Agakhan Development Network

His Highness the Aga Khan fulfils part of his hereditary responsibilities as Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims through the AKDN. AKDN is therefore a contemporary endeavour of the Ismaili Imamat to realise the social conscience of Islam through institutional action. AKDN’s ethical framework therefore arises out of the conjunction of these responsibilities.

A vibrant and competent civil society is the cornerstone of a healthy and prosperous nation – and an essential part of AKDN’s work. Yet, in many parts of the world, civil society suffers from a dearth of technical knowledge, human resources and financial means. To address these gaps, AKDN has been carefully supporting robust institutions that experiment, adapt and accommodate diversity.

For over 50 years, AKDN has worked in resource-poor or challenging environments, implementing innovative responses to water shortages, land degradation, seismic risk, food security, shortages of fodder and fuel, as well as many of the  attendant challenges that such environments present. With changes in the climate, many of these problems have been made more acute or spread to a larger area.

AKDN is committed to highlighting the key role of women in the development process and to facilitating their participation. At the same time, it looks for ways to engage with men around the attitudinal and structural changes that flow from programmes that benefit women.

The promotion of pluralism has been an aim of many of AKDN’s programmes, from the Aga Khan Museum in Canada to a reading programme for children in the Kyrgyz Republic, from a project for the integration of immigrants in Lisbon to music schools in Afghanistan. AKDN’s ultimate aim is to nurture successful civil societies in which every citizen, irrespective of cultural, religious or ethnic differences, can realise his or her full potential.

AKDN’s overall goal is the improvement of the Quality of Life (QoL), which encompasses improvements in material standards of living, health and education and a set of values and norms which include pluralism and cultural tolerance, gender and social equity, civil society organisation and good governance.

Development models require time to demonstrate their effectiveness and to enable local communities to take full responsibility for their own future development. The AKDN agencies, therefore, make a long-term commitment to the areas in which they work.

In AKDN’s experience, the understandable but short-term humanitarian impulse to help poor people is usually not enough to lift them out of the cycle of poverty. For AKDN, poverty alleviation is conceived as part of a long-term strategy for developing a community’s resources in ways that lead to self-reliance.

AKDN relies on the Ismaili tradition of volunteer service to assist in the implementation and maintenance of projects, notably at health and education facilities. Others outside the Ismaili community participate by volunteering their energies for the creation or maintenance of facilities that improve the quality of life.  Many others participate in annual fund-raising events, the proceeds of which go directly to programmes in developing countries.