Ismaili Mail

14 May 2008
By Shafiullah Khan.

I am a resident of Hunza Valley, situated in the north of Pakistan. A few days ago, I was thinking about the changes that had occurred in my valley since I was a child. I was quite shocked to know that while we enjoy modern facilities today, we have lost many things which were part of the natural environment of these areas and are now irreversibly lost. I would like to share the changes I have observed in three decades in Hunza Valley and the Karakoram areas where I was raised.

I remember when I was a school going child in mid-seventies. The winters used to be severe. Everything froze, the land, water in the streams, even the water stored inside homes. Running water in the streams froze and it made at least four inch layer of ice. There were no pipes to supply water to homes so the women of the area collected water from the nearest stream. In the morning a man used to break the layer of ice and make a hole to pass a bucket into the stream. Then the whole day the women would collect water from the same spot and the following night again it froze and this cycle continued up to mid-February.

In the month of February the weather would change a little bit. People would start ploughing the fields. On some days the land would be frozen and the farmers could not plough the fields. At that time cash crops were not introduced in Hunza Valley, so each household was dependant on subsistence farming of wheat, barley, buckwheat maize and potatoes.

People had strange traditions at that time. No farmer would plant any kind of trees on his farm. The logic was that the shade of the tree would disturb the growth process of the crop. After the harvest the whole village remained open and barren. Someone would grow spinach, carrots or other vegetables just to store for winters; usually people were dependent on potatoes and dried meat stored in the month of December.

I remember in the months of February and March hundreds of crows, some with red beaks and others with yellow would migrate along with hundreds of wild pigeons. All these birds would remain in Hunza for some weeks then migrate again to unknown destinations. Similarly in the months from June to August we could observe quails and birds hovering above the wheat crop.
After the construction of Karakoram Highway (1966-1978) a great socio-economics change took place in the Hunza valley and over all Karakoram areas. People started importing wheat and other needed items form the south. They become fewer dependants on subsistence farming of wheat.

In 1982 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) was initiated in these areas. It gave the idea of cash crop. Initially the idea of cash crop seemed to be ridiculous to the people. It was a deviation from the customs of the area. Many people argued that fruit is not the substitute of bread. The plantation also raised issues and disputes among and between the neighbours but with the passage of time these things settled down. Not more than 5 years had passed when people had the results. The fruit gave a better financial return than wheat. It became a trend to plant fruit trees and grow potatoes. Within less than a decade the wheat crop came to a minimum in the region.

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Educating the neglected north

A visit to the headquarters of the Northern Areas, Gilgit, reveals that the absence of Pakistan government from different sectors has given NGOs, donors and developments sufficient space to intervene and contribute to the socio-economic development of the region

By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed

The beautiful and scenic northern areas of Pakistan comprising districts of Gilgit, Ghanche, Skardu, Diamer, Ghizer and Astore have been victims of sheer neglect for many years. Despite being under the control of the federal government, the locals have had no voting rights and constitution for decades. The government of Pakistan that provides funds to cover the administrative expenses of the area has not been able to provide basic education and health activities on a large scale.

Though apprehensions have existed for a long time that the northern areas are no more than a colony for Pakistan, the voices demanding rights for the locals are getting louder and louder with every passing day. With the assumption of power by the newly-elected democratic government the hopes of these people have been revived. The decision of the government led by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to do away with Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) has been an indication that the government wants to do something for the region.

A visit to the headquarter of the northern areas, Gilgit, reveals that the absence of Pakistani government from different sectors has given NGOs, donors and development organisations sufficient space to intervene and contribute to the socio-economic development of the region. It is due to this factor that the literacy ratio in Gilgit is as high as 53.33 per cent.

These figures have been provided by the National Commission of Human Development (NCHD) that is working in the northern areas in partnership with Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKESP) and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) to achieve the goal of universal primary education and adult literacy. NCHD, a fast track initiative of the Pakistani government, was established in July 2001 as a federal statutory body tasked with the objective of filling the implementation gaps and improving the public-sector delivery mechanisms to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

During a visit to an adult literacy centre in Gilgit, it was observed that the local community was extremely receptive to change and the female students were brimming with confidence. One major reason for this ‘unexpected’ response from these women is that they have been interacting with people involved with the development sector.

Another perception that proved wrong during the visit was that the students enrolled at these literacy centers did not belong to the Ismaili community alone. There was due representation of Sunnis, Shias and Noorbukshies at the centers as well.

Qurban Ali, an AKESP representative told that the Agha Khan Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of sect and its programmes are open for all. A proof of this, he says, is that AKESP has presence even in Skardu where the number of Ismailis is negligible. Qurban says, “these centres have also played a great role in creating harmony among different sects and ending animosity amongst them that would often lead to violence in the recent past.”

The curriculum taught at adult literacy centres and post literacy centres has been devised in a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any community. Post literacy centres are meant for those people who want to continue with their education after the completion of their basic course.

Amir Bilal, NCHD spokesperson, says that the literacy programme devised by NCHD expects the students to achieve basic literacy equivalent to grade 3 in 5 months. He says, “those completing the course must be able to write 7 to 10 sentences about their immediate environment, to add, subtract, multiply and divide a 3 digit figure and develop knowledge about techniques of tolerance and emotional control.”

Similarly, NCHD’s post literacy programme offers religious education, health education, awareness about environmental issues, agriculture, business, household matters, learning of English by phonics and so on.

The students enrolled at post literacy centres are mostly women, many of whom are mothers and even grandmothers. The northern areas are spread over an area of 72,496 square kilometres out of which 64,066 square kilometres comprises mountain area. The present population of the northern areas is around 870,000 and density is as low as 8 persons per sq km, living in some 650 small villages. This makes it difficult for the people to commute easily from one place to the other. Therefore, the emphasis of these bodies is on setting up literacy centres close to the houses of students and are managed by the people belonging to their own community.

More at the Source

CHITRAL: The Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) will arrange Kaak Lasht festival from April 11 to 13. The festival, besides entertainment, aims to raise awareness in the masses about environmental pollution, eco-tourism, promotion and reservation of culture. The festival also comprises a variety of games including cricket, volleyball, football and cultural shows. It may be mentioned here that the organisers have decided to restart holding the festival after a lapse of five years.

Source

Berlin, March 30, 2008: The one year international leadership training Programme (ILT) 2007-‏2008, ‘Planning and Management for Sustainabale Development of Mountain Regions’ has been concluded in Berlin, Germany. In this regard a certificate distribution Cerermony was held in Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Berlin. The 24 training participants from Nepal, Tajikistan, Pakistan and China received their certificates.

Pamir Times

ISLAMABAD, March 27: The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and the Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN) have signed a Rs428 million contract to maximise crop production in over 1,000 villages across the country as part of a national food security project.

–snip–

The project will be implemented by the RSPN over a period of four years, starting from April, in partnership with its six rural support programmes — the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Balochistan Rural Support Programme, National Rural Support Programme, Punjab Rural Support Programme, Sarhad Rural Support Programme and the Sindh Rural Support Programme.

Dawn Pakistan

Previous posts under AKRSP

The role of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in rural development in the Karakorum, Hindu Kush & Himalayan region: Examples from the northern mountainous belt of Pakistan

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Fazlur-Rahman
Department of Geography Urban & Regional Planning, University of Peshawar, University Town, 25100 Peshawar, NWFP Pakistan

Abstract Pakistan is predominantly a mountainous country where rural development activities are characterised by inconsistency, politically motivated short-term projects without proper feedback. Since the inception of the country, the top-down approach has been followed, and the same development plans that were formulated for the plain areas have been extended to the mountains without any modification. In doing so, neither the participation of the local communities was cared for, nor the mountain specificities were considered in the planning process. Moreover, the representation of the local inhabitants was improper and contradictory to the facts. This biased approach has been one of the main causes for the failure of development projects carried out by different agencies of the Government. Contrary to the perception of the state authorities, the mountain communities proved to be more open to accept new approaches and demonstrated the capacity and capability of being a dependable development partner. In this paper, a detailed account of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) has been presented to assess and evaluate the approach followed by this non-governmental organisation (NGO), and the response of the local inhabitants as collaborators in the development process. The achievements of the AKRSP from project planning, implementation and monitoring can be adopted as a model for rural development not only in the plains, but also in the mountainous areas of the developing countries in the world.

Source

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is providing a platform to entrepreneurs to market and sell their traditional delicacies, which are made using organic ingredients. Dilip Patel is one such person who has been in the business of manufacturing pure jaggery, without using chemicals or acid, for the last ten years in Patan.

–snip–

It is not incorrect to say that most of the foodstuff on display at the fest is the result of innovation and ingenuity. Mahesh Patel, a rural worker at the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, has made a fruit drink from cactus. He said the idea came to him after he discovered that children often peeled the cactus fruit to eat the delicious pulp inside. Now he is marketing his rosy pink juice. But, as he said, he is still waiting for the laboratories to provide a scientific appraisal of the fruit’s nutritional value, after which he will start bottling the juice and sell it in supermarkets and city shops.

Source

PESHAWAR (APP): The two days Torkoh Multi Stake Holders Development Workshop conducted by Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) with the collaboration of UTDO and Razdan Local Support Programme concluded at Shahi Fort Shahgram Torkoh some 120 KM from here.

Male and female experts presented their presentation on 6 different themes through their group leaders. The themes included “Social Organizations”, “Social Sector Services”, “Farm & off Farm income and source of employment”, “Women Development” and “Post Lawari Tunnel scenario”. Team leaders also described different problems confronting them. The participants complained of lukewarm attitude by the social welfare department for not allocating fund for the promotion of skill of women folk.

Addressing the concluding ceremony Sardar Ayub Regional Program Manager of AKRSP said that Local Support Organization play vital role in development of the area. He said that they should to continue heir work with great honesty and transparency.

The Frontier Post Peshawar

The Legal Aid Forum for Human Rights Chitral (LAFHR) in collaboration with Gender and Development Section of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) held a one-day workshop here at Susum village Karimabad valley on women rights.

Sher Nawaz, President Aga Khan Local Council Board was chief guest on the occasion while the ceremony was presided over by Sultan Shah District Naib Nazim Chitral.

Niaz. A Niazi Advocate President LAFHR briefed the participants regarding human rights charter of United Nations as well as the government of Pakistan. He said that according to law everyone is free to express his viewpoints and to live according to his own will.

He said that violation of rights creates problems on the earth adding that these days no body is safe from terrorists due to violation of human right’s laws. Syed Akram Shah Senior Vice- Chair Person Board of Director LAFHR spoke at length about the topic and offered free legal assistance in case of any human rights violation.

He underscored the need for introducing reforms in the education system in order to ensure equal opportunities to all irrespective of any discrimination on the basis of class and gender.

Associated Press of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Germany will provide an assistance amounting to 51,000 euros to the flood victims in the Chitral area.

The relief work financed by the German Embassy and carried out by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme will go on for four months starting in September this year.

To this effect, a respective agreement was signed Monday by representatives of these two institutions. It comprises provision of shelter and food to enable the affectees to get through the winter period.

The donation will be directed to the inhabitants of the village of Sonoghor, 90 kilometers north of Chitral town, which was in great proportion destroyed by a flash flood on 29 June, 2007.

Pak Tribune

September 02, 2007

By Rosliwaty Ramly

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) — The Aga Khan Development Network is a group of private, international, non-denominational agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities for people in some of the poorest parts of the developing world.

Created and chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the Network is a contemporary endeavour of the Ismaili Imamat to realise the social conscience of Islam through institutional action.

The Network’s organisations have individual mandates that range from the fields of health and education to architecture, rural development and the promotion of private-sector enterprise.

According to Sam Pickens, the Network’s Communications Officer, together they collaborate in working towards a common goal - to build institutions and programmes that can respond to the challenges of social, economic and cultural change on an ongoing basis.

Sam elaborated that the Network brings together a number of agencies, institutions and programmes that have been built up over the past 40 years and, in some cases, date back to the early twentieth century.

The Network’s agencies conduct their programmes without regard to the faith, origin or gender of the people they serve, he added.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) works to strengthen the role of the private sector in developing countries by promoting entrepreneurial activity and supporting private sector initiatives.

Sam noted that AKFED plays a catalytic role in mobilising investment in developing or transitional economies.

“It makes investments in industrial production, infrastructure, tourism development, financial services, aviation and media. It promotes the creation of the enabling legal and fiscal structures that ensure the viability of private sector initiatives,” he added.

Sam said due to its institutional background and ethical framework, investment decisions are based more on prospects for improving the lives of people in the developing world than on bottom-line profitability.

“AKFED takes bold but calculated steps to invest in environments that are fragile and complex. It has assisted in the rehabilitation of economies after civil conflict or internal turmoil in environments as varied as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Tajikistan and Uganda,” he added.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) seeks to alleviate economic and social exclusion, diminish the vulnerability of poor populations, reduce poverty and help people become self-reliant.

AKAM operates in both urban and rural settings and offers a range of microfinance services, including micro-insurance, savings services, housing credits and education loans.

Sam explained that loans are accompanied by training in basic business concepts so that borrowers can become financially self-reliant entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) seeks sustainable solutions to the long-term problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and ill health throughout the world, with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous, coastal and other resource-poor areas, he added.

In this aspect, Sam emphasised that AKF focuses on rural development, health, education, environment, and the strengthening of civil society.

Its programmes include the Aga Khan Rural Support Programmes, the Mountain Societies Development Support Programmes and the Coastal Rural Support Programmes.

AGENCIES

Apart from that, Sam said various agencies have been created such as the Aga Khan Education Services, the Aga Khan Health Services and the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services.

The Aga Khan Education Services operates more than 300 schools and advanced educational programmes at the pre-school, primary, secondary and higher secondary levels in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uganda, Tanzania and Tajikistan.

It aims to diminish the many obstacles to educational access, quality and achievement.

The first of a planned network of over 20 Aga Khan Academies was inaugurated in Mombasa, Kenya, in December 2003, dedicated to expanding access to education of an international standard of excellence in Asia and Africa.

It features a curriculum based on the International Baccalaureate, a special emphasis on the humanities, and a robust system of international student and teacher exchanges.

“Admission is merit-based and needs-blind,” Sam said.

The Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) with 325 health centres, dispensaries, hospitals, diagnostic centres and community health outlets, is one of the largest and most comprehensive private, non-profit health networks in the developing world.

Meanwhile the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS) works to improve the built environment through design and construction, village planning, natural hazard mitigation, environmental sanitation and improved water supply systems.

Sam stressed that AKPBS achieves these aims by providing material, technical assistance and construction management services for rural and urban areas.

He noted that two universities, Aga Khan University (AKU) and the University of Central Asia (UCA) are part of the Network.

AKU, Pakistan’s first private, autonomous university, headquartered in Karachi, is a major centre for education, training and research in the health sciences and teacher education.

Chartered as Pakistan’s first private international university in 1983, it has since established branches and institutes in East Africa and the United Kingdom. AKU is also creating a new Faculty of Arts and Sciences campus in Karachi.

The second university, the University of Central Asia is the world’s first university dedicated exclusively to education and research in mountain regions and societies.

Located on three campuses, in Khorog, Tajikistan; Tekeli, Kazakhstan; and Naryn, Kyrgyz Republic, it will offer a Master of Arts degree within the School of Development and a Bachelor of Arts programme based on the liberal arts and sciences.

Sam said the School of Professional and Continuing Education, which is already offering classes, is Central Asia’s first provider of formal, university-based, non-degree educational programmes, offering vocational, professional development and personal improvement opportunities to youth and adults.

CULTURE

He emphasised that the Network’s initiatives in culture, architecture, architectural education, urban revitalisation and traditional music are the responsibility of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).

The Trust focuses on culture as a means of enhancing the physical, social and economic revitalisation of communities in the Islamic world, Sam added.

Its programmes include:

* The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, established in 1977, which is the world’s largest prize for architecture. Presented every three years, it not only awards individual architects for exemplary contemporary work but also singles out projects that propose innovative and replicable solutions to problems of social development.

* The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme, which was set up in 1992 to implement conservation and urban revitalisation projects in culturally significant sites of the Islamic world. Such projects bring environmental, conservation and socioeconomic components to bear on development issues in urban and rural setting.

* The Education and Culture Programme, which consists of four major units: the Aga Khan Programme for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); ArchNet.org, a virtual archive of materials on architecture, urban design and urban development; the Music Initiative in Central Asia, which works to ensure the preservation of Central Asia’s musical heritage and its transmission to a new generation of artists and audiences; and the Museum Projects which develops museum and exhibition projects, including two museums in Cairo and Toronto.

Sam said the Network’s agencies make a long-term commitment to the areas in which they work and that they are guided by the philosophy that a humane, sustainable environment must reflect the choices, made by people themselves, of how to live and improve prospects in harmony with the environment.

Sustainability is, therefore, a central consideration from the outset, he added.

While each agency pursues its own specific mandate, Sam noted that they all work together within the overarching framework of the Aga Khan Development Network so that their different pursuits can interact and reinforce one another.

“Their common goal is to help poor communities achieve a level of self-reliance whereby they are able to plan their own livelihoods and help those even more needy than themselves,” Sam concluded.

For further information, log on to www.akdn.org.

Bernama

AKRSP prop gives nomads a new lease of life in state

D P Bhattacharya

Ahmedabad, September 1: Flashback: At least 10 years ago, the Kotwalia community in south Gujarat would kill a rodent or a bird for survival. For a few months in a year, the community would live on the outskirts of a village and then move on to the adjoining sugar mills.At present: The community is now settling down in villages across Surat, Bharuch and Narmada districts.

A decade ago, this change would have seemed impossible. But thanks to the efforts of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India) (AKRSP-I), the Kotwalia community is finally settling down with a life of dignity and a little stability. Narsing Kotwalia from Hathakundi village in Valia block of Bharuch district said, “We used to kill almost anything for food. Constant search for work used to drive us to sugar mills and the community was always on the move.”

The situation was so bad that even village merchants would not lend them money, as the entire community did not have any steady source of income.

Things, however, have changed and today, Narsing can walk up to any shopkeeper in his village and demand his supply of rations on credit and get it.

“Now even our children are going to schools,” Narsing said, adding that earlier, the community used to take their children along to work as extra hands. Narsing, who runs a bamboo furniture-making unit at Hathakundi, has three children, studying in Class III and IV.

While the first hurdle for AKRSP workers was to trace the community, which was frequently migrating in the sugar mills for work, the second hurdle was earning the trust of the community, said Aadal Arsi, Development Associate AKRSP(I).

Bharat Patel, Coordinator AKRSP(I), said that a series of intervention programmes were carried out by the organisation. Since the community owned no land, the first step was to initiate the idea of collective farming, by leasing out land from the village panchayat, Bharat added. Successively, measures like micro finance and cattle rearing, were introduced to the community.

“As the community members were traditional bamboo workers, to procure bamboo, they often used to go into the forest and thus step into the wrong side of the law,” Aadal said. “We organised them into groups and ensured that the Forest department provides them bamboo at a nominal price,” she added.

“We also arranged for some rigorous training on bamboo-craft last year at our Tribal Livelihood Training Centre at Netrang, apart from providing them a revolving fund of Rs 1 lakh to procure bamboo for their work,” Bharat further said. While the local rate for daily wage is about Rs 20 to 25 a day, the community members involved with bamboo furniture making are now comfortably making around Rs 50 to 60 a day.

Meanwhile, Narsing proudly said that while a number of people from his community are now engaged in bamboo furniture making, some are rearing cattle and few others are engaged in cutting sugar cane.

cities.expressindia 

Checkdams on Meghal bring prosperity to 54 villages

Saurav Kumar

Ahmedabad, August 17: What was once a small seasonal, rain-fed river has now turned into an all-season one. This metamorphosis of the Meghal river in Junagadh district has brought about an increase in farm produce and prosperity. Construction of check dams at strategic points on the river has ensured that water remains in it all through the year.

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), which is a part of the Aga Khan Foundation, is largely responsible for this transformation. Umesh Desai, programme coordinator of AKRSP, says, “It was easy to mobilise people for the revival of the river project. They have an emotional connection with the river and were ready to help us.”

Help meant contributing both in cash and kind. Since 2002, AKRSP has built 140 check dams, big and small on the river. Many villagers contributed by giving money for the project and many more helped in the actual construction of the check dams.

The results have been startling. Desai says, “There is 30-km stretch of crops in Maliya taluka in the Rabi season when till a few years back there was nothing grown.”

Bhimjibhai Patel, a farmer from Khorasagir village in Maliya taluka, says, “Earlier we used to grow only groundnuts and everything depended on the rains. Now I also grow wheat and vegetables in the Rabi season, when there used to be no water earlier.”

AKRSP used a three-pronged approach for the Meghal River Basin Project. First, was ensuring massive community participation, second was the constructing the check dams and the third was employing side by side traditional rain water harvesting measures.

Rahul Kumar, project officer for AKRSP in Mailya taluka of Junagadh district, says: “We encouraged people to harvest rainwater in building tankas or underground tanks. We also helped in restoring the old tankas.” The advantages of rainwater harvesting were put forth before the people by way of street plays and lok bhavaior folk songs.

Meghal is not the longest of rivers at 70 km _ it originates at Kanada Dungur in Mendarda taluka in Junagadh district and flows into the Arabian Sea at Chorwad. However, it is hugely important for the people of Maliya, Mendarda, Keshod and Mangrol talukas it flows through.

It is referred as the Lokmata or the mother goddess in these parts. The check dams have ensured that 54 villages in these four talukas of Junagdah district and 4,000 hectares of land will not be without water.

As Dahyalal Bhimai, a farmer from Ajab village Keashos taluka, says: “I can also grow vegetables and am planning a cotton crop this year, thanks to the water in the river.”

The Meghal project has shown that small projects too can reap big benefits. As Dahyalal says, “Moto labh che.”

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=251503

CHITRAL, 27 July 07:To compensate the flood and avalanche hit people Karim Abad Area Development Organization (KADO) distributed relief goods among affected people at Shughoor. District Nazim Chitral Haji Maghfirat Shah was chief guest on the occasion while Tehsil Nazim Sartaj Ahmad Khan and district Naib Nazim Sultan Shah were also present at the moment. KADO with collaboration of Innovation for Poverty Reduction Program (IPRP) distributed these edible items and iron sheets for rehabilitation. They were financially supported by SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Switzerland and Swiss Inter cooperation Pakistan.

They distributed food items among 280 affected and 16 iron sheet per head among 60 people in a simple ceremony. M. Yaqub coordinator KADO highlighted objectives of and said that Kado established an English Medium school at Karimabad where some 250 students are reading. They also provided equipment and computers to science laboratories of different schools of the area. Besides it they donated 10,000 rupees per head to 55 people for poverty alleviation. They imparted awareness regarding medicinal plants.District Naib Nazim Sultan Shah said that work on self help basis were introduced by these local people but now they have abandoned and that is why non local NGOs come here to support us. He hailed services of Aga Khan Rural Support Program who helped KADO for uplifting the area. Tehsil Nazim Sartaj Ahmad Khan, President Aga Khan Regional Council Afzal Aman, Coordinator IPRP Adalat Khan, Dr. Haidarul Mulk, Chairman KADO Amir Muhammad and District Nazim Chitral Maghfirat Shah spoke on the occasion.

More at the Source

Highly recommend you read the full article, excellent example of influence, help and training provided by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme.

That’s life

By Ayesha T Haq

A few months ago I wrote about a woman I met who had changed her and her family’s lives with the benefit of the facility of micro credit. Micro credit tends to evoke many emotions. Some argue that micro credit is exploitative and does not bail its clients out of poverty. Others are of the view that micro credit does not reach out to the really poor and it is only available to those who already have a viable business that they seek to enhance. Critics are of the view that most micro credit finance institutions in Pakistan, barring a few, do not adhere to the traditional and accepted Grameen Bank model which requires certain preliminary steps be followed.

The criteria is laid out in all policy manuals. First, the loan to be dispensed must be used for entrepreneurship and not consumption. Second, there must be a proper review of the feasibility of the client’s business plan. And third, in the event that there is a lack of skills, vocational training should be provided. The criticism is that in Pakistan, with the exception of a few institutions, most skip the preliminaries and go straight to the loan. In doing so they expose the problems associated with failed institutions, the lack of effective monitoring and regulation including functional regulatory bodies.

Five years ago, I along with three other friends went on a fantastic trip across the north of Pakistan. Last month I went back and added Baltitstan to the schedule. The north was pretty much as I remembered it, green with gold fields and fruit trees full of cherries, mulberries and apricots, beautiful people who lived to incredible ages, magical forts with the most stunning vistas and the musical notes of the sound of water.

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Ahmedabad, June 14: BESET with lack of livelihood opportunities, poverty and little information on ways to alter the situation, life was nothing short of a tale of constant drudgery for Usha Vasava eight years ago. Her only solace was that she was not alone and there were many like her in the Vasava community in Sagbara taluka of Narmada district. Things, however, changed for good with the formation of myriad Self Help Groups (SHGs) across the taluka by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and today, these women are not only self-reliant, but have also formed a taluka-level federation of the SHGs to address the issue at macro level.

“Earlier, we lived in a terrible condition as we never had enough money to cultivate land,” said Usha. “We often had to mortgage our jewellery or land to the local sahukar (moneylender) to get some money in order to buy seeds,” she adds. The high rate of interest cost them a lot of money and eventually resulted in loss of land as well as property. “We formed Navjagruti SHG at village Panchtitri in 2000 and in the beginning, we saved Rs 10 per month but gradually raised it to Rs 30,” said a proud Usha. “Now, with little savings at our discretion, we no longer approach local moneylenders and go to banks instead, who now have no qualms about giving us loans,” she adds.

“The Vasava community in the tribal-dominated Narmada and Bharuch district has been marginalised since long,” said Aadal Arsi from AKRSP. “Due to lack of livelihood options and poverty, the community had to move from their land and work as migratory labourers in the nearby towns of Bardoli and Surat,” she pointed out.

“AKRSP, which started working with the community in the mid 80s initiated them to the concept of SHGs, which educated them on the idea of saving and credit,” Arsi said, adding, that the idea found favour with the local women who not only formed groups at the village level but also formed a taluka-level body at Sagbara ‘Sagbara Mahila Mandal’ in 1999 and today, there are as many as 81 SHGs under this Mandal.”

Usha, who has been appointed secretary of this mandal, points out that the rate of migration of labour has come down significantly with the establishment of such SHGs. The Mandal has also set up an agriculture tools library (issues farming tools to farmers of the community) and seven shops in Sagbara, dealing in different commodities, which are being run by various SHGs.

Source

Excerpts:

Governance: Of the four sample projects used to assess achievement of results in governance, the Social Institutions Development Project (SIDP) was found to be exemplary. Implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation (Canada and Pakistan), the SIDP is designed to strengthen the institutional capacity of independent social organizations and institutions in Pakistan.

SIDP provided significant support in human resource and financial management at a critical time to what is now the best-performing micro-finance lender to women in Pakistan. This relatively small but well targeted investment has yielded major returns in the improved performance of the organization to the benefit of thousands of poor women.

SIDP is considered a leading-edge approach for strengthening civil society organizations within the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The model is being promoted in Pakistan and the 36 countries where AKDN works, including Afghanistan.

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As the skyscrapers and malls emerge as the development indicators in vibrant Gujarat, a few students have decide to slog it out in the scorching heat to get a first-hand feel of development in rural Gujarat.our correspondent reports

Ahmedabad, June 9: “I was leading a very regular life in Mumbai, and was looking forward to some rural experience,” said 19-year-old Jahnavi Doshi, who cleared her Std XII exams from the American School of Mumbai. Born and brought up in Egypt, she had returned to the country about three years back. Doshi, along with her friend, Zainab Kakal (20) joined Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) to work as a volunteer in the tribal belt of Sagbara in Narmada district of Gujarat for a month.

More at Ahmedabad Newsline

One day awareness raising workshop on Human rights organized by Aga Khan Rural Support program (AKRSP) with collaboration of Hindukush Area Rural Support Organization (HARSO) and Legal Aid Forum for Human Rights (LAFH).supported by CIDA funded Institutional Development for Poverty Reduction (IDPR) was conducted at Kosht tehsil Mulkhow, Chitral.

…

Mrs. Noshaba member Board of Directors, explained the wife and husband mutual rights and how they can develop harmony and mutual understanding for a peaceful life. She said that our Holy Prophet used to stand up as a token of respect for his daughters and other Muslim women. She said that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) married Fatima to Ali after their proper counseling.

Human rights activists offered to all to knock at their door as and when their rights were violated. Maulana Sirajuddin highlighted human and women rights with Islamic point of view and stressed upon the participants to not violate rights of other people. He said that daughter deserved your love more than sons because of their weakness. A good number of people attended the workshop and demanded for its continuation in future.

Source

CHITRAL: A three-day polio vaccination called the Special National Immunisation Days (SNID) campaign stared on Tuesday to administer polio drops in parts of upper Chitral which were previously inaccessible. A walk and opening ceremony was held at Booni, Shoghoor and Lutkoh on Monday in this regard. Community leaders, nazims, police officers, government officials, shopkeepers, students, teachers and the general public participated in the SNID walk.

For this purpose, the Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) detailed 136 mobile teams and set up 16 fixed centres where polio drops will be administered to children under five. The Health team has predicted that 40,216 children will be administrated polio drops. A vitamin A capsule will also be given to children. The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) is operating in synch with these health teams.

Source

ISLAMABAD: The Karakoram Food Festival (KFF) that started on April 9 will conclude today (Tuesday). The Agha Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Islamabad Serena Hotel arranged the festival. It attracted the attention of diplomats, especially from Japan, Sarena Hotel official Tullah Khan told Daily Times on Monday. He said the major dishes of the Northern Areas were on offer in the festival.

Source

ISLAMABAD, April 23 (APP): Women empowerment with their enhanced role in the mainstream of national life is reflective of Pakistan’s society, getting reformed and transformed fast into moderate and enlightened fabric. Mindful of the fact that women strata constitutes half of the country’s population’, the government has earnestly paved the way for them to architect a bright future for the whole nation. To empower women in social, political as well as economic terms, the government has embarked upon ambitious plans with tangible focus on wielding untapped potential of half of the entire population.

As a result of the stepped up efforts, more and more young women and girls are getting confident and challenging and competing the traditional gender roles.

Women, particularly in the urban belt appear to be thriving in terms of their personal autonomy. From banking to telecommunications, female participation in the labour-intensive sectors is growing faster than ever before.

Women’s share in Pakistan Foreign Service, especially at ambassadorial stints also reflects their imminent and consistent contribution towards national affairs.

–snip–

According to the Ministry of Women Development, a National Fund for Advancement of Rural Women (Jafakash Aurat) with seed money of Rs.100 million has a special focus on rural women.

The Fund has been set up through a number of commercial banks including Khushali and First Women Bank and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme to provide simultaneously skill, employment and income to nearly 23,000 rural women which is beneficial for over 74,000 households.

The Micro-Credit Scheme, introduced recently through commercial banks (Khushhali and First Women Bank) is expected to introduce a new entrepreneurial class among poor women on local basis.

Complete at the source

The Nation
(Nairobi)

NEWS
April 18, 2007

Posted to the web April 17, 2007

By Nairobi, Tuesday
Nairobi

A model for re-building lives, environments and livelihoods after the
devastating South Asian earthquake in 2005 has been profiled by the Aga
Khan Development Network.

The event took place at the just concluded first stakeholders' forum
of the Business Partnership for Sustainable Urbanisation organised by
UN-Habitat.

Official figures suggest that 75,000 people lost their lives in the
quake that destroyed cities, towns, villages and remote settlements
across mountainous regions of India and Pakistan.

The AKDN's Multi-Input Earthquake Reconstruction Programme in
Kashmir was presented at the Forum as an approach to address challenges
facing the urban poor in the aftermath of natural disaster.

"Investments targeted at rehabilitation are best sustained if they
are supported by a holistic, multi-sectoral approach which is
complemented by an area development focus." said Mr Hafiz Sherali,
Chairman Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan, presenting
the model in a session entitled Cross Cutting Challenge: Financing
Partnerships.

"Effective responses," he noted, "must go beyond risk assessment,
home reconstruction, integrated water supply and management and mobile
health clinics, to community-based risk management, infrastructure
financing, enterprise development and microfinance."

Mr Arif Neky, East African Regional Chief Executive Officer, Aga
Khan Foundation, highlighted the opportunity this approach offered for
collaboration between governments, the private sector and civil
society, noting that "ideally, corporate social responsibility would
entail research into regionally appropriate building products and
technologies, and investments in seismically vulnerable areas before
disaster strikes."

Ms Jaana Mioch, Disaster Management Specialist at UN-HABITAT
Headquarters endorsed the approach that truly sustainable
rehabilitation requires multi-sectoral inputs including critical
elements of economic recovery.

Source

The Aga Khan

“The International Academic Partnership is in part a product of the vision of the Aga Khan, whose son, Rahim, was a member of Phillips Academy’s Class of 1990.

But who is the Aga Khan, and what places him in a position to see his visions impact people and programs globally?

One of the world’s wealthiest and most revered individuals, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV is a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam, who lived from about 570-­632 A.D. Tracing his ancestry to the prophet’s daughter Fatima and her husband, Ali, the Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of all the world’s Ismaili Muslims.

It has been said the lives of Fatima and Ali’s descendants can be better or worse depending on the vision of the Aga Khan, and Prince Karim Aga Khan’s vision is considered by some to be nothing short of brilliant.

The son of Prince Aly Khan and Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan, he was a 20-year-old student at Harvard in 1957 when the role of spiritual leader was thrust upon him. His grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, former president of the League of Nations, had died, unexpectedly bypassing his son and naming his grandson as the 49th hereditary imam, or leader, of the worldwide community.

The Ismailis represent only a small segment of the world of Islam—15 million or so out of roughly a billion believers worldwide—who live scattered throughout Africa and Asia and, more recently, in Europe and North America. They are unified in their view of Islam as a faith that emphasizes intellectual freedom, compassion, tolerance and human dignity, reflected in economic, social and cultural contributions. Under the aegis of “His Highness,” as he is known, these activities have evolved into the Aga Khan Foundation, the world’s second largest philanthropic foundation in international development work, and the Aga Khan Development Network. The network is a group of institutions laboring to better the lives of people in the developing world through programs in health, education, housing, economic development and cultural awareness.

Two of those linked institutions, the Aga Khan Education Service and the Institute for Educational Development, operate schools and professional development centers for teachers in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda. A key facet of the AKES educational philosophy is that it insists upon equal education of females.

To get an idea of the programs’ impact, consider Pakistan, where 64 percent of boys and 75 percent of girls do not attend school. In Pakistan’s Northern Areas, home to about 300,000 Ismaili Muslims and an equal number of other Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Aga Khan Development Network has helped villagers build 450 classrooms, provided education to 22,900 boys and girls and trained 1,700 teachers, many of them women.

A distinguishing feature of the Aga Khan’s programs is that they are designed as partnerships meant to be sustained by the local people, and the roughly $150 million spent on them each year is considered not a giveaway, but an investment. Noting the efficacy of such an approach, Forbes Global magazine last year described His Highness as the “venture capitalist to the Third World.”

Nina Scott and Theresa Pease contributed to this report. Courtesy Phillips Academy Andover - Publications online.

CHITRAL, 27 Mar 07: Tehsil Nazim Mastuj Shahzada Sikandar UlMulk has demanded of the president of Pakistan to rush to the rescue of the people of this remotest area of the country beleaguered by snow and unable to leave their valleys to fetch commodities of daily life.

Addressing a press conference here Tuesday, he said that the severe snowfall of the other days has badly affected the basic infrastructures and it needs billions of rupees for their redemption. He said that the roads within his tehsil are the worst affected whose length is more than 400 kilometers and acts like arteries for the sustenance of the people. He said that hundreds of water supply schemes have also gone out of order and it may take an ugly turn with the arrival of summer season due to the imminent water-borne diseases. He also mentioned damage to the hundreds of miles of the transmission lines of electricity in the tehsil.

Tehsil nazim said that the detailed assessment of the disaster is being compiled with the help of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and Focus Humanitarian Assistance and remedial measures will be chalked out accordingly. Expressing his deep regrets, Shahzada Sikandar said that his tehsil municipal administration (TMA) is still without any heavy machinery like buldozers, chain dozers and others to restore the infrastructure and due to its enormous area and its vulnerability to natural hazards, at least four bulldozers must be kept stand by. He said that most of the valley roads could have been opened for vehicular traffic had there been such machinery available with the TMA.

He said that in case of half-hearted and ineffective steps by the government to rehabilitate the infrastructures, the tourism industry will be ruined. He said that two of the events in the calendar for the ‘Visit Pakistan Year 2007′ are to be celebrated in this tehsil which are Shandur festival and Baroghil festival.

Chitral News

Tourism improvement discussed

CHITRAL, 13 Mar, 07: A meeting Chaired by Tehsil Nazim Sartaj Ahmad Khan discussed promotion of tourism in Chitral district. The meeting was participated by representatives of all Non Governmental Organizations and heads of line departments. Addressing the participants Tehsil Nazim said that there is rich potential of tourism in Chitral but needs to be boosted. Stake holders proposed different steps including exhibition of Chitrali food and different varieties of local products. They stressed upon celebrations of different festivals with full media coverage to attract tourists.

Regional Program Manager AKRSP Sardar Ayub said that we should frame tourism development plan for promoting eco tourism. Participants said we have rich potential of wild life but we are gaining nothing from them except the sale of Markhor Hunting license. They said that there are different verities of traditional meals at Chitral but were never exhibited. They stressed upon introducing community and village guest houses and maintaining peaceful situation in Chitral. They said that mechanism regarding strategy for promoting tourism must be patronized by district government. They also criticized migrating duck hunting in Chitral.

On this occasion Tehsil Nazim announced that Tourism Conference would be held here in which the Federal Minster for Tourism and other guests would be invited. He also announced that a standing committee on tourism would be established here of which the District Nazim would be Chairman and other stake holders as members of the committee. The participants emphasized the need for a comprehensive strategy to attract tourists from all over the world.

http://www.chitralnews.com/LN579.htm

Younus initiative marks a lesson and an opportunity for Pakistan
03/10/2007 09:04 PM By Farhan Bokhari

Islamabad: Last week’s public offer by Mohammad Younus, the Bangladeshi Nobel prize winner, to set up a micro-credit bank in Pakistan, marks both a lesson and an opportunity for the south Asian country.

Yunus’ visit to Pakistan has caught the imagination of many of the country’s businessmen and key players from the financial sector and the stock market.

Unlike the big movers and shakers who have often taken the leading in setting the pace for large types of investments, Younus has exploited what he must characterise as the greatest bit of energy across the lowest tiers of society.

Should Pakistan accept his offer to establish a microcredit bank? The answer to that obvious question must only be in the affirmative. Pakistan has nothing to lose by allowing yet another initiative that is not only meant to help the poorest of the poor, but indeed driven by someone with as large a profile as Younus. His success and recent recognition have won him worldwide acclaim and respectability.

While there is no reason for Pakistan to ignore this opportunity just because Younus hails from Bangla-desh which was once part of Pakistan, it is also an occasion to reflect upon the history of Pakistan’s own initiatives to tackle the huge challenge of economic development.

Two success stories

Some of Pakistan’s own success stories in this area need to be remembered not only as a matter of record, but to illustrate the fact that the country has not been without its own track record which should have been a matter of pride.

The Karachi-based Orangi Pilot Project, founded by Akhtar Hameed Khan, the renowned Pakistani econ-omist who ironically began his work in the former East Pakistan and now Bangla-desh, has been recorded as an ideal initiative in this area. Similarly, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in Pakistan’s northern areas, is indeed yet another example of a commendable success story, recognised globally as an ideal model in this area.

The difference between Younus’ initiative known as the Grameen Bank and the two Pakistani cases may well be that the former was meant to rid the poor of the clutches of Bangladesh’s exploitative money lenders whereas the latter two in Pakistan took an all encompassing approach towards the challenge of development not just targeting the poor but indeed the poorest of the poor.

Tragically for Pakistan, the two success stories failed to translate themselves into a national movement which indeed makes the case different from Grameen’s example of becoming central to Bangladesh’s developmental identity.

The challenge for Pakistan therefore is not just an economic one which could be addressed with relative ease. The challenge in fact is more of a political one.

The writer is a journalist based in Pakistan.

GulfNews

“Now, way back, I worked with the AKRSP (Aga Khan Rural Support Programme) in northern Pakistan doing what was then called ‘bottom-up’ economic development in village communities.  Their work and some recent reading I did into Ernesto Sirolli’s  vision of  Enterprise Facilitation  aligns so closely to my personal view that the best way to enable people to improve the economic value of their lives (earn more, buy a house, feed your children, education etc) is to use the building block of small business as a lever.  I delight in the fact that my academic studies were about the economy and third world development (as it was then called) and now I have the skills to align and correlate my interests in both fields and, moreover, to actually help people to achieve this for themselves through my work as a consultant.  I love it!”

Blog Source

ISLAMABAD, Mar 7 (APP): Deputy Speaker National Assembly, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Wednesday said the exchange of orientational visits would help promote understanding and enhance capacity building of the elected representatives.

He said while addressing the concluding ceremony held here in connection with the capacity building programme for members of Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC) at Parliamentary Institute for Legislative Services (PIPS).

The study visit of NALC members to Islamabad has been organised by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Aga Khan Education Services Pakistan and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in collaboration with USAID under Pakistan Legislative Strengthening Project.

The Deputy Speaker assured the members NALC of full support in capacity building of institutions in the Northern Areas.

He said it is our common goal to address all the areas which require strengthening in due course for which we would extend maximum assistance as per our understandings.

Sardar Yaqoob said that government has taken a number of steps for the socio-economic development of Northern Areas and particularly mentioned the construction of Diamer -Basha dam which would bring prosperity in the Northern Areas.

Lauding the working of PIPS, he said the institute seeks to strengthen and develop the capacity of parliamentarians and legislative staff not only at the national provincial level but also at the local bodies level.

The institute will help in nurturing and educating local expertise for legislative strengthening and remain a symbol of our commitment to democracy.

During the 10-day study tour, the members headed by Speaker NALC, Malik Muhammad Miskeen were given presentations on various subjects including devolution in Pakistan, prospects of devolution in Northern Areas, public-private partnership and its future prospects particularly the prospects of the hydro power production, budget formulation mechanism, education strategy, development issues in NAs and role of legislators in development.

AAP

2007 International Study Visits

International Study Visits will be taking place in 2007 to the following two projects, which were the 2006 winners of the World Habitat Awards. For more information on the winning projects please click on the links below.

Bursaries are provided by BSHF to help meet the travel and accommodation costs of those selected to take part in the international study visit. If you wish to be considered for one of these bursaries, please apply online by following the link below, or print off the form, complete and post/fax to BSHF.

http://www.bshf.org/en/to.php/about/intstudyvisits/

The Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan - Building and Construction Improvement Programme

Dates for this visit are 24^th May - 3^rd June 2007.
The deadline for all applications is Friday 16^th February 2007.

http://www.bshf.org/en/to.php/about/dih/projects.php?pID=312