What's New
Dar es Salaam, 4 July 2011 – Mawlana Hazar Imam arrived at Dar es Salaam airport this evening, commencing his Jamati visit to Tanzania. Eagerly awaiting the Imam, the Jamat has been busy making preparations for the visit and celebrating with traditional festivities.
AKPBS’s innovative Building and Construction Improvement Programme has received the Award for Avoided Deforestation at this year’s Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy. Princess Zahra, Head of the Social Welfare department of the Aga Khan Development Network, accepted the award on behalf of AKPBS at a ceremony in London.
Nasim Devji is the Group CEO and Managing Director of Diamond Trust Bank, Kenya – an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development – and the first woman in the Kenyan banking industry to hold that office. She has garnered numerous career recognitions, including being named Leading African Woman in Business in 2010. Yasmin Madhani recently spoke with her.
The Aga Khan Planning and Building Service’s Building and Construction Improvement Programme has been selected as one of the finalists for the 2011 Ashden Awards for sustainable energy. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 15 June 2011, which will be webcast live.
Thousands of kilometres from Khorog, on the other side of the vast Indian Ocean, is the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa. Eight Tajik students were recently given the opportunity to attend the residential school, and are are now benefiting from a multicultural student body, experienced educators and state-of-the-art facilities.
Thirty Ismaili volunteers extended a hand of friendship and support – and many bottles of water – to some 8 000 runners at the 2011 Brighton Marathon. The event was an opportunity to get involved and give back to the wider community.
Thirty Ismaili volunteers extended a hand of friendship and support – and many bottles of water – to some 8 000 runners at the 2011 Brighton Marathon. The event was an opportunity to get involved and give back to the wider community.
At a banquet in San Francisco on 26 April, Mawlana Hazar Imam was presented with the 2011 University of California San Francisco Medal. The prestigious recognition builds on existing collaborations between the UCSF and AKDN, and particularly the University’s support for training and research programmes at the Aga Khan University.
In celebration of Navroz, the Aga Khan Development Network hosted a reception at the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe. Over 300 people attended the celebration, which was held on 20 March 2011 and was the first Navroz event ever held at the Centre.
From 28 August to 5 December 2010, the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia became a hub of Islamic calligraphic exploration. The Museum presented two complementary exhibitions that explored calligraphy in an interactive context.
When the Government of Tanzania requested support for the victims of an explosion on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, the Ismailis in the area were eager to help. The Ismaili Council for Tanzania partnered with the Aga Khan Hospital to organise a blood drive, and members of the Jamat donated emergency supplies to victims of the disaster.
Over the last 25 years, AKDN has planted over 100 million trees in Asia and Africa. Many communities already recognise that sustainable agro-forestry provides dividends in the form of food, fuel and fodder, and the emergence of a global carbon market presents new opportunity.