India, 7 June 2019 - Across the spectrum of population affected by poor sanitation facilities, women and girls are often more adversely and disproportionately affected. They face a loss of personal dignity and are at a safety risk because of a lack of access to sanitation facilities. Absence of facilities often forces them to restrict their diet, which can have adverse ...
By Onno Ruhl, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat The environment takes care of not just human beings but also all other life forms that exist on this planet by providing adequate resources to ensure their survival. However, over the years humans have exploited these resources to satisfy not just their needs, often also their greed. Human ventures have discounted ...
Nairobi, Kenya, 30 May 2019 - The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) today signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UN agency focused on sustainable urbanisation, UN - Habitat. The MoU will further enhance AKAH's work in implementing and driving urban and rural habitat planning, policy and design in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kenya to improve the ...
"In May each year global communities join together to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of nurses and midwives. At 23 million strong, nurses and midwives are the world's largest healthcare profession forming 50% of the total health workforce and up to 85% in many low-resource settings. As a profession, nurses and midwives are closest to the point of care--at the bedside, ...
Hyderabad, India and Mombasa, Kenya, 25 May 2019 - At graduations in India and Kenya, 159 exceptional students joined other alumni in marking the milestone of the 1000th leader to graduate from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad (India) and its sister school, the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa (Kenya). One key mission of the Aga Khan Academies programme is to create ethical ...
Hyderabad, India and Mombasa, Kenya, 25 May 2019 - At graduations in India and Kenya, 159 exceptional students joined other alumni in marking the milestone of the 1000th leader to graduate from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad (India) and its sister school, the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa (Kenya). One key mission of the Aga Khan Academies programme is to create ethical ...
Islamabad, Pakistan, 16 May 2019 - To protect schoolchildren from natural disasters and other insecurities, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) convened government education departments, academia, district disaster management authorities and the media in Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, Khyber Pakhunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab. Mr. Hafiz Noorullah, Education Development Officer, Chitral, said on a radio talk show: "A lack of awareness and knowledge ...
Rose Kiwanuka was very enthusiastic when she enrolled at Nsambya School of Nursing. It had been a long time coming, since primary school, where she had first taken an interest in people's well-being as Health Prefect. Three months into her course at Nsambya, she and her fellow students were taken into hospital wards to begin their practice on simple procedures such ...
By Dr. Eunice Ndirangu, Interim Dean, Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa The World Bank estimates that globally over one billion people lack accessible and affordable health care, with a large percentage of these people residing in sub-Saharan Africa. In many areas in East Africa, nurses and midwives make up nearly 85% of the health workforce, and ...
In rural settings where quality maternal health care is not within easy reach, a woman's chance of dying of pregnancy-related causes increases significantly. Having the care and guidance of a trained midwife is crucial to reducing this risk. For this reason, in the remote mountainous areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Aga Khan Health Services in Pakistan has been working for several decades ...
Geneva, Switzerland, 13 May 2019 - The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) partnered with the "Resilient Homes Design Challenge" in a crowdsourced challenge - spearheaded by the World Bank - to design climate-resilient single-family homes costing less than US$ 10,000. Over the last 10 years, natural disasters have caused 23 million people to become homeless - many of them poor. ...
By Sharon Brownie, Research Associate, University of Oxford and Former Dean, Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery. In May each year global communities join together to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of nurses and midwives. At 23 million strong, nurses and midwives are the world's largest healthcare profession forming 50% of the total health workforce and up to 85% ...
Working closely with medically complex preterm infants and experiencing first-hand the stress and trauma their new parents go through changed Rehana Salam's career trajectory. From the early start of leading nursing care at the Aga Khan University Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Karachi, she has come a long way, becoming an accomplished public health researcher, a task force member ...
International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. As the years roll on, the day has evolved into an occasion to honour the significance of nurses to the well-being of humanity. The theme for IND 2019 is "Nurses: A voice to lead - Health for all". With that in mind, it ...
Tai Bano was born and raised in Thingdass, Punial, in Ghizer District, Gilgit-Baltistan. An alumna of the Diamond Jubilee Girls High School in Singal, Tai eventually moved to Karachi to pursue her studies in higher education. After completing the midwifery programme at the Aga Khan Hospital for Women in Karimabad in 2005 and subsequently the general nursing programme at Indus Hospital ...
Lahore, Pakistan, 4 May 2019 - Imran Khan, Prime Minister, Islamic Republic of Pakistan inaugurated the restoration of the 400-year-old "Picture Wall" of Lahore Fort. The Picture Wall is one of the principal features of the Lahore Fort UNESCO World Heritage Site. The conservation of the 240-foot-long western façade has been carried out by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), ...
Agnes Kirikumwino was caring for new mothers, during a clinical placement as part of her midwifery studies, when she noticed an unusual sight: A visitor to the ward, Grace*, burst into tears, of grief rather than joy. Curious, Agnes went over to hear her story. Grace opened up to her and revealed that she had been pregnant five times but had ...
"A newborn's first cry, kicking legs and arms, the looks of relief and joy in the mother's eyes when you say to her, 'Congratulations! It's a baby girl/boy!'" There is pride felt in these special moments that only a midwife can understand, according to Loveluck Mwasha, who has dedicated her life to caring for others. Her mother inspired Loveluck early on ...
Porto, Portugal 2 May 2019 - The Mayor of Porto Mr Rui Moreira today conferred His Highness the Aga Khan with the keys to the City of Porto. The presentation occurred in the presence of His Highness's brother Prince Amyn Aga Khan, the President of the Municipal Assembly of Porto, Mr Miguel Pereira Leite as well as a distinguished audience which ...
Master Jury to decide share of US$ 1 million prize Geneva, Switzerland, 25 April 2019 - The 20 shortlisted projects for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were announced today. The projects will compete for US$ 1 million in prize money. In January, an independent Master Jury reviewed hundreds of nominations. The 20 shortlisted projects are now undergoing rigorous investigations ...
Lisbon, 13 April 2019 - The Aga Khan University (AKU) celebrated its partnership with Portuguese universities on research and development initiatives at a special event in Lisbon. Attended by the University's Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, the AKU Board of Trustees, representatives from Portugal's Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education; the Catholic University of Portugal; Nova University of Lisbon; ...
Born in the United States and educated in Pakistan, Aisha Sethi graduated from the Aga Khan University (AKU) in 1999, after completing its Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme. The same year, she travelled to the US as a visiting medical student for two months of electives, and subsequently received a National Institutes of Health dermatology research fellowship from ...
By Lee Hilling, Chairman of the Board, French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children For several decades, the emphasis on donor aid to developing countries has been on primary care, the alleviation of communicable diseases and the improvement of maternal and child health. Understandably so. The impact on reduced morbidity and mortality per dollar invested is persuasive. Hospitals and the provision ...
Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 2 April 2019 - The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), in collaboration with Eastern Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Transport (EASST), Staffordshire Emergency Services Humanitarian Aid Association (SESHAA), Women in the Fire Service (WFS) of United Kingdom and British Embassy in Tajikistan organised a search and rescue training for 16 female participants in an effort to build capacity ...
Lisbon, Portugal, 31 March 2019 - The gala concert and prize-giving ceremony recognised all the laureates and finalists of the Aga Khan Music Awards 2019. It was attended by His Highness the Aga Khan, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, Prince Hussain Aga Khan, Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan, and His Excellency the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. ...
It is so dangerous having to improvise after your speech that no President of the Republic is ready to do it. But anyway, I will say four short points.... Fourth, Your Highness I think I can't resist announcing, if you allow me, that His Highness is for several weeks, a Portuguese citizen. It is an honour and a pleasure for us. I am very proud of having you as a Portuguese citizen, together, with being as you are, a citizen of the world. ...
This happy event is particularly meaningful to me personally, as it represents the actualization of an idea that I first broached to my brother almost two decades ago, when the Aga Khan Trust for Culture was taking its first steps toward the inclusion of music revitalisation in its cultural development portfolio. My idea was to establish a music prize that would aspire toward a level of worldwide visibility and impact in its field analogous to that of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Music has always been an art of special importance to me: Its power of communication is special, enormous and universal; it binds people together and unites them. ...
Award presented to ten laureates across six categories. Lisbon, Portugal, 31 March 2019 - The Aga Khan Music Awards concluded with the announcement of the Award in the performance category, the awarding of US$ 500,000 in prizes and a final concert that brought together ten laureates, six categories and 13 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America ...
Pioneering music prize recognises exceptional achievement in the preservation and revitalisation of Muslim musical heritage. Lisbon, Portugal, 31 March 2019 - The Master Jury of the Aga Khan Music Awards has announced laureates and finalists for the Awards' inaugural cycle. The Music Awards were established by His Highness the Aga Khan to recognise exceptional creativity, promise, and enterprise in music performance, ...
Three-day event inaugurates Aga Khan Music Awards. Lisbon, Portugal, 29 March 2019 - For the first time, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, conducted by Pedro Neves, performed with Master Musicians of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in a concert featuring original music pieces composed or arranged by the Master Musicians and specially orchestrated by Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky. The concert was attended by His Highness ...
Quick facts and bios of all Aga Khan Music Awards Laureates for the 2018-2019 cycle. ...
By Apoorva Oza, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) A few Sundays ago, I was in Junagadh District (Gujarat, India) for some work. Since I was going to be free in the afternoon and the return train to Ahmedabad was at 10pm, I called up Rudabhai of Samadhiyala Lift Irrigation Society (LIS) to see about a possible visit. ...
In 2015, Shanti Devi constructed a toilet for her family of eight. Prior to that, she - like most of her neighbours in Muzaffarpur (Bihar, India) - had never had access to a toilet in her life. Since then, Shanti has made it her mission to help other families to understand the importance of safe sanitation and the way to go ...
Improving access to sustainable sanitation and hygiene continues to be one of the most pressing development challenges for India today. In response to this challenge, the Indian Government launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, to create an open defecation free India by 2019. Since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014, India's sanitation coverage has doubled ...
Access to clean and safe water is a basic human right. While some of us are lucky to have year-round access to safe drinking water, many communities living in the remote mountainous regions of northern Pakistan do not have this luxury. These communities are dependent on unsafe water sources, which puts them at risk of water-borne diseases and limits their opportunities ...
Anila Anjum is a student studying Health Policies and Management Systems at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. Anila grew up in the rugged mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, where she saw many women like her mother, starting from a young age, spending more than half their lives "walking miles on end" - trekking back and forth through dangerous paths and harsh weather ...
By Onno Ruhl, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat In Northern Pakistan, Silgan Valley is one of the most remote valleys in Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan, and Ghasoom Village is at the very end of it. Part of a cluster of villages on a flat piece of land, at the end of the valley, it is closed off on three ...
Pioneering music prize recognises exceptional achievement in the preservation and revitalisation of Muslim musical heritage. Lisbon, Portugal, 21 March 2019 - The Master Jury of the Aga Khan Music Awards has announced laureates and finalists for the Awards' inaugural cycle. The Music Awards were established by His Highness the Aga Khan to recognise exceptional creativity, promise, and enterprise in music performance, ...
London, United Kingdom, 12 March 2019 - During a dinner at Buckingham Palace, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, founder and President of The Prince's Trust, today announced His Highness the Aga Khan as Global Founding Patron of The Prince's Trust's work. His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder and ...
Nairobi, Kenya, 19 February 2019 - Prince Hussain Aga Khan, officially inaugurated his exhibition of marine photography last week at the historic Khoja Mosque in Nairobi. The collection of some 100 photographs of oceanic ecosystems in various parts of the world depicts the beauty, fragility and diversity of marine life and brings to attention the necessity and urgency to protect, conserve ...
