The other women nod in agreement. They spend the extra time they get doing embroidery, chatting with each other. "I love that! We never had time to do that earlier!" Nazar exclaimed.

Siddiqi is enjoying being in the limelight for her stoves: "I didn’t know I could be good at anything."

She first learnt about the energy-efficient, smokeless stoves through a
team from the non-government Indus Development Forum (IDF) that came to their village to do a demonstration. "I volunteered to construct one after they demolished their sample," narrated Siddiqi.

This was nine months ago. She has so far constructed 16 stoves, and for
every stove she receives 50 Pakistani rupees (58 U.S. cents) from the
forum.

It takes her half a day to build a stove, including digging up the soil,
mixing it with other materials and then installing the stove. "It
takes three days for it to be completely dry," she said.

Each stove uses about 15 kilogrammes of soil mixed with rice husk, wheat
straw and donkey excreta. "It has to be donkey dung, not buffalo,
because the latter burns and is not strong enough to sustain heat,"
said Javed Shah, the man who invented the smokeless stove.

"It’s not rocket science, really," said Shah, a technical
adviser with the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS), a
non-government organisation that works for the improved living conditions
of communities.

Apart from soil, making the smokeless stoves also involves using the
wooden template that is provided by the IDF, two empty tin canisters, a
small plastic tub, an empty plastic litre-size soda bottle and a clay pipe
that acts as a chimney.

"Training people, especially women, was part of the project,"
said Hameed Sabzoi, IDF director.

The project was sponsored by the small grants programme of the Global
Environment Facility of the United Nations Development . Under the
one-year project from December 2008 to 2009, IDF had pledged to install
1,000 stoves in 15 villages in Gharo. The union council has a population
of about 18,000 to 20,000 and comprises 35 villages with 50 or more
households each.

The organisation at first wanted to charge 50 rupees for the installation
of each stove, but soon realised that the poor villagers could not pay
even the small amount. "We then decided to provide the stoves for
free," said IDF’s Sabzoi.

Shah first came up with the idea of energy-efficient metal stoves for the
northern areas of Pakistan in 1985. "Conditions like asthma and eye
infections among women and children were phenomenal in that area," he
said. "We realised it was due to smoke and soot."

Biomass fuel - wood, crop residues and animal dung - is used in
four-fifths of households in Pakistan and is a major source of indoor air
pollution when burnt for cooking, for providing heat and lighting up
homes, according to Sabzoi.

In 1987, while working in the villages of Sindh’s coastal area, Shah
realised that women were facing similar health problems there. "But
the weather did not permit the use of metal stoves. It would get very hot
in these villages in summer," he said.

So, Shah came up with stoves that used local soil.

"We succeeded in installing some 890 stoves (in the 15 villages in
Gharo)," said Sabzoi.

Noor Khatoon, a 40 year-old mother of four, said she preferred the new
stove: "It takes less time for the food to get cooked than in the
traditional one."

Her cousin Dhaniani will get a smoke-free stove after the family finishes
reconstructing their home, which was flooded during heavy rains last year.
When she tried cooking on Khatoon’s stove, she found that it took
almost half the usual time and used very little wood.

The food was tastier too, specially the roti, Khatoon added.
"That’s because the heat is evenly distributed all around the
pan, unlike in the traditional one," she explained.

Some residents have added further innovations in their stoves. A copper
coil connected to the side of the combustion chamber and connected to a
barrel of water warms the water so it can be used for bathing especially
during winter, said Sabzoi.

Roma Juma, 37, was using the energy-efficient stove long before the IDF
team came to her village in Mohammad Hashim Katchi Mundro. She has warm water available all the time. The seamstress now takes orders and builds stoves for her neighbours.

"I did it for free in the beginning, but when more and more women
started coming with similar requests, I decided to charge them," said
Juma. She charges 100 rupees (1.17 dollars) for her labour and has so far
built about 150 stoves.

Her relatives in Karachi have asked her to build them some too. "They
say their gas and electricity bills have skyrocketed, and they want me to
go there and install the stoves for them," she chuckled.

An evaluation by the Aga Khan services in 2005, called the smoke-free
stoves a "runaway bestseller" that has helped reduce wood use by
40 to 45 percent.

Masood Mahesar, a development worker and former provincial manager at
AKPBS-Pakistan, said more than 10,000 stoves have been installed in
Sindh’s Thatta, Badin, Hyderabad and Matiari districts. "A few
thousand have also been replicated by the communities themselves," he
told IPS.

But this is a drop in the ocean in a region of 50,000 villages. Thousands
remain unaware of the stove and either cut trees or pay 250 rupees (nearly
3 dollars) for 40 kilos of expensive fuel wood.

Filed Under: From IPSNews
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http://www.groundreport.com/Business/Ag ... ov/2918650

Aga Khan Rural Support program promoting Local Govt System
by G. H. Farooqui February 26, 2010


One day workshop on local Government Assessment Tools for representatives of Local Govt. LSO and CSOs held at Chitral.

CHITRAL: A day long workshop on local government assessment tools for representatives of local government, local support organizations (LSO) and Community support organizations (CSOs) held here in Chitral organized by Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) Chitral. Hussain Ahmad of AKRSP was facilitator on the occasion. During the workshop the participants were briefed regarding good governance and its implementation. He said that after devolution of power local government system introduced for solving problems of public and their development on gross root level. He said that the system is very good but it still needs more improvement and enhancement capacity building of local government representatives. He said that good governance is ladder of a welfare state. He said main objectives of these series of workshop by AKRSP to aware general public and enhances capacity building of related persons for boosting and succession this news system for relief of common people. He said after completing of these trainings a pressure group would be mentally prepare who will support for good governance and democracy in the country. because only a democratic state can develop and promote its public.

He said for good governance it is necessary to be dealt with equity and equality, transparency, and to launch coordinated efforts for boosting this system for benefit of poor segments of the society. He said that good governance must should have characteristics of participatory, transparency, accountability, equality and justice, efficient and effective self-accountability for eradicating corruptions and short falling from the society. Shah Abul Mansoor Area Manager AKRSP Booni briefed role of civil society in good governance and implementation of decisions regarding benefiting of public passed by policy makers. He said that we never achieve our hundred percent goals until we aware the masses about basic information and rule regulations as well as to their capacity building about its basic.

Fazli Malik manager institutional development of AKRSP in his concluding remarks said that our goal is an integrated approach and coordinated efforts to achieve our goal for implementing of good governance and to support democracy, which is the main foundation stone of development. He highly appreciated services of Sartaj Ahmad Khan former Tehsil Nazim for promoting public private partnership at first time in Chitral and promoting mutual harmony among different segments of the societies. Who also supported and facilitated different LSOs and promoted this concept for gross root development and solving of people problems by working extra ordinary (day and nibht). He said that although local government system having some deficiency and short falling but even than it was good system than in past but it need more improvement for an ideal and excellence system. It will be more success if existing gapes were eradicating but it will be possible when our society especially civil society are well aware and trained about its basic tools. A large number of male and female participants from government and non-government organizations and civil societies participated in the workshop.


G.H. Farooqi PO Box No. 50 GPO Chitral Pakistan phone No. 03025989602, 0943-302295, 414418
Email: gulhamad@gmail.com
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http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=226676

Training leads to considerable drop in stillbirths
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
By our correspondent

Karachi

One in 10 newborns in Pakistan is either stillborn or dies within seven days of birth. However, newborn stillbirths in Pakistan and five other developing countries dropped by almost a third when the rural health workers received newborn care training, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine with research contributed by Aga Khan University’s Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates there are more than three million stillbirths worldwide each year, with almost 70 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including Pakistan, where the majority of births are handled by unskilled attendants.

“Through the training we tried to bring important skills for newborn care to communities,” said Dr Imtiaz Jehan, Associate Professor CHS, who headed the research in Pakistan. “These may be simple interventions, but they can help build capacity and make a huge impact.”

The study was conducted in Thatta District and involved over 650 birth attendants in 16 union councils covering doctors, lady health visitors, nurses, midwives and traditional birth attendants from over 85 private and government health facilities, working in health care facilities as well as at homes.

Each attendant was provided the essential newborn care training as well as scales to accurately measure birth weight, hand-held pumps and masks to fill babies’ lungs with air, and clean-delivery kits to prevent infection.

The greatest decrease in stillbirth rates was among deliveries attended by nurses, midwives, and traditional attendants, all of whom, the researchers believe, would likely not have received such training. Dr Jehan said, “It is clear that there are low-cost, effective solutions available, which are essential for countries like ours, where physicians are not always readily available.”
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NGO Connection Day celebrated
Submitted 1 day 18 hrs ago

KARACHI (PR) - The Microsoft Pakistan and the Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan co-hosted the country’s first NGO Connection Day (NCD) at a ceremony in Islamabad.

The event encompassed an interactive dialogue on the ‘Role of ICTs for Development: Opportunities and Challenges’ where experts from academic institutions, private companies and non-profit organizations shared their perspectives on how Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) can benefit individuals and organizations to effectively address local issues and challenges.

Dr Karim Alibhai, CEO of the Agha Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF- P) said “The Foundation has been working to close the ‘Digital Divide’ by creating opportunities for computer and ICTs literacy among underserved communities in Pakistan.”

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news- ... celebrated
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Microsoft brings smile to minors
April 6th, 2010

The 21st Century has come with a lot of promises for growth and development. Scientists and Intellectuals come up with solutions every day to solve the complex mysteries of the galaxy. It remains surprising that poverty still remains a crucial concern and developing countries bear the brunt of it.

Abandoned children are an everyday sight for pedestrians and drivers; these children spend their days washing windshields, begging and sleeping on the dangerous sidewalks of Pakistan’s metropolis.

While for most of these millions of abandoned children; shelter, guidance and safety remains a fantasy, some have been lucky enough to be adopted by the Gehwara. Gehwara is a shelter that houses 30 children under the age of 6 years and is being run by the department of social works Government of Punjab

Realizing the importance of such institutions, Microsoft Pakistan organized an ‘Employee Volunteer Day’ in which Microsoft’s employees gave their time and talent to bring a smile on children’s faces. “Microsoft’s Employee Volunteer day is designed to inculcate the idea that giving back to society should not just be limited to monetary benefits and that the most valuable gifts are the talent and time one gives. It is our small but positive contributions that make a world worth living for.” Said Kamal Ahmed, Country Manager Microsoft Pakistan.

Microsoft Pakistan, as part of its global volunteer initiative, gives employees a day off with pay to adopt a socially responsible cause and contribute to the development of society. The novel idea was executed for the first time when a group of employees from Microsoft Pakistan decided to spend their time, and talent with the children of Gehwara. The employees spent a whole day with children who were jubilant from the toys, clothing and shoes gifted to them from Microsoft employees from all over the Pakistan.

The School Administration, Mr. Aslam Metla appreciated the initiative by Microsoft “I must appreciate the step taken by the Microsoft employees and Microsoft itself. Programs like these underscore the importance of volunteer action to make a difference in the lives of the disadvantaged. We hope this will also encourage other organizations to come forward and work with the communities where they operate.”

The day long event included a meet and greet amongst the children, Microsoft’s staff and the school administration. The scene was exciting when one witness what can happen when the passion of people meets the power of technology. The children were jubilant when they received toys, clothing and shoes sent to them from Microsoft employees from all over the Pakistan. Microsoft Pakistan employees also scrubbed, painted and decorated the children’s rooms; in addition water filters and other kitchen essentials were also donated by Microsoft Pakistan team.

Microsoft Pakistan has multiple citizenship and corporate social responsibility initiatives running across the country which includes computer training centers for underserved communities in northern areas in collaboration with Agha Khan Foundation. Microsoft is also a key partner in setting up computer labs in the government schools of Punjab, a project spearheaded by Chief Minister. 4286 labs are already functional, more than 400 teachers have been trained and 3 million Students will benefit.
http://blogs.technet.com/zafaru/archive ... gle+Reader
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One Billion Dollar "Green University" in Sind, Pakistan by Aga Khan Foundation

http://thefinancialdaily.com/NewsDetail/113452.aspx

$1bn green varsity in Sindh by 2014

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Staff Reporter

KARACHI: The Sindh government has allotted a plot of land to Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) to establish Pakistan's first-ever Green University with the cost of $1 billion.

The Vice Chairman, Sindh Board of Investment (SBOI) and Advisor to Chief Minister Sindh, Zubair Motiwala said that this is going to be the largest ever single FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) by any investor in Sindh and if the project gets commissioned in 2014, it would be the remarkable success to the SBOI in its endeavour to bring investment to the country.

The green university would be spread on a land of over 800 acres at Link Road, Gadap Town near Karachi where the provincial government has planned to set up Education City.

The constructed area of the proposed university would be approximately 200,000 metres, the biggest constructed area in any university in Pakistan, he said adding that the land allotted to the project has already been developed and the investors have already spent $40 million on lease of land, feasibility, construction of some laboratories, green-rooms and other amenities.

The advisor further said that entire area of the proposed university would be smoke and pollution free and no vehicles would be allowed to enter inside and instead of that battery operated cars and trolleys would be used for the transport and logistics.

He said that if everything goes well, the fits batch from the university would pass out in 2020.

He said that global environment and several restrictions by the USA, EU, and other Western countries' education institutions and their governments have made extremely difficult for the Pakistani students to study abroad and considering the situation foreign universities are willing to establish their campuses in the proposed Education City in Sindh, he said adding that foreign students would also be able to study in such universities including green university by AKF bringing the precious foreign exchange to the country.
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Germany provides Rs 4.2 million humanitarian aid to aggrieved persons of Hunza landslide disaster

Islamabad: An agreement has been signed between the German Embassy Islamabad, represented by Ambassador Dr. Michael Koch, and the Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan (AKF - P), represented by CEO Dr. Karim Alibhai, regarding humanitarian aid to the aggrieved households of the landslide and lake disaster around Attaabad, in the Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan.

The Federal Republic of Germany is providing 4.2 million Pakistani rupees for tents, blankets and hygiene kits as a relief to the internally displaced persons in the affected area, especially to women and children. The measures will be implemented by FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, an affiliate of the AKDN.

A massive landslide disaster in Attaabad, Hunza, on 4 January 2010 left 19 people dead, besides internally displacing over 170 households from four villages. The other major impact of this landslide was the complete blockage of the Hunza River, which has lead to the formation of a huge lake . As a consequence, a growing number of houses have been flooded and thousands of people had to be evacuated from downstream areas as a precautionary measure. The lake has submerged and damaged substantial parts of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), thus cutting off road access and communication links with the upper Hunza Valley and China.

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=164571
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AKPBS Programmes Cited in UN Good Practices Publication

The Building and Construction Improvement Programme (BACIP) and Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) -- both programmes of the Aga Khan Planning & Building Service in Pakistan -- have been cited as Good Practice Cases in the 2010 United Nations Development Group's (UNDG) Millenium Development Goals (MDG) Good Practices publication.

This publication, produced by the UNDG, includes nearly 200 good practice cases covering 75 countries and nearly 40 regional and global programmes. The cases are organised by thematic areas:

Chapter 1 is on poverty, employment and hunger (MDG 1),
Chapter 2 on education and gender equality (MDG 2 and 3),
Chapter 3 on child mortality, maternal health and combating disease (MDG 4, 5 & 6), and
Chapter 4 on environmental sustainability (MDG 7)
Both BACIP and WASEP are featured in Chapter 4, on pages 33 and 75 respectively, of the UNDG MDG Good Practices (2010) publication. For more information on this publication, please see the UNDG MDG Good Practices Page.

For more information about the Building and Construction Improvement Programme (BACIP) and Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP), please see the AKPBS Pakistan page.

http://www.akdn.org/Content/1001/AKPBS- ... ublication
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Agreement signed for clean drinking water

ISLAMABAD: Germany will provide the Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan (AKFP) with a grant of € 3.12 million to improve the drinking water supply and sanitation conditions of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan areas. This money will be provided for the implementation of the second phase of the Water and Sanitation Extension Program (WASEP), a program that is run by the AKFP planning and building service.

Dr Anna-Christine Janke, director of the development bank KfW in Islamabad and Dr Karim Alibhai, Chief Executive Officer AKFP signed the agreement for the second phase of the project in Islamabad. Dr Karim Alibahi said that with the completion of the first stage of the second phase, estimated within the next six months, around 45, 000 people from 50 villages in GB will have access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. According to details, this project will benefit approximately 245, 000 people in 307 villages of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan. The construction of a potable water supply, on-site sanitation infrastructure, grey-water drainage infrastructure, community mobilisation, health and hygiene education will be provided though the completion of this project.

The first phase of the project has been successfully implemented in Chitral and GB a decade ago. The Aga Khan Foundation hopes to use these funds to help in the rehabilitation of the water supply and sanitation facilities in the flood affected areas. “I hope that more contributions will be made to Pakistan to help in the recovery and rehabilitation of the affected families,” Janke said.

“Germany and AKFP are longstanding partners and we will continue to cooperate with each other in order to find creative solutions to the numerous development challenges faced by Pakistan,” Dr. Karim Alibahi said. Press release

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2010.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/38467/agree ... ing-water/
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Agakhan Foundation a channel for EU aid distribution

EU to more than double Pakistan flood aid
Oct 1, 2010, 11:47 GMT

Excerpt:

In total, EU aid to Pakistan should top 400 million euros this year, she said.

The aid, to be distributed by non-governmental organizations such as the Aga Khan foundation and the Red Crescent, is intended to provide the millions of Pakistanis driven from their homes by flooding with shelter, clean water, and medical supplies, especially in the south.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/ ... -flood-aid
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Women trained for unusual work


Islamabad: In most households in Pakistan, girls are considered a liability — unable to contribute financially to their families — and regarded as a "burden" on male family members.

This is in part because employment for women is still not the norm.

In the country, only a small number of women are employed and today constitute only around six per cent of Pakistan's labour force, according to official figures.

An unusual programme started by the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan, a part of the international Aga Khan Development Network, has endeavoured to turn this reality around.

The organisation has trained around 70 women, some from remote rural areas, to work in non-traditional areas which include drafting, surveying, carpentry, landscape design and documentation. As a result, women now earn an income and have also gained confidence and self-esteem.

According to groups working for the rights of women, such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the empowerment of women is vital to ending violence suffered by a large number in the country.

Conservation

"We first thought of using the skills of local women when we were engaged in conservation work in Gilgit [located in the extreme north of Pakistan]," said Safiullah Baig, a Senior Manager at AKCSP and the head of the Norwegian-funded Women Social Enterprise project.

"It was expensive to bring in experts, so we thought about using local girls and young women who had completed their schooling or intermediate-level education and desperately needed money, for surveying, documentation and other work," he told Gulf News.

The initiative, in an area where there were few opportunities for women was a big success. Young women have been trained as carpenters, masons, plumbers, documentation, surveying and other skills required for conservation work in their areas.

The initiative has been expanded to other areas, including Multan in the southern Punjab. The women bring in, on average, a monthly income of some Rs7,000 (Dh300).

Some of their income is invested for them and Baig believes the confidence they gain, and their ability to bring in money, will also play a part in keeping their families smaller in the future as "they will have more say in matters".

Tahereh Sheerazie, a Los Angeles-based landscape designer, who worked with five girls to develop a garden at the Abruzzi School in Shigar in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory, said "calling upon their creative faculties, prodding them to come out of their shells was the successful outcome of my two-month exercise teaching garden design."

"I really liked the fact that my wife is working on this project," said Mohammad Iqbal, the husband of Nusrat Bibi, one of the girls engaged with the garden design project.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan ... k-1.732768
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Tar village: a beacon of light with 80pc literacy
From the Newspaper
Yesterday
By Iqbal Khwaja

Tar village: a beacon of light with 80pc literacy

The village has produced two Ph.D scholars, 10 engineers, 15 doctors, 60 male and female teachers and over two dozen nurses and lady health visitors. - File Photo (APP)

THATTA: Amid poor nationwide rate of literacy and declining standard of education in the province, Tar Khuwaja, a small village of 500 souls, 63 kilometres from here, has sprung up like an oasis with more than 80 per cent literacy rate.

The village has produced two Ph.D scholars, 10 engineers, 15 doctors, 60 male and female teachers and over two dozen nurses and lady health visitors.

A Ph.D scholar Dr. Ghulam Ali Allana went on to become vice-chancellor of the Sindh University and Allama Iqbal Open University. The other, Dr. Mansoor Ali, a position holder in chemical engineering from the Mehran University has achieved his doctorate from London and lives in Canada nowadays.

A number of youth who received education from a community-based primary school established in the village in 1926 under the auspices of the Agha Khan Foundation have gone to the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and a number of other European countries to purse advanced studies.

Ms Mehrunnisa Khuwaja is one of such students doing masters in engineering from a Canadian university after receiving a degree in architectural engineering.

The village population almost exclusively comprises Ismaili community, which is highly organised and dependant on agriculture for a living. The average literacy rate is slightly above 80 per cent.

Every village family owns large tracts of fertile land around the village and almost all female members equally take part in work on farms despite having been educated and employed in different government departments.

The village got electricity in 1982. Although old straw thatched huts have given way to cemented houses but their interior deign looks like a replica of traditional village houses with barns, big piles of paddy plastered over with mud and agricultural implements.

Natha Khan Khuwaja, a prominent advocate, Ghulam Mustafa Hashmani, a social activist and Mashooq Ali and Mansoor Ali, noted academicians, told Dawn that the village`s achievements in education had inspired adjoining villages to follow their model and they were now sending their children to primary school in Tar village.

A poor son of a hari made it to the post of revenue mukhtiarkar in the district after getting education in the village’s primary education, they said.

Natha Khan Khuwaja, an octogenarian, is a leading spirit behind progress in the village`s prosperity and literacy. In 1958 he requested Aga Kan Some-III to establish a separate Agha Khan Council for the village. The request was approved and he was made the first head of the village council and remained in the office from 1958 to 1972.

He said that he established the Prince Cooperative Credit Society to alleviate poverty from the village and it played a key role in bringing progress to poor families.

Tar is a Sindhi word for a berth on a river bank where a boat can take passengers on board to get them across. The village has taken its name from a now dried up tributary of the Indus which passed through the village in olden times.

The village has lush green fields where farm workers and land owners are always seen busy ploughing, weeding and cultivating. Almost all seasonal crops, including paddy, wheat, sugarcane, cereals, tomatoes, vegetables, sunflower and cotton are cultivated in the village farms.

http://www.dawn.com/2010/12/24/tar-vill ... eracy.html
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The Civil Society Resource Centre (CSRC), a project of the Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF-P) in collaboration with Microsoft Pakistan organized an event ‘NGO Connection Day’

Program Report

The Civil Society Resource Centre (CSRC), a project of the Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF-P) in collaboration with Microsoft Pakistan organized an event ‘NGO Connection Day’ on Friday 24th December 2010 from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm, at the Marriot Hotel, Karachi.

The theme for the ‘NGO Connection Day’ was Role of ITCs for Development: Opportunities and Challenges

The Civil Society Resource Centre (CSRC), a project of the Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF-P), has 20 years of experience of working with Civil Society Organizations in Pakistan &abroad. It has, since its inception in 1991, emerged as a national-level support organization for civil society in Pakistan.

Working primarily on the theme of ‘fostering capable people and capable systems’,it also serves as a vehicle for the Aga Khan Foundation’s Civil Society program, helping civil society organizations to address structural problems such as capacity gaps, lack of expertise in organizational and financial management, human resources, as well as relevant issues such as governance, program management, and, monitoring and evaluation in the development sectors.

http://awarenesspakistan.blogspot.com/2 ... -csrc.html
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Agakhan Foundation and Agakhan Culture Support Programmes amongst partners in development

Norwegian partners meet at Lok Virsa

ISLAMABAD: The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Islamabad organised a partners in development meeting at Lok Virsa. The objective of the meeting was to communicate with the partners and the latest development in the Norwegian development cooperation policy and management practices, to get feedback from the partners and to promote networking among the development partners. Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Robert Kvile opened the meeting with the welcome address. The participants were Lok Virsa, UNESCO, UNIFEM (UN Women) Pakistan, Aga Khan Foundation, Devolution Trust for Community Empower, Pak-Norway Institutional Cooperation Programme, ACD Head-Poverty Unit UNDP, Iqbal Academy, ILO, Governance Institutes Network International, Aga Khan Culture Support Programme, SAFMA, SPDC, Ajoka Theatre, Right to Play-Pakistan AGHS Legal Aid Cell, Aurat Foundation and Mahbubul Haq Human Development Centre. staff report

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 011_pg11_8
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WASEP - Aga Khan Planning and Service, Pakistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRAc0WsipDA
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Habitat Risk Management Programme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y3mOKPhMSk
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39 Community Representatives Trained
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Chitral -- EDO Health Department, Dr Sher Qayum Chitral, has said that availability of safe drinking water can eliminate many water borne diseases in the society. He said this while speaking on the certificate distribution ceremony at the conclusion of two day workshop of training programme organized by Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan, (AKPBSP) Chitral office for the representatives of Water and Sanitation Management Committees of drinking water projects funded by KFW at a local hotel here, Chitral. Dr. Sher Qayum talked on the importance of clean drinking water and appreciated the efforts of AKPBSP, for working in partnership with the communities to provide clean drinking water to the people in far flung area of Chitral. He promised for sending specialist doctor to talk to the community representatives on the importance of drinking water and elimination of water borne diseases in future.


The skill training workshop was attended among others by presidents, managers, treasurers, Water and Sanitation Operators (WSOs) and Water and Sanitation Implementers (WSIs) from 8 villages, which included Gaht Bala, Gaht Paeen, Junali Kuch Bala, Junali Kuch Payeen, Loan and Uchu Goal. The themes covered in the two day workshop were: Water and Sanitation Related Diseases, Importance of Health and Hygiene, Record Keeping, Project Management Cycle, Operation and Maintenance, Community Contribution, Responsibilities of Water Committee and Causes of successful and Unsuccessful Projects. The workshop was facilitated by Raja Safdar Social Organization Coordinator from Gilgit, Mr. Noor Alim, Training Officer Chitral and other staff of AKPBSP, Chitral Office.

At the end of the workshop, Chief Guest, Dr. Sher Qayum distributed certificates among 39 participants of the workshop. Area Manager, Muhammad Karam thanked the Chief Guest, facilitators and community representatives for their participation in the workshop --CN report, 08 Feb 2011

http://www.chitralnews.com/newsdetail.php?id=557
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Japan grants US$ 203,671 for sanitation projects in Hunza

ISLAMABAD, Feb 17 (APP): Japan has decided to grant financial support of US $ 203,671 (approx. Rs. 17.0 million) to the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP) for environmental sanitation and water supply projects in Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan.The agreements for the two projects were signed here on Thursday between Chihiro Atsumi, Ambassador of Japan, and Akbarali Pesnani, Chairman of the AKCSP,said a statement issued by the Japanese Embassy.

The Environmental Sanitation Project is meant for the Improvement of Community-based Environmental Sanitation, in Altit, Hunza in Gilgit Baltitan.

Around 237 households (1,820 individuals) including IDPs, who have migrated after Attaabad landslide disaster, will be benefitted from this project.

Local labour will be trained and employed during the execution of the project which will help them to get new jobs in future to support their families.

The Water Supply Project is aimed at the Renovation of Water Supply Scheme in Karimabad, Hunza.

The grant will be utilized for the renovation of pipelines and water tanks,which were previously funded by Japan in 2004 and were damaged due to landslides during preceding years.

It would ultimately help in preserving the existing facility which is the present ‘only drinking water source’.
This project will benefit 450 households (around 3,600 individuals) in this area.

At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Atsumi stressed that improvement of water supply and sanitation is one of the priority areas in Japan’s assistance policy towards Pakistan.

He also emphasized that these projects would help more in improving the living standards of the inhabitants of the vicinity and also encourage the tourists in this valley which have very precious natural scenery and historical places.

He expressed his hope that the current projects would further strengthen the existing friendly relations between the peoples of Japan and Pakistan.

http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option= ... 1&Itemid=2
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Aga Khan Cultural Services Paksitan participates at the roundtable conference on ‘Role of Media in Defining Urban Outlook in Pakistan’

Seminar urges media role in creating civic sense

* Speakers at roundtable conference on ‘Role of Media in Defining Urban Outlook in Pakistan’ suggest proper training of city reporters, media managers to spread awareness on urbanisation in its true sense

By Shabbir Sarwar

LAHORE: There is a dire need of citizens’ capacity building on civic sense through media as well as proper training and education of city reporters and media managers to spread required awareness on urbanisation in its true sense. This conclusion was reached by speakers at the end of a roundtable conference on “Role of Media in Defining Urban Outlook in Pakistan,” held at the Alhamra Hall on Friday as part of the five-day Pakistan Urban Forum 2011 activities from March 1-5.

Speaking on the occasion, Vandana Mehra of the Hindustan Times, said the issue had remained a crucial one in India as initially no newspaper ever wrote on an urban issue like sanitation.

“I was the first to support the idea of coverage of sanitation issues in the city of Delhi that has 6 million newspaper readers,” she said. Vandana suggested building partnership between media and government institutions to promote civic sense among citizens. She also highlighted various media issues.

Renowned TV anchor Mubashar Luqman, while speaking at the occasion, said that media should not be blamed for all curses in society. Media was not a teacher but a mirror of society as it reports what is happening around us, he stated. Mubashar said that the national media cannot highlight community-level issues as it was the responsibility of metro journalists. He said it was a big problem that religion was being linked to governance in Pakistan.

Prof Dr Mujahid Ali Mansoori, the chairman of the UMT Media and Communication Department, said that the media was not the true mirror of society because it had ignored the major segment of the country that was the rural population.

Dr Mujahid said media had been primarily focusing on events’ reporting and it lacked the capacity to change the peoples’ behaviour. There was a dire need of establishing community and metro media to address community interest and local issues, he said, adding that national TV channels cannot give much space to local issues as they focused on key national issues.

Urban Forum Project Director, Dr Nasir Javed, speaking at the occasion, said that majority of the country’s population was youth but there was no proper coverage of youth and children issues in the mainstream media

Ahmed Ali from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that media anchors shouldn’t act as judges and the media and government being two pillars of state must be accountable for their wrongdoings.

Rafih Alam, a renowned lawyer, said that media should focus on an issue until its solutions.

28 stalls had been established at the Alhamra Art Gallery where visitors were educated on various environmentally friendly and recycled product used in urban areas. Some prominent stalls included those of the Asian Development Bank, Agha Khan Cultural Services Paksitan, Beaconhouse National University, Child Protection Bureau, Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company, Lahore Waste Management Company, Traffic Network Management and Water and Sanitation Programme-South Asia.

The five-day Pakistan urban forum 2011 would conclude today (Saturday).

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 011_pg13_9
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PPAF sets up wind turbines, solar panels for power generation
Monday, 07 March 2011 16:09
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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), in partnership with Aga Khan Planing and Building Services- Pakistan (AKPBS-P), has set up wind turbines and solar panels to provide environmentally friendly electricity to approximately 6,500 people in 29 villages of district Thatta in Sindh province.

According to PPAF sources, the AKPBS-P, with the support from PPAF, the World Bank and the contribution by the village residents in the form of unskilled labour, installed 29 wind turbines, 29 solar panels and streetlights in various villages located in Thatta, which were without electricity for decades.

The immediate benefit of electrification is improved lighting, which is much brighter, cheaper and safe than that provided by kerosene lamps, the sources added.

They said that by utilizing local and renewable energy resources instead of diesel for power generation, not only protect the environment but also stimulates economic benefits for an improved quality of life.

A key reason why this village has not yet benefited from an electric grid connection is its geographical isolation that offered an extremely low return on investment made in grid extension. This challenge required a local and cost-effective solution which was provided by PPAF.

http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/indus ... ation.html
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Prince Karim Aga Khan appreciates government’s efforts for poverty alleviation


ISLAMABAD, Mar 11 (APP): In a letter to Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, Prince Karim Aga Khan has appreciated efforts of the government for undertaking projects for poverty alleviation and human resource development. He acknowledged the seriousness and dedication of the government in the rehabilitation of the flood affectees.
Prince Karim Aga Khan highlighted the close collaboration between the Agha Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the government of Pakistan.
He specially mentioned various projects in Gilgit Baltistan and the walled city of Lahore, besides cooperation in development of tourism and support in human resource development.
Mentioning the significance of the cooperation between governments of Italy and Pakistan on a project for the development of the odd city of Multan, Prince Karim informed that General Manager of Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) Luis Monreal will also pay a visit during this month in this connection.
He will assess and prepare a detailed report about possible assistance in the Multan project by AKTC. He hoped that AKTC would be able to identify resources for the Multan project.
Aga Khan thanked the Prime Minister for his keen interest and extending full support in the development activities being undertaking by AKDN in Pakistan.

http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option= ... 6&Itemid=2
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KfW Funded Drinking Water Project inaugurated in Lone Chitral

Chitral: A long-felt desire of the people of village Lone Markha in Chitral became a reality today with the inauguration of a safe drinking water supply and sanitation scheme in their community. The scheme was inaugurated by Dr. Ann-Christine Janke, Director KfW in Pakistan and Mr. Ferdinand Jenrich, 3rd Secretary German Embassy. Speaking on the occasion, Dr, Ann-Christine appreciated the role of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) for its role in the development of Northern and Chitral. She also appreciated the beneficiary community which completed the scheme in harsh winter. She said that the availability of safe drinking water would decrease the water borne diseases in the community, particularly among women and children.

Talking to a big gathering of women and men from the community, Mr. Ferdinand said that the German government would extend its progrmme in future. He urged the community to maintain the clean drinking water project, so that they could benefit from it continuously. The Chairman of Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan, Mr. Hafiz Sher Ali thanked the German Government and funding agency, KfW for providing funds for drinking water projects in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. He also appreciated the role of the community in completion of the scheme in time. Among others who attended the inauguration ceremony were, Dr. Karim Pervaiz from KfW, Mr. Karim Nayani and Mr. Ahsan Paracha from Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan, Mr. Hadi Husani Programme Director, Javaid Ahmed, Raja Safdarand Yasmin Ansa from KfW project

Lone Markha, located at an altitude of more than 8000 ft above sea-level, is one of the remote villages of Chitral. The water scheme constructed here is part of the many initiatives planned under the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme being implemented in the Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral region of northern Pakistan. This Programme, which will provide safe water and sanitation to more than 100,000 people in 150 villages, is being implemented by the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan, with financial assistance from the KfW Development Bank of Germany.

The newly launched scheme in Lone Markha Upper Chitral completed at the cost of Rs. 7.98 million will provide safe drinking water and latrine facilities to more than 600 people in 76 households of the village. The project will play an important role in improving the overall health conditions of the region and especially safeguarding the health of the women and children by reducing the incidence of diarrhea and other waterborne diseases that are a major impediment to human development in rural Pakistan. The village members contributed local construction material and labour for building the scheme in difficult terrain and weather conditions. The village also contributed more than Rs. 200,000 for the operation, maintenance and repair of the scheme. (CN report 06 Apr 2011)

http://www.chitralnews.com/AKPBS-06-Apr-11.htm
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APBS arranged 2 days workshop
by G. H. Farooqui April 27, 2011

AKPBSP arranged 2 days workshop on capacity building of water sanitation Management Communities


CHITRAL: Agha Khan Planning and Building Services, Pakistan arranged a two days training of various community members on the subject of water and sanitation in a local Hotel of Chitral. It was held under Water and Sanitation Extention Program (WASEP) Kredietwstalt for Wadrafbaw (KFW) program funded by the Government of Germany through their development bank KFW.

Aim of the event was to provide training to the water and sanitation committee members, implementers and operators regarding their responsibilities in the implementation of the schemes under execution in their villages by WASEP-KFW program. They were also briefed about the social organization, engineering, health & hygiene and water quality components of the project.

Twenty seven community members participated in this training workshop.

At the end of second day, a concluding ceremony was held to distribute certificates among the participants including women fold representing women organizations of the area Other than the participants, Public Health Department Engineers, President Regional Council and Station Director Radio Pakistan Chitral also were present on the occasion.

Regional Coordinator WASEP-KFW program in Chitral, Maqbool Hussain thanked the guests and participants for their presence in the training and the function. He presented an overview of the WASEP activities in Pakistan and details of the KFW program. He also offered WASEP’s assistance to NGOs and government organizations.

President of the Regional Council, and head of Professional Development Center of Aga Khan University Dr. Mir Afzal Tajik particularly emphasized upon participation of communities in such programs and urged the participants to motivate their fellows on the same pattern.

Engineer Zahirullah of Public Health Department showed commitment to work with AKPBSP in solving the people’s problems related to the water and sanitation facilities.

At the culmination of the ceremony, Raja Safdar Khan Social Coordinator of WASEP-KFW program offered the closing remarks and certificates were given away to the participants by honorable guests. The speaker highly hailed this workshop regarding sensitization about potable drinking water and sanitation system. They said that your wash room and kitchen must be well sophisticated and hygienically clean so as to save you from infectious diseases because 70% diseases are spreading due to contaminated water. They also criticized some plan that 75% of developmental schemes were failed due to non ownership and no participation of the local community. A large number of people belonging to several relevant organizations including women folk attended this workshop and demanded for continuation and expanding its tenure for sustainable development.

G.H. Farooqi PO Box No.50 GPO Chitral Pakistan

http://www.groundreport.com/World/APBS- ... op/2938604

*****
Community Reps workshop held in Booni

Chitral -- Amir Afzal, President Aga Khan Regional Council for Upper Chitral has said that availability of clean drinking water would play a tremendous role in reducing the water borne diseases which are found in the rural population. He was speaking to the community representatives of EC funded drinking water project in Booni at the conclusion of two day workshop on safe drinking water organized by Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan at a local hotel. He appreciated the role of AKPBSP for providing fund for drinking water project in Booni. He urged the participants to share the information learned from the workshop on health and hygiene with the members of the village organization and women organizations.

The presidents, Managers, water and sanitation operators (WSOs)and water and sanitation implementers (WSIs) from six selected villages of Booni participated in the skill training workshop. The topics covered in the workshop were: Water and Sanitation related diseases, Importance of Health and Hygiene, Record Keeping, Operation and Maintenance and Responsibilities of President and Manager. The staffs of AKPBSP, District Engineer Zaiullah, Senior Engineer Nasir Ali, Senior Social Organizer Syed Nizar Ali Shah, M&E Officer Inayat Rehman, Water Quality Analyst Altaf Hussain ,Finance Officer,Muhammad Siyar and Health and Hygiene Officer, Niyat Bibi facilitated the workshop


Among others, who spoke on the occasion were: Sardar Hakim, President Aga Khan Local Council Booni Muhammad Karam, Area Manager, AKPBSP, Chitral. Mr. Ali Akber and Mr. Sher Wazir also spoke on the occasion and represented the participants. At the end of the workshop, certificates were distributed among the participants and the District engineer Ziaullah thanked the guests and representatives of the community for their participation in the workshop..--CN report, 05 May 2011..

http://www.chitralnews.com/News-%20AKPB ... May-11.htm
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Date: 2011-03-31
Story belongs to: Nauon Jeeyapo March 31

In this interview hear from Dr Farrukh Bhambro, a medical officer for flood relief and nutrition project of Agha Khan Foundation. He says that malnutrition in pregnant women will result in weak children, the AKF program addresses this issue by providing nourishment plans to children up to the age of five. He says that if the mother is not lactating, the child can be given supplemental milk feed from animals. AKF community health workers and LHW's call regularly to monitor progress.

http://hip.org.pk/programs/project2?vie ... ry&id=2621
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Pak project selected for Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy

KARACHI: A Pakistani project has been selected as a finalist for the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy 2011. A statement here on Tuesday said that the finalists will compete for more than pounds 120,000 prize money. It said that the winners would be announced at a ceremony to be held in London on June 16. The statement pointed out that the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan’s innovative programme BACIP (Building and Construction Improvement Programme) has been selected as one of the finalists for the awards. app

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.as ... 11_pg12_14

Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan (AKPBS,P) for an innovative programme providing families in remote mountain villages with access to affordable, energy efficient technologies which warm their homes, heat their water and reduce their consumption of fuel wood.
The programme tackles deforestation and climate change by saving 100,000 tonnes of wood a year and preventing emissions of around 160,000 tonnes a year of CO2. AKPBS,P aims to extend this approach to other Himalayan countries, which face similar challenges and reach another 17,000 homes by 2014.
Contact
Shabana Abbas, Marketing
T: 0092 2135361802-804
M: 00923222379072
E: shabana.abbas@akpbsp

http://www.ashdenawards.org/files/press ... se2011.pdf
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Clean Energy Pioneer AKPBS Receives Prestigious Environmental Prize for BACIP Programme in Pakistan

VIDEO:
http://www.akdn.org/videos_detail.asp?VideoId=118

Winners personally congratulated by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
http://www.akdn.org/Content/1055/Clean- ... n-Pakistan

Please also see: Ashden Video (1 minute and 5 minute), Speech by Princess Zahra Aga Khan and Photographs

London, 16 June 2011 - The world’s most prestigious green energy awards tonight announced that the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service’s (AKPBS) innovative Building and Construction Improvement Programme (BACIP) has received the Award for Avoided Deforestation at this year’s Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy. Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Head of the Social Welfare department of the Aga Khan Development Network, accepted the award on behalf of AKPBS at a ceremony in London tonight addressed by Rt. Hon. Gregory Barker, UK Government Minister for Climate Change. Winners from India and Africa were also announced.

The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Ashden Awards, who personally congratulated the international winners in a meeting earlier today, said: “The Ashden Awards show what it is possible to do now in saving resources and cutting emissions. They remind us how, as individuals, we can make a huge difference to the world in which we live. In a nutshell, they remind us that acting locally is, in fact, acting globally.”

(Download photos: www.ashdenawards.org/media/photos/2011_HRH)

The Ashden Awards showcase practical solutions to combat climate change and meet the energy needs of the poor, rewarding outstanding and innovative clean energy schemes across the developing world and in the UK.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan said: “We hope that this initiative will help lift thousands of families out of the vicious cycle of poverty.”

The Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan (AKPBS) was awarded £20,000 for helping families in remote mountain villages save energy and enjoy warmer and more comfortable homes by installing a range of energy-efficient products. The programme was inspired by a speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan in which he remarked that “…the visual, physical and emotional impact of a decent home can light the spirit of human endeavour. A proper home can provide the bridge across that terrible gulf between utter poverty and the possibility of a better future”.

The programme has developed over 50,000 fuel-efficient products that have been installed in 27,000 households, benefiting almost 240,000 people in over 300 villages of the Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral regions Pakistan. The products not only cut energy costs, they also significantly reduce diseases, deforestation pressures and the workloads of women and children, while enhancing disposable household income.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director of the Ashden Awards and chair of the judging panel, said: “The initiative of AKPBS is a perfect example of how by combining a seemingly simple set of energy-efficient technologies with a clear and well thought out marketing strategy, it is possible to improve the lives of thousands of families and successfully tackle the major challenges of deforestation and climate change. And the good news is that it is highly replicable”.


Summary of the work:

AKPBS’s BACIP products – fuel-efficient stoves with chimneys to remove smoke, water heaters, roof-hatch windows to cut down draughts and wall and floor insulation – are built by local carpenters and metal workers and then sold to local families by village-based agents. Not only do they make the homes warmer, cleaner and less smoky, they also help families save hundreds of dollars a year by reducing the need for fuel wood.

Homes in the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountains are cold in the harsh winters and very smoky due the large amounts of wood used for heating and cooking. Deforestation is also a major issue, both at a local level, due to the dangers of flooding, and nationally, because the region is the watershed for much of the country.

AKPBS developed its programme as a way of tackling some of these major environmental challenges and in order to improve conditions for people living in the region. The programme directly tackles deforestation and climate change, saving 100,000 tonnes of wood a year and preventing emissions of around 160,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. Over 240,000 lives have been transformed by the efforts of AKPBS.

“For a working woman like me it’s great. I can go to the market in the morning and there is hot water when I get back. It means I can spend more time on farming and looking after my children,” said Bibi Safina, a local woman who has benefitted from the programme.

AKPBS aims to extend this approach to other Himalayan countries facing similar challenges and aims to reach another 17,000 homes by 2014. The United Nations has identified AKPBS programmes as “Good Practices to Achieve Millenium Development Goals”.

AKPBS has been implementing its social and infrastructural development programmes with the help of local communities and village organizations as well as with the support of the Government of Pakistan and partners such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF); Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF); Japan Counter-Value Fund (JCVF); The World Bank; The Alcan Prize for Sustainability; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW); Embassy of Finland; Royal Netherlands Embassy; United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF); United Nations Development Program (UNDP-Pakistan); Climate Care Trust Limited; United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA); European Commission (EC), Austrian Development Agency (ADA); Hundreds of Original Projects for Employment (HOPE’87); Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid); Aga Khan Foundation; SDC-Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Pakistan) and many other partner agencies.

For Information on all International Award winners: www.ashdenawards.org

For further information in Pakistan, please contact:
Salimah Shiraj
Aga Khan Development Network
Karachi, Pakistan
Telephone: +92 21 35861242
Facsimile: +92 21 35861272
Email: salimah.shiraj@akcpk.org

For further information in Europe or elsehwere, please contact:
Sam Pickens
1-3 avenue de la Paix
Geneva 1202
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 909 72 00
Facsimile: +41 22 909 7291
Email: sam.pickens@akdn.org


*****

Energy is central to development

Affordable renewable energy needs to be taken seriously as the crucial ingredient of sustainable development, and the Ashden Awards recognise this

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-develo ... ble-energy

******
AKPBS, Pakistan

Saving trees and warming homes


http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/akpbsp11

In North Pakistan, winters in the mountains are harsh and natural disasters are part of life. Wide-scale forest destruction causes damage from flooding and disrupts the country’s water supply because the region acts as a watershed.

Over 14 years ago, the Aga Khan Planning and Building Service (AKPBS) began a concerted drive to make homes in North Pakistan warmer, and reduce the use of wood. Based on the Aga Khan’s belief that: “A proper home can bridge that terrible gap between poverty and a better future” the programme is doing just that for over 240,000 people.

Today over 100 ‘resource people’ work in their own villages promoting energy efficient products. A US$80 package could include floor insulation, an efficient cook stove with a chimney to let smoke out, a water heater, and a roof hatch window that cuts out draughts and lets in light, also fresh air when needed.

AKPBS trains local people as artisans and entrepreneurs and has created over 360 new jobs. Over 50,000 products have been sold through word of mouth, tours and demonstration homes. Homes are warmer and families save money on fuel-wood and, by ridding their homes of smoke, they avoid respiratory problems too. And local trees and the environment are protected, with about 100,000 tonnes of wood and 160,000 tonnes of CO2 saved each year. Looking ahead, AKPBS hopes to attract carbon finance to extend this successful approach to other Himalayan countries.

******
Energy-efficient stoves clear Pakistan’s air
Published on : 24 June 2011 - 6:08pm | By Johan van Slooten (Photo by AKPBS)


Families in northern Pakistan’s Hindu Kush mountains – subjected to long, harsh winters – have found a better way to heat their homes and cook their meals: A new, simple but efficient cooking stove. It rids the homes of deadly fumes, reduces respiratory illness and even cuts deforestation.

It wasn't long ago that the people in the region were heating their homes with simple wood fires, filling the homes with almost permanent clouds of smoke.

“Later they began to use simple stoves, but they weren’t very efficient either,” says Hadi Hosseini of Pakistan’s Aga Khan Planning and Building Service (AKPBS), a division of the Aga Khan Development Network which aims to improve the lives of people in rural Pakistan.

Illnesses
“You simply couldn’t see across the room because of the smoke. People just didn’t know how to channel the smoke out. This lead to many respiratory illnesses among villagers, especially children, including cancer and asthma. Something had to be done.”

After seeing similar situations in Nepal, the AKPBS designed a new cooking stove. It contains two main elements – one to cook meals on and one to heat the room. It can also be connected to a water tank to heat and cook water faster than was previously possible.

Cold winters
“Women used to go down to the rivers to do their laundry,” says AKPBS’s Qayum Ali Shah, who comes from the region. “Especially during the cold winters, this was particularly dangerous, as they had to bring their young children with them."

"You can imagine what it was like to do your laundry in ice cold circumstances with a baby in tow. The women don’t have to do that anymore. They can now simply wash their clothes at home, using the heated water.”

The improvements also included a heat-efficient chimney and an opening in the roof which can be opened or closed to control airflow.

Traditions
While the design and the benefits of the cooking stove seem obvious, it took AKPBS a while to convince the people to actually use it. “This is a very traditional population,” says Mr Hosseini. “Traditions, even domestic ones, go back centuries. To change them, you have to convince people that the new techniques will improve their lives.”

Mr Hosseini and Mr Shah achieved that by simply travelling around the region, demonstrating the stoves' benefits.

“We’ve engaged the women, we’re working with local entrepreneurs, and we’ve been at roadshows. And the people that we managed to convince have subsequently come along with us to tell others. It’s been a word of mouth promotion.”

Benefits
The benefits of the project go beyond the domestic improvements in people’s homes, Mr Hosseini notes.

“People use wood as fuel. Communities were gathering wood three to four times a week, which lead to massive deforestation in the region, which ultimately leads to a high risk of flooding. Using our stove, people have reduced their fuel wood consumption by 50 to 60 percent. So this simple stove is helping to improve their lives AND the environment.”

It’s this element that was noticed by the prestigious Ashden Awards in the UK, which gives an annual award to small scale sustainable energy projects. The AKPBS received an award earlier this month for improving homes and cutting the use of wood for fuel.

Recognition
“It’s good to get this recognition,” says Mr Hosseini. “We go in with a multi-input program: health, education, rural development. The people there are getting a whole package of improvements. That's not delivered by many stand-alone organizations who only focus on one thing. I think that’s our benefit.”

“We’re offering simple and effective solutions which could also be used elsewhere, even in Western homes. Why not take a step back in our electronic and manufactured approach of cooking? People everywhere could learn a lot from these things.”

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/energ ... 80%99s-air
Last edited by kmaherali on Sat Dec 10, 2011 3:53 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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PM for preparing comprehensive development plan for Gilgit-Baltistan

Excerpt:

"The Prime Minister drew the attention of the participants that the Agha Khan Foundation had also shown interest in the development of the region. He asked the government of Gilgit-Baltistan to extend facilities in this context. "

http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option= ... 8&Itemid=2
kmaherali
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Agakhan Foundation's initiative: workshop on ‘Needs of the Disabled Community’

Handi-capable: Helping turn disability into ability
Published: July 22, 2011

A diagram to explain just how high the ramp must go for wheelchair access. IMAGE: NOWPDP
KARACHI:

Teaching physically challenged people how to use computers can help them support themselves and connect them to the rest of the world, experts stressed on Thursday at a meeting.

Roughly 70 representatives from non-profit, community and corporate organisations, donor agencies and the government put their heads together to suggest solutions for disabled people in Pakistan.

The participants also included people directly related to the problem. Their challenges ranged from physical, speech, hearing, visual, intellectual and learning disabilities and autism. The workshop on ‘Needs of the Disabled Community’ was held at the Marriott Hotel by the Aga Khan Council of Pakistan initiative, Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities in Pakistan (NOWPDP). The disabled need jobs employment, education, government support, facilities and care centres in urban areas but there is a shortage of funds.

Malik Tahir, who provides free legal aid to organisations affiliated with NOWPDP, highlighted the rights of disabled people in the country and donors discussed how disabled people could access their funds.

Adnan Sarwar, who is living with muscular dystrophy, felt that the most pressing issue was awareness followed closely by a lack of recognition of patient needs. Sarwar recommended computer literacy as an alternative to vocational skills training. “This will not only suit the needs of almost all disabled people but will also connect them to corporate firms where computer-based jobs or free-lance projects are available.” He believes that knowing how to operate a computer is better than education that does not help them support themselves financially later in life.

Annie told the gathering of how she hopes to raise awareness in rural areas but is hindered by the lack of support and resources.

Gallup Pakistan prepared a report from an interview held in 2009. They spoke to 2,709 people from both urban and rural areas of all four provinces and put together a review of the obstacles faced by disabled people. They focused on accessibility, care for disabled people, education, employment and vocational training and services in urban areas. They also explored how disabled children are locked away in their homes.

NOWPDP launched an innovative ‘Disability Services Directory’ at the workshop. The directory is an online website that allows users to retrieve and update information on services customised for people with disabilities across Pakistan. It is accessible via SMS, so people with impaired eyesight or without access to the internet or a computer can use it.

NOWPDP President Amin Hashwani said that the idea was initiated in 2008 after some organisations working for the cause felt the need to coordinate between each other. In its first phase, the organisation trained 500 teachers across Pakistan. It is working to create jobs, influence government policy and to integrate media for better coverage of the issue.

The organisation’s executive officer, Jeremy Higgs, added that NOWPDP is trying to convince organisations to employ disabled people. KESC, Artistic Milliners, Gul Ahmed and Hashwani group are already onboard while Telenor, Unilever, HBL and the British Council have shown their commitment to the cause.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011

http://tribune.com.pk/story/214659/hand ... o-ability/
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