President Kibaki holds talks with the Aga Khan, extols his philanthropic works

Written By:PPS , Posted: Mon, Aug 13, 2007

 

President Mwai Kibaki has underscored the important role played by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in transforming the lives of millions of people in the country.

The President singled out the Coastal Rural Support programmes (CRSP) programme, many of the projects under the AKDN for turning thousands of acres of initially unproductive land into agriculturally productive area.

Speaking at State House Nairobi when he held talks with His Highness the Aga Khan Monday, President Kibaki noted that the project had benefited thousands of farmers in several districts with harsh climate in the Coast Province.

Noting that the project has been instrumental in the adoption of modern farming techniques in the area, President Kibaki said there was need for the farmers to process their produce through value addition so as to reap maximum benefits.

In the same vein, the President pointed out that through the assistance of CRPS several dams have been built in the semi arid districts of Coast Province.

Said President Kibaki, “This has provided clean water to area residents who used to walk long distances in search of the precious commodity.”

The President further lauded the AKDN for its involvement in the provision of health services noting that through the network was operating hospitals in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He also commended the network for it’s involvement in education through institutions at various levels.

His Highness the Aga Khan said Kenya had achieved tremendous development strides due to an enabling environment existing in country.

Source: http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=44369

MHI in Kenya – Africa

contribution: Pavaiz Velji.

Aga Khan University Announces the Faculty of Health Sciences in East Africa

http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug13.htm

Nairobi, Kenya, 13 August 2007 – His Highness the Aga Khan, Chancellor of the Aga Khan University, accompanied by Professor George Saitoti, Kenyan Minister for Education, today inaugurated the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Aga Khan University (AKU-FHS) – East Africa’s first premier private medical school.

The US $250 million health sciences campus to be established in Nairobi, aims to provide international standard education for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. It will comprise a Medical College, a School of Nursing and allied health programmes and will offer degrees at bachelors, masters and PhD levels. The Faculty aims to build local capacity and will enable implementation of health care services with world class infrastructure and quality. The campus will consist of academic facilities, student residences and amenities which will include a library, student centre and auditorium as well as sports facilities. In addition, significant expansion of the hospital will also take place to support the growth in academic programmes.

Speaking at the launch of the Faculty, the Aga Khan, who is also founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), commented, “Building on the success of its existing programmes – the Aga Khan University is planning to establish a new Faculty of Health Sciences here in Nairobi. To my knowledge, this will be the first private sector university in Eastern Africa to create a full-fledged Faculty of Health Sciences offering under-graduate and post-graduate degrees in Medicine, Nursing and the allied health sciences”.

The Faculty is the first social development initiative announced by the Aga Khan as part of his Golden Jubilee celebrations, marking his 50 years as the Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.

In keeping with the Aga Khan University’s overall vision in Africa, to provide quality healthcare and education in the region, the AKU-FHS will focus on producing effective leaders in health care through professional health education, engaging in best practices and developing self sustaining models of health care delivery. In addition, the AKU-FHS will promote relevant high impact research, particularly in the areas of health services and epidemiology that will have an impact on influencing health policy.

Kenya’s Education Minister Professor George Saitoti, said the Aga Khan initiative could not come at a better time. “Our public universities are able to absorb only about 10,000 students each year, representing 20 to 26 percent of candidates who attain a mean grade of C+ and above,” he said. The minister noted that the government attached particular importance to health and education in its long-term Economic Recovery Strategy. “Health and education are key sectors we have identified as pillars in the vision 2030,” he said .

Work on the new Faculty’s Heart and Cancer Centre is expected to commence later this year. This US $40 million initiative will replace and enhance existing facilities in surgery, obstetrics, critical care and imaging, and provide facilities for the tertiary treatment services in cardiology and cancer. The Centre will serve communities in the Eastern Africa region and will enable the hospital to educate residents and nurses in an innovative, technology-enabled teaching environment.

The Aga Khan University (AKU) was established and chartered in 1983 as an international university within the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private, non-denominational development agencies and institutions working together to improve living conditions and opportunities in over 30 of the poorest countries in the developing world. The University has 11 teaching sites in 8 countries, including the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi which has been in operation in Nairobi for over 50 years under the aegis of the Aga Khan Health Services. The transition to the Aga Khan University Hospital commenced in 2005 with a vision of becoming a premier tertiary, teaching and referral hospital serving sub-Saharan Africa.

Today one-third of the total AKU student body worldwide is enrolled in academic programmes in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Advanced Nursing Studies Programme delivers certificate and degree programmes to upgrade the quality of nursing in all three countries, while Postgraduate Medical Education Programmes in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam provide advanced training to aspiring medical specialists. In addition, the University has launched the Institute of Educational Development also in Dar es Salaam to enable teachers to upgrade their capabilities by learning from innovative curriculum design, pedagogy and assessment.

The AKU is committed to the development of leaders in East Africa, and pays particular attention to equipping them with critical thinking and problem solving skills to enable them to address the challenges facing their own communities and societies; at full capacity, there will be 3000 students. In developing the multiple campuses and new programmes in East Africa, AKU will invest over $700 million in the region over the next fifteen years, providing direct employment to approximately 4,000 people on an ongoing basis.

Aga Khan arrives for tour of E Africa

Story by NATION Reporter Publication Date: 2007/08/13

The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, arrived in Nairobi yesterday for the first leg of a 12-day official visit to East Africa. The plane carrying the Aga Khan landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 5 pm to a red carpet reception by the Government. The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, receives a bouquet from seven-year-old Ramla Saleh at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi yesterday, as he began the first leg of his 12-day official visit to East Africa. He was received by Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju, other top government officials and community leaders . Photo by WILLIAM OERI He was received by Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju and leaders of the Ismaili community led by the Aga Khan Development Network resident representative, Mr Aziz Bhaloo. The chairman of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, Prof Abdulghafur El Bussaidy, was also at the airport to welcome him. The Aga Khan was entertained by traditional dancers from Bomas of Kenya before signing the visitors’ book at the Presidential Pavilion. Hundreds of Ismaili Muslims, waving the symbolic green and red strip flag, thronged the airport to receive their spiritual leader. The Aga Khan celebrated 50 years as spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims last month. The current tour, which will cover Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, will be his first in the region since completing half-a-century as the Imam of the 15 million Ismaili Muslims living in some 25 countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. During trip Fifty years ago, at the age of 20, the Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, as the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. During the trip, the Aga Khan will meet members of the Ismaili community and hold talks with President Kibaki and top government officials. He will also inaugurate various projects under AKDN, the umbrella organisation that operates various development agencies in the region. The Imam’s jubilee celebrations offer an opportunity to launch new social, cultural and economic development projects. Some of the memorable projects launched during the jubilees of his grandfather, Aga Khan III, include the Diamond Jubilee Trust Bank and the Jubilee Investment Trust, which continue to serve the people of East Africa. In Nairobi, the Aga Khan will launch the Faculty of Health Sciences of the East Africa chapter of the Aga Khan University. He will then preside over the laying of the foundation stone for the residential campus of the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, the new Aga Khan Academy in Kampala and Uganda’s Bujagali Hydro Power Project. While in Mombasa, the Imam will also participate in the silver jubilee celebrations of the Aga Khan Foundation’s Madrasa Pre-School Programme. http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=104351

A unique man and his unique network

Posted in Sunday Nation by Sunny Bindra

His Highness the Aga Khan’s 50th anniversary celebrations came to Kenya this week. He is marking his accession to spiritual leadership of the Ismaili Muslim community, and has chosen to commemorate much of this milestone here in Kenya. We should return the gesture by understanding the unique set of institutions that this leader has developed during his 50 years.

Unique they are, for the umbrella body – Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) – manages to span commercial, social and cultural institutions. The individual entities within the network include hard-nosed business enterprises in many sectors, including media, telephony, hospitality, power generation, financial services, manufacturing and agro-processing – but also development agencies whose only function is to help the disadvantaged achieve a measure of self-reliance.

The Aga Khan is in many ways an enigma: a jet-setter who is also spiritual leader to millions of faithful Muslims; a business titan who partners with private equity groups; a man who races horses and also worries deeply about world poverty. And a leader who inspires extraordinary voluntary action in his people.

I have worked in an advisory capacity in various parts of the network in recent years, and from my up-close vantage point I have noticed that there is a great deal for the rest of us to learn about combining business with social action.

AKDN has a unique purpose: it is “a contemporary endeavour to raise the social conscience of humanity through institutional action.” It is in the “institutional action” part of that statement that the rubber meets the road. Many of us, at community or individual level, profess to have similarly noble aims in life; not many of us can organise a network of agencies spanning 29 countries that delivers real results on the ground, and makes a difference to the lives of some of the poorest people in Africa and Asia. Not many of us can run cutting-edge businesses and development agencies – and bring the same managerial standards to both arenas.

The Aga Khan spent much of his childhood in Kenya, and we are clearly close to his heart. AKDN has assets approaching Sh. 40 billion here, and employs more than 10,000 people. It is clearly a long-term partner, having been in the region for more than 100 years; its first operation was a one-room community school in Zanzibar, opened in 1905.

Today the words ‘Aga Khan’ are part of Kenyans’ ordinary discourse, attached as they are to hospitals, educational institutions, and community projects across the land. This seemingly hotchpotch collection, when examined closely, reveals common underpinnings: managerial discipline; immense emphasis on ethics; and a strong pressure from the top to be self-reliant and self-sustaining.

Much of this achievement is due to the nature of the leader. Senior Kenyan executives who interact with the Aga Khan will tell you that he possesses a formidable business brain, and invariably takes a long view of all the activities he initiates. This is a spiritual leader with a difference.

What is intriguing is that it could all have been very different. The Aga Khan is reputedly one of the world’s richest men, controlling vast resources. He was born into this position, and many in his place might have settled for a life of indolent luxury. Some criticise him for being a spiritual leader who lives the life of a rich man. But what gives the Aga Khan the acknowledged drive and energy that made him build a path-breaking international network?

One answer lies in his refreshingly thoughtful views on Islam – a religion that has found itself immersed in controversy and violence in recent years. To the Aga Khan, Islam is a thinking faith: one that teaches compassion and tolerance, and upholds the dignity of man. He views his mandate as Imam to safeguard the individual’s right to personal intellectual search, and to give practical expression to an ethical vision of society.

A second answer may be in something he said in 1983: “There are those who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their circumstances. Unless they can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink into apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.”

The most important lesson of this golden jubilee? That the walls between business and the rest of life are more perception than reality. It is perfectly possible to combine good business sense with deep-seated concern for the inequities we have created on our planet. Business is the primary generator of wealth; once created, that wealth can used for a higher purpose. Running a business need not make you blind to social realities; equally, engaging in meaningful philanthropy can also be done with clear, business-like goals and without creating dependence.

You and I do not have the resources or the vision to build an international network of institutions. But we do have the ability to light a spark in others. Let us not waste it.