Foundation
For over 60 years, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has been building institutions and delivering essential services by creating schools and hospitals, newspapers and electricity generation plants, and social programmes of all kinds. These services have helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people in places as varied as Cairo, Kabul, Delhi and Bamako.
The agencies of the AKDN are private, international, non-denominational development organisations. They work to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. Some programmes, such as specific research, education and cultural programmes, span both the developed and developing worlds. While each agency pursues its own mandate, all of them work together within the overarching framework of the Network so that their different pursuits interact and reinforce one another.
The AKDN works in over 30 countries around the world. It employs approximately 96,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries. The AKDN’s annual budget for non-profit development activities is approximately US$ 1 billion (2019). The project companies of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development generated revenues of US$ 4.5 billion (all surpluses are reinvested in further development activities).
Photo credit and caption: AKDN / Aref Karimi. A study by Dr Frances Aboud of McGill University showed the tremendous difference that community ECD programmes can make in children’s lives, even in the most remote settings, such as Bamyan, Afghanistan. "If girls in remote places are provided with access to education close to their homes and in a context which recognises community values and concerns, they are more likely to go to school, stay in school and learn. Across 15 provinces in Afghanistan, AKDN is employing this community-based approach to help tens of thousands of girls to gain access to quality education."
Partners who have supported the programme or institution pictured above: Dubai Cares, German Embassy, German Foreign Office, Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), International Organisation for Migration, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), New Zealand Aid, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Roshan Telecommunications, United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)