Construction of quake-resistant academic institutions demanded

By Myra Imran
5/16/2008 Islamabad

Stressing the urgent need for building earthquake-resistant schools, speakers at an international conference said on Thursday that structural flaws were always the main reason for the massive deaths following a natural disaster and pointed out that 80 per cent schools in Pakistan were unprotected from such risks.

This was stated at the opening session of a two-day international conference on ‘School Safety’ jointly organised by the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services and Focus Humanitarian Assistance, Pakistan. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman was the chief guest on the occasion.

The conference is being held as part of golden jubilee celebrations commemorating 50 years of ‘Imamat’ of Prince Karim Agha Khan under which a number of initiatives, programmes and development projects are being organised both nationally and internationally.

The conference is aimed at promoting the need for earthquake resistant schools and providing high-level recommendations at policy and practical levels to increase awareness on the importance and availability of tools and techniques for school safety in a larger context.

The participants were also provided an opportunity to visit earthquake-affected areas in Kashmir and NWFP.

Speakers said that educating school administration and children on safety tips in case of any natural disaster was essential but similar efforts were required to raise the issue of defining and enforcing proper design codes for school buildings.

They said that building safe schools required regulations and laws that mandate adequate code and strict quality control and supervision for professional accountability and competency. “Building safe school costs only three to four percent more than the unsafe way of construction and in the long run serves as pillars of future economy,” they pointed out.

They opined that housing students in unsafe schools was inconsistent with the right to education. “Retrofitting of schools can be accomplished at a reasonable cost and within reasonable time,” the speakers said.

Urging private organizations to involve community to lend a helping hand to the government departments in governance, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman said that it would lead to higher graph of successes. “While creating building codes, there is a need to keep in mind the constant governance deficit of South Asian countries,” she said.

She called for the same advocacy for hospital buildings and homes located in congested rural areas. “Keeping in mind the fact that major part of our country lies on the fault line, there is a need for coordination and networking to map out what should be done to survive fallout of such disasters.”

Iqbal Walji, president of the Aga Khan National Council, said that school safety conference and seminars would provide an opportunity for collaboration between important stakeholders to develop a proactive approach in designing integral policies for safer and seismic-proof schools.

The participants also discussed the proposed declaration to be passed at the concluding session of the conference. The paper says that in October 8, 2005 earthquake more than 8,000 out of 9,000 schools were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. “Over 17,000 school-age children perished in the collapsed schools, approximately 23 percent of the total deaths and over 20,000 more suffered serious injuries,” it said.

The paper urges national and local governments to create and consolidate a school safety information base that reflects local physical and socio-cultural realities to inform policy and practice. It demands that the government should develop a school safety policy as part of their national development plan.

It further states that the government in partnership with local authorities should create a National School Safety Program and Fund to implement action plans for structural and non-structural initiatives so that that new schools are disaster resilient and existing ones are properly retrofire. “A regulatory body should be made to ensure that private schools gradually raise their standards for safety over a period of five years.”

For local government, it suggests that these should develop school safety action plans within the framework of national schools safety program and identify their priorities. It demands that local governments should seek partnership with private institutions and corporations, seeking their support and commitment for the implementation and financing of the plan.

It urges the civil society to develop school safety awareness programs including preparedness and hazard evacuation plans. They should also train student safety corps and parent support teams as first respondents to disaster events.

It also proposes that May 16 be commemorated as ‘National School Safety Day.’ A region-wide safety day will create awareness and will help to establish sound planning practices and programs for school safety. “It will also encourage media to recognize their critical role and responsibility in raising awareness,” says the paper.

The first day keynote speakers included Fouad Bendimerad who highlighted the issues related to ‘Earthquake and Megacities Initiatives’ and Polat Gulkan who gave a presentation on ‘Policy and Institutional Mechanisms for Promoting School Safety.’

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Imam (spirtual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan (C) is welcomed at the Taj Residency Ummed in Ahmedabad on May 16, 2008. The Aga Khan is on a one-day visit to Gujarat state of Western India during his seven day official tour to India till May 19. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY/Getty Images

Imam (spirtual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan is welcomed at the Taj Residency Ummed in Ahmedabad on May 16, 2008. The Aga Khan is on a one-day visit to Gujarat state of Western India during his seven day official tour to India till May 19. AFP PHOTO/ Sam PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images

Golden Jubilee Visit to India

Please find summary of all posts made during the visit of His Highness the Aga Khan to the West Africa region in April-May 2008.  The same file is also archived at Summary tab.

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Golden Jubilee Visit to India

Official coverage at theismaili.org

His Highness the Aga Khan waves at members of the community who lined the streets around Hyderabad airport to welcome him. Photo: Gary Otte

Golden Jubilee Visit to India

By Ruth Walker
Special to the Harvard News Office

Princess Zahra Aga Khan ’94 came home to Harvard this week (May 13) to present a hopeful vision of what education in the developing world can be like.

The forum was in Askwith Hall in Longfellow Hall, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The occasion was the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture, which she was there to give.

At a time when the world is grappling with issues of child-centered education, of women’s rights in Muslim societies, and of the loss of authentic local cultures under a wave of globalization, the princess spoke to all of these.

The two great needs for education in the developing world, she stressed, are quality and relevance. “Lacking in either, you will never produce a culturally independent society.”

She shared an overview of her part of her “family business,” so to speak: the social welfare department of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), one of the largest private development networks in the world.

It was founded by her father, Karim Aga Khan, who for over half a century has been the hereditary imam of the Ismaili branch of Shia Islam. Both father and daughter trace their lineage to Ali, cousin of Muhammad, and his wife Fatima, Muhammad’s daughter. And both father and daughter are graduates of Harvard College. He is a member of the Class of 1958.

Harvard University Gazette

The princess presented four different case studies, “warts and all,” of AKDN undertakings. “The main point of these stories is quality and relevance. Each of these stories leads us to different questions.”

In East Africa — present-day Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda — the AKDN had long been involved in education, through private, fee-paying but not-for-profit schools for boys and girls. When the “winds of change” blew through, however — when these former British colonies gained their independence in the 1960s — the schools were largely nationalized.

The early years of independence were a time of great excitement, and “fantastic desire for change,” she said. Interest in recovery of local traditions dismissed during colonialism blossomed. But the new states didn’t have the wherewithal to provide education of a high intellectual quality. “Education did not always teach people to think but to conform.”

In the 1980s, as the generation of liberators handed over power to a succeeding generation, the AKDN was invited back in and asked to invest again. That was a positive development, but it came after “several decades of lost opportunity,” she said, during which Africans had mass education, but at the expense of quality. She pointedly commented that the recent troubles in Kenya were “possibly the result of an educational system that did not promote pluralism as a value.”

The AKDN experience in Pakistan was a cautionary tale of unintended consequences. The organization became involved in the isolated region of northern Pakistan during the 1970s. “When my father visited in the 1960s, he went in on a donkey.” The state provided education for boys — and so the AKDN offered education for girls, and very successfully, in many ways. Literacy reached 100 percent. Even the schoolhouses themselves benefited the larger community: Built to a high standard of earthquake-proofing, they could serve as shelters in emergencies.

“But the basic challenge is, once you have an education, what do you do with it?” The daughters of traditional Pakistani villages whom the network was serving were “not about to migrate to the cities … and men don’t like wives who are more educated than they.”

Princess Zahra added, “You could call this the pain of change, … but we could have been more thoughtful in this. … We now run schools for boys, too.”

In another case study, Princess Zahra spoke of the AKDN’s work in the madrasas, the Islamic religious schools, in East Africa. Speaking as the slide show flashing across the screen behind her showed images of little girls in nonthreatening pink robes, she stressed that these madrasas were not schools for terrorism as so many Pakistani madrasas have proven to be.

Still, there was a disconnect between the curricula of these schools — focused on ethics, morals, and philosophy — and the demands of the national education system in which the children would continue their education.

What the AKDN has offered, Princess Zahra said, is “child-centered education using low-key available materials — adding to the curriculum, not changing it.” As a result, the children continue more successfully into the national schools when they are ready.

And there were other benefits as well that led to the development of civil society and more respect for women’s rights: “What happened to these madrasas on the east coast of Africa, and the respect the teachers received, improved the standing of teachers in their communities.”

Harvard University Gazette

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TORONTO, May 15 /CNW/ - KPMG in Canada (”KPMG”) released today its fifth annual Social Responsibility Report, outlining the firm’s commitment to making the workplace progressive, responsible, and fulfilling.

“Corporate social responsibility today defines a firm and its culture,” said Marilyn De Mara, Chair, The KPMG Foundation. “Not only is it our responsibility to give back to our community, but also, it is clear that these
commitments resonate with our employees who really appreciate the opportunity to give back to their neighbourhoods and abroad. Activities outside the core job description enrich the workplace and make it more fulfilling for employees.”

KPMG is strongly committed to encouraging employees to take time out of their regular work schedule to give back to the community, and supporting those who do. On an annual basis, KPMG designates one week to support worthy organizations in the community. In 2007, almost 3,000 employees helped 129 charitable organizations across Canada, and the firm contributed close to $3 million in donations and sponsorships. Nine individuals were awarded KPMG’s CEO Community Excellence Award, which recognizes members of the firm who have made significant or unique contributions to charitable organizations.

On May 25, 2008, more than 100 KPMG employees will participate in the World Partnership Walk, an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports social development programs in Asia and Africa. In 2007, The KPMG Foundation donated $25,000, and through the fundraising efforts of KPMG employees, an additional $30,000 was raised. This year, they hope to exceed that donation.

Complete Story at Source

by Sultan Jessa

Last year’s World Partnership Walk in Ottawa.

Thousands of Canadians—in nine separate communities—will be pitching in later this month to help vulnerable communities in Africa and Asia climb out of poverty.

They will be participating in the World Partnership Walk, the largest and the longest running event of this kind in aid of global development in the country, to alleviate world poverty at a time when severe food crisis is escalating and sometimes erupting into unprecedented riots.

About 75,000 walkers, along with 1,000 corporate sponsors, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, London, Kitchener, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria will participate in the 24th annual event Sunday, May 25.

In Ottawa, the nation’s capital, and in London, the walk is scheduled for June 1.

The World Partnership Walk is an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC) which, among other things, helps to raise funds and awareness in the fight against global poverty especially in African and Asian countries.

Since its inception in Vancouver in 1985, these walks have raised an unprecedented $40 million and last year alone $5 million was raised to fund education, improve health care, increase rural homes and build community organizations in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique.

The AKFC, a registered Canadian charity, is part of the Aga Khan Foundation, the world’s largest private international development network, established by His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary imam of an estimated 12 million Ismaili Muslims.

The foundation is non-denominational agency dedicated to the promotion of equitable and sustainable development particularly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East without regard to faith, origin, or gender.

AKFC currently funds more than 40 development initiatives in a dozen developing countries.

All of the funds raised by participants in the walk go directly to international development initiatives like health programs, education and support for community-based initiatives. Not a single cent is spent on administration, which is covered by the foundation.

An official of AKFC said events like the World Partnership Walk bring Canadians together in a common effort to bring hope and renewal to some of the poorest nations in the world and provides a tremendous help in alleviating global poverty.

Funds raised by events like the walk help AKFC to leverage additional support from major donors like the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
The official added one of the most significant global challenges is fighting the far-reaching effects of poverty: “The walk’s continuing success is a tangible sign of the commitment of individual Canadians to the cause of global poverty alleviation.”

The foundation and the Canadian government, primarily through CIDA, have enjoyed a close working relationship for more than a quarter of a century. CIDA provides funding for a number of programs that the foundation supports in developing countries.

CIDA and AKFC work in close partnership to develop effective solutions to poverty.And with assistance from CIDA, the impact of funds raised in Canada is multiplied many times.

This effort by Canadians is helping to bring true meaning to the “partnership” between them and impoverished communities around the globe. This year’s event is of particular significance. It comes at a time when escalating food prices have and are triggering riots in Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Guinea, Mauritania, and more recently, in Somalia.

This month Ottawa announced it would increase food aid to help ease the global crisis.

This is good news to millions of people whose existence is threatened by skyrocketing food prices. This new aid is not conditional.
Food can be bought anywhere on the planet, giving the recipients the biggest possible bang for their aid buck.

Aid agencies around the world are openly expressing fear they may not be able to feed the poorest of the poor. They expect 100 million people will experience food shortage. Fear that the global food crisis will provoke riots on an “unprecedented scale” has led the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon to establish an international task force aimed at feeding the world’s hungry.

The secretary-general has called on rich nations to contribute $755 million (U.S.) that the international body’s World Food Program needs to meet the immediate needs.

Organizers of the 2008 walk are confident they will easily surpass the $5 million raised last year.

Events like this help create a better understanding of the world’s problems at a time when poverty leads to strife and suffering.

The Aga Khan Foundation is respected for the work it does in areas of health care, education, rural development and strengthening civil society. The foundation’s approach is unique. It makes a long-term commitment to creating opportunities for families and communities living in some of the poorest parts of the world become self-reliant.

Source

]]> http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/canadians-helping-communities-fight-poverty/feed/ ismailimail Last year’s World Partnership Walk in Ottawa. http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/sherry-for-ensuring-countrywide-seismic-resistant-schools-hospitals/ http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/sherry-for-ensuring-countrywide-seismic-resistant-schools-hospitals/#comments Thu, 15 May 2008 17:26:42 +0000 ismailimail http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/?p=4502

ISLAMABAD, May 15 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sherry Rehman Thursday called for further strengthening government and civil society partnership in ensuring the safer construction and building for schools as well as hospitals in the country. “There is a scope to improve as long as we can all forge partnerships and work together. It is also our mandate to provide shelter to the people and we now add the new terminology of safer shelters or safer buildings,” she said while addressing a two-day international conference on School Safety.

Sherry Rehman said in the years to come we will see smiles in the eyes of the children going to school, a sense of security and confidence in their future, as their future is the future of Pakistan.

The Conference was organized by Agha Khan Planning and Building Service,Pakistan in collaboration with Focus Humanitarian Assistance and Agha Khan Development Network (AKDN) against the backdrop of October 2005 earthquake that claimed lives of 17,000 school children due to destruction of school buildings in affected areas.

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Regarding the conference, the Minister said it is indeed a momentous occasion to see so many people gathered here to share best practices and advocate the concept of ‘School Safety’ for the future generations of Pakistan and the region.

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She also commended AKDN for its efforts undertaken on the subject of school safety and a safely-built environment.

She expressed the hope the consolidation of best practices and knowledge will result in a firm set of recommendations for the government, private sector and other stakeholders.

In his introductory remarks, President of Agha Khan National Council for Pakistan, Iqbal Walji highlighted the objectives of the conference and said it would provide an opportunity for collaboration between important stakeholders to develop a proactive approach in designing integral policies for safer, seismic-resistant schools.

Complete Story at Source

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a Nursing Development Programme in Tajikistan where four organizations worked together to develop some innovative changes in nursing practice and education. Within the context of Health Care Reform the Government of Tajikistan provided a climate for Nursing Development. The joint efforts of the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery at Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, and the Aga Khan Health Service in Tajikistan, have led to major changes in education and practice.

METHODS: The project focused on the development of new standards for practice in Gorno Badakhshan and a new Family Health Nurse curriculum for all students entering nursing programmes. A Nursing Centre was opened to provide leadership in education and practice and a co-ordinating Council was established to develop professional standards.

RESULTS: The project has demonstrated that nurses in Tajikistan have embraced the developments in both education and practice with the aim of improving the care they give to their communities and the support they provide for the teams within which they work.

CONCLUSIONS: The project also illustrates how different organizations can work effectively together. Key principles identified from this project for effective collaborative working include: communication, common goals, shared expertise, pooled funding and close alignment with Government strategies for Health Reform.

Source

Princess Zahra Aga Khan ’94 said Tuesday evening that her audiences typically expect her to be sporting a hajib, as well a “long frilly dress and tiara.”

But Khan—speaking at the Graduate School of Education about teaching and learning in the developing world—came dressed in a dark suit instead.

Khan, director of the Social Welfare Department at the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is the eldest child of The Aga Khan ’59, the current Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKDN, founded by The Aga Khan, promotes social and economic development of societies in various regions of Africa and Asia, “focusing on the needs of the poor and ultra-poor,” according to Professor Ali S. A. Asani ’77, who studies Indo-Muslim cultures.

While Princess Khan’s responsibilities at AKDN also include coordinating health and building services programs, her talk focused specifically on AKDN’s experience in operating more than 300 schools throughout Africa and Asia.

She spoke about several case studies to provide insight into education in the developing world—including the East African nations of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, as well as Pakistan, India, and the Central Asian countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

According to Khan, post-colonial East Africa often promoted “not education for education’s sake, but for, shall we say, indoctrination and to build nationalism.”

“It is tempting for many people to think that government could provide all the answers,” Khan said, referring to the process of nationalized education in East Africa.

“The urge for mass education…is at once a fantastic thing, but there is a very high risk for a loss of quality,” she added.

In Pakistan, AKDN originally focused on educating women in traditional areas. But not only was the economy in those areas not developed enough to utilize this labor force, but social tension resulted from the marrying of men to more educated women, Khan said.

This experience led the organization to open schools for boys, she said.

Khan also said that India’s rural, isolated communities demonstrated the need to “be sensitive” of the “tension between education for global citizenship and being true to their cultures,” while post-Soviet Central Asian countries showed the importance of providing “relevant education,” including a “large component of technical and vocational education.”

Amyn Pesnani, a student at Harvard Business School, said that Khan “pointed out to me the importance of thinking ahead of any short-term social dislocations that might occur when providing long-term social benefits,” such as education.

Audience member Harris Sussman, who runs the M.N. Adamov Memorial Fund to assist blind people in Russia, said he admired AKDN’s ability to offer such a “wide scope of activities” while still “respecting and operating within these cultures.”

14.05.2008

Author: Mavjouda Hasanova

DUSHANBE, May 14, Asia-Plus — The first two-day national forum of Tajik NGOs opened at the Dushanbe Hotel in Dushanbe today.

According to the monitoring service within the National Association of Independent Media of Tajikistan (Nansmit), the forum has brought together more than 40 delegates from all regions of the country.

The forum participants are discussing the national program for development of NGOs in Tajikistan and the code of the main principles of activities of NGOs in the country.

These documents have been worked out within the framework of long- and medium-term programs of the government such as national development strategy for 2006-2015 and the poverty reduction strategy for 2006-2008 and are dedicated to provide transparency of authorities’ activities and create conditions for eradicating corruption, lawlessness and abuse of office, as well as promote improvement of living conditions of the population in Tajikistan and observance of rights and freedoms of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution, the source said

The forum has been staged by Tajikistan Development Foundation under financial support of the Civil Society Program of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

ASIA-Plus

Earlier related post: Gorno-Badakshan Elects Delegates for the First National NGOs Forum

High-level meet: Prince Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, with Governor Narayan Dutt Tiwari at Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Wednesday

HYDERABAD: Prince Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismailis, who arrived here on Wednesday on a five-hour visit to the city, met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and reviewed the progress of the work of Aga Khan Academy coming up at Maheshwaram. Dr. Reddy requested him to expedite the work, while assuring the Government’s help and assistance.

Earlier, after arriving here by a special flight from New Delhi, the Prince drove straight to Maheshwaram to inspect the Academy’s work. He left for Mumbai in the evening.

The Hindu - Newindpress.com - Siyasat Daily

Golden Jubilee Visit to India

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.

When I look back at Hunza of mid-seventies I see that a revolutionary change has taken place. The farms are now completely covered with fruit plants and there is abundant fruit to sell in the market and even to eat round the year for households. We have basic facilities of hospitals, roads, better schools, electricity, tourism and the Internet.

I feel that the fragile ecosystems of these areas have been greatly affected due to many reasons. I wonder if this is only a case with Hunza or there are similar cases in other parts of the mountainous areas. If there are, then how can we play our role for sustainable development of the mountainous areas of Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindukush?

What we have lost in this period of time is irreversible. We experience less snowfall compared to the seventies and earlier. The winters are less severe; now the streams do not freeze and young ones cannot enjoy skating and also waterfalls do not make icicles that we used to play games with. I loved seeing birds hovering over the fields. We have lost quails, pigeons, crows and wolves in winters, we have lost bald eagles that always hovered over the area spreading whitish brown wings and we have lost rabbits and vultures in the meadow. People had myths about the bald eagles. My grand mother connected the movement of these birds with the ruling family of Hunza and declared the presence of these birds a good omen.

Moreover, Ultar Glacier, the main source of water for central Hunza has retreated about one and a half kilometre below the point where it was in the seventies and early eighties. There is much more human activity in the Ultar meadows and its biodiversity is the victim of hunting, over grazing constructions due to tourism activities.

The author used to work in the Project Administration Department at WWF – Pakistan.

Source

Excerpts only:

By Imtiaz Ahmed Indher

ISLAMABAD, May 14 (APP): Tears rolled down her cheeks as she narrated the panic when she rushed out of her house to search ten year old daughter under the debris of a school building.

Ruksuma Bibi, a resident of Balakot was obssessed with pang for her departed daughter Seema, who like thousands others was buried under the debris of what was once a school building in the remote Patlang village, in October 08, 2005 earthquake.

“I could hear her screams for help, my motherhood was shredding to save her. I even tried to turn the heavy stones up but I could not,” Ruksuma said in mourning voice.

“Later, eleven bodies including my daughter’s were recovered from debris of the school,” she continued in a subdued voice.

Seema was one of 18,000 children who died due to collapse of as many as 8,000 schools during devastating earthquake in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on October 08, 2005. While, thousands of children had also suffered injuries with many of them became handicap forerver.

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United Nations Children Emergency Fund (Unicef) provided shelter schools and ensured supply of learning material while Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKBPS) is engaged in reconstruction of seismic resistent schools, the ADEO added.

Government Boys High School (GBHS) Garhi Habibullah is one of the projects undertaken by AKBPS which would be completed by the end of this year with an estimated cost of Rs 25 million.

The school, consisting 14 classrooms, 18 administration offices and computer laboratories, is unique of its type as its walls have been insulated by filling husk within cement blocks to protect interiors from external weather effects.

Old schools had no deep foundations, so the buildings collapsed down but now we have laid the six feet deep cement foundation with metal structures, Muhammad Riaz, Manager of the Project informed.

AKPBS, by the end of 2008, aims to complete buildings of six earthquake resistant schools in Garhi Habibullah and Chakama Valley of Kashmir, Naeem Rizwan an official of the service said.

“Our organisation has built 250 earthquake resistant schools in Pakistan over the past 20 years,” he added. Rizwan said AKPBS is promoting seismic-resistant buildings and culture of risk-reduction against natural hazards and would hold international conference on school safety.

“The conference aims at sharing learning about issues related to school safety across the globe and to come up with recommendations for action at national and regional level,” Naeem Rizwan said.

Similarly, schools in adjoining Muzzafarabad valley and other parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir especially those falling in the red zone need to be built under comprehensive prevention plan to avoid or otherwise reduce the scale of damage to human life in case of any catastrophe.

Complete story at Source

Bilaal Rajan launches the Me and You for The Children of Myanmar Challenge urging each child to raise a minimum of $105 for the the children there. The Challenge is all about kids helping kids even if they are on other sides of the globe.

To donate please visit www.unicef.ca/portal/SmartDefault.aspx?a t=2236

View Video at Source

Previous story/video: Journey of Bilaal Rajan

Earlier Ismailimail Story: Meet an ambassador for UNICEF, all of 11 years old - Bilaal Rajan

Hyderabad | Wednesday, May 14 2008 IST

Prince Aga Khan, who arrived by a special flight from New Delhi on a brief visit to the city, today met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Welcoming the spiritual leader, Dr Reddy and Aga Khan briefly reviewed the progress of the Aga Khan Academy coming up on the outskirts of the city.

The Chief Minister requested the Prince to expedite the prestigious nursing faculty project, which he was planning to set up in association with Mc Master University in the state.

Dr Reddy assured him all help and assistance from the state government in this regard. His Highness the Aga Khan, later called on Governor N D Tiwari at the Raj Bhavan, who extended his good wishes for the project. After a five-hour stay in the city, His Highness the Aga Khan left for Mumbai, an official release said.

WebIndia123

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Golden Jubilee Visit to India

Members of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim community, wait to greet the Imam (spirtual leader) Aga Khan outside the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad on May 14, 2008.The Aga Khan is on a one-day visit to the southern Indian city during his seven day official tour to India till May 19. AFP PHOTO /Noah SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

Imam (spirtual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili muslims, the Aga Khan speaks with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Rajashekar Reddy (unseen) in Hyderabad on May 14, 2008. The Aga Khan is on a one-day visit to the southern Indian city during his seven day official tour to India till May 19. AFP PHOTO /Noah SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

Imam (spirtual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili muslims, the Aga Khan (R) greets with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Rajashekar Reddy in Hyderabad on May 14, 2008. The Aga Khan is on a one-day visit to the southern Indian city during his seven day official tour to India till May 19. AFP PHOTO /Noah SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

Related News

Golden Jubilee Visit to India

The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, Tuesday called on President Pratibha Patil and discussed a host of issues, including reforms in madrassa education and the conservation of monuments in India.

The Aga Khan, who is on a week-long trip to India, met Patil for about half-hour. According to official sources, the 70-year-old leader - also known as Prince Karim Aga Khan IV - spoke enthusiastically about the need for reforms in Islamic religious schools. ‘He talked about the possibility of replicating a programme of reform of madrassa education at the Aga Khan’s Educational Institution in Hyderabad,’ said an official.

The Ismaili leader also visited Humayun’s Tomb and Sundar Nursery to survey the progress of a project for the revitalization of several cultural heritage buildings located in Nizamuddin area in the heart of the capital. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan Foundation forged a partnership with several Indian government agencies, including the Archaeological Survey of India, for the preservation of these historic buildings in 2004. The project is modelled on the Bagh-e-Babur integrated conservation project being implemented by the Aga Khan Trust in Kabul, Afghanistan. He also met Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani. The Aga Khan arrived here Monday on a visit that marks his 50th year as the imam of over 25 million Shia Ismailis worldwide.

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Golden Jubilee Visit to India

Visit it to see old Karachi, a 400-year-old Quran and the crockery of Prince Aga Khan

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Mukhi Hashoo museum, recently established in a historical building in Lyari town, has opened to the public its historical photos of the city during the 19th century, British era coins, photographs of the Hashoo family and crockery of Prince Aga Khan.

“The basic reason for opening this museum was to not only preserve the antiques of the Hashoo family but also to create awareness among the younger generation about historical Islamic heritage,” said Mumtaz Ali Tajddin, the manager of the museum.

The building that houses the museum is from the 19th century and the birthplace of most of the members of the Hashoo family, according to the manager.

While it was damaged with the passage of the time, it was recently restored by the Hashoo group and most parts have been restored to their original splendor. The renovation work has been going on for the last two years, said Mumtaz Ali.

Mukhi Hashoo Tharwani migrated from Uthal to Karachi with 18 members of his family and some goats in 1853, he purchased this building from Hindu businessman Seth Tarkam Das for Rs 6,000 when the price of 10 grams of gold was only Rs 80. The Hashoo group grew from these humble origins to owning and operating four and five star hotels across Pakistan.

One of the big halls has been used to exhibit the black and white photographs of Karachi, taken between 1843 and 1947. Upstairs coins from the British era are carefully displayed alongside a 400-year-old handwritten Quran, pictures of the Holy Ka’ba and Makkah and antique crockery. The wooden stairs have also been restored to their original style.

“Mukhi Hashoo served humanity,” said Ali, adding that it was open as an experiment and another was planned in another part of the city where foreigners could visit as well.

Daily Times - Dawn Blog

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New Delhi, May 13(ANI): Religious leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan met Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Tuesday (13 May) in the national capital New Delhi.The two leaders reportedly discussed matters of mutual interest. The Aga Khan is also the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network or AKDN working to improve living conditions and opportunities of people in sub Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia and West Asia.

Source - Netindia123.com

Golden Jubilee Visit to India

His Highness Aga Khan at a dinner hosted by the Vice President, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, in New Delhi on May 12, 2008.

Press Information Bureau - Government of India

Golden Jubilee Visit to India