Speech by MHI at State Banquet Nairobi

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan

Remarks by His Highness the Aga Khan

at the State Banquet
Nairobi – 13 August 2007

Your Excellency President Kibaki

Honourable Ministers
Your Excellencies
Distinguished Guests

Let me say first what a wonderful honour it is – to become a Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya, and to do so on one’s Golden Jubilee!

I am most deeply grateful to President Kibaki for this award – and for his very warm and generous words.

It is a pleasure for me to be here tonight, among so many old and new friends.

As I observe this Jubilee year, I plan to use this occasion to do two things: first, to visit places and people that have been particularly important to the Ismaili community and to me throughout this last half century, and, secondly, to discuss issues which have been particularly important to us, with a special effort to put them into historical perspective, and to build for the future.

When I speak of places that have played a major role in my life, no place comes to mind more quickly than Kenya. My ties here go back to my “toto” days – how can I ever forget our childhood house on Caledonian Road, now named the Denis Pritt road and the mega rhubarb I grew up the rain-water drain, or driving down the garden steps in the late Sir Eboo’s car? And how could I forget my brother’s despair when his pet bantam chickens were eaten one night by a visiting leopard? Little did I suspect that the next night my rabbits would suffer the same fate.

But going beyond childhood memories, let me say that the work which has involved me here in more recent years includes many of the most far-reaching and satisfying endeavours of my lifetime.

It is good to be in Kenya for another reason—and that is the great spirit of this country. That spirit was evidenced again just three weeks ago, when a new global opinion survey was published by the Pew Institute and the New York Times. The results came as a surprise to many – particularly when they reported that the peoples of Africa – despite the severe problems, were quite optimistic about the future. Kenyans, in particular, felt not only that their own lives were improving, but that their children’s lives would be better than their own.

The scholars who conducted the survey also described a sense of realism among Africans – an understanding that progress does not come as a steady wave, but rather as a series of surges and setbacks. Out of that realistic spirit has come a strong sense that the African story will have a happy ending.

Those who know Kenya know that there are good reasons for this hopeful spirit. Kenya has achieved impressive economic growth for the last three years, with the GDP expected to end at 6.9 % this year. During this same time, there has been a significant inflow of foreign investment, and a massive investment in education, health care and infrastructure. Kenya has one of the highest per capita literacy rates in Africa and is determined to make democracy work. It has created an enabling environment for vibrant enterprise in fields such as agriculture and horticulture, tourism and finance. In fact, at a recent World Economic Forum, Kenya was ranked among the top three countries in Africa in welcoming investment and innovation.

Kenya has played a role in past Jubilee celebrations of the Ismaili Imamat—during my late Grandfather’s time and my own. Some of our projects here bear names which came from those celebrations—like Diamond Trust and Jubilee Insurance. Some of our proudest accomplishments were launched as Jubilee initiatives. In that same spirit, we are announcing this week a number of new Golden Jubilee projects in Kenya and other parts of East Africa—including new ventures for the Aga Khan University Hospital and the Aga Khan University. The Aga Khan Academies programme will also expand into a new network of world class primary and secondary residential schools teaching the International Baccalaureate curriculum and covering no less than 14 countries in Africa and Asia. Its first school is already functioning in Mombasa, and is about to add new residence buildings for faculty and students.

These investments will build on past AKDN activities here – in the fields of business and finance, the media, health care, education, transport, infrastructure investment – and others. They reflect our respect and affection for the Kenyan people – and for the sense of promise which I recall from my childhood in Kenya, and which I continue to feel on every return visit.

I said a moment ago that I had two objectives as I mark this Jubilee year—the second one was to put into historical perspective some of my experiences over this half century.
As you know, my principal preoccupation has been with the developing world, watching as it has oscillated between hope and disappointment. The disappointments often resulted from the false hope that one theory or one dogma, one person or one party had all the answers to the riddles of development.
Genuine hope, on the other hand, has usually been rooted in a tough sense of realism – a recognition that no one has all the answers, that today’s answers may not work forever, that good people do not all think alike, and that we must constantly learn from one another for an uncharted future.
When this realistic spirit prevails, then the search for economic and social progress can become a shared experience, based on what I would call a “cosmopolitan ethic” and fostering a spirit of partnership and collegiality.

These comments explain why I value so highly what people call “public/private” partnerships. There is much to be gained when governments cooperate with private institutions. Governments can help provide a strong enabling environment for both private enterprise and for civil society. For example, they could create common standards for civil society organizations whose work extends across national frontiers. The Aga Khan University, for instance, is planning extensive new investments in the region and common registration and accreditation policies would help facilitate this effort.

Inter-governmental cooperation in many areas can be a key which unlocks the future in East Africa. This is why both the Imamat and the AKDN support the creation of new federal constructs in the region—including the concept of an East African Community.

A federal concept simply means that governments will forge a united approach on matters which call for unity—and will operate in disparate ways when diverse approaches are better. To work of course, there must be a feeling of predictability as to who does what. And there must be a sense of equitable opportunity for all partners.

Federalism at its best need not be limited to governmental arrangements. Even as I commend the concept of a new East African Community on the political front, I would also encourage new region-wide approaches on the economic front, as well as in the civil society arena. Again, the dominant themes should be diversity, variety and experimentation – and an appropriate sharing of responsibilities.

History endorses the value of what I have called federal approaches – including the history of Islam – where some of the greatest chapters demonstrate how people who share a common faith can also embrace a broad diversity of local cultures.

The desire for unity and the urge to diversify may seem like contradictory forces – but the beauty and power of a partnership approach is that it respects the proper role of each impulse – and works out ways in which both can be respected.

If one of the themes of a Jubilee celebration is the search for historical perspective, then perhaps it will be appropriate for me to stretch that search back to the roots of the Islamic and Ismaili traditions, as I cite the words of the first hereditary Imam of the Shia Muslims, Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Hazrat Ali said: “No honour is like knowledge. No belief is like modesty and patience. No attainment is like humility. No power is like forbearance. And no support is more reliable than consultation.”

Those words seem particularly relevant today. The spirit that Hazrat Ali evokes – the spirit of modesty, humility, forbearance, and consultation – is an approach we might also call the spirit of partnership. It is this spirit which I hope will characterize these Jubilee celebrations—even as it guides leaders in the public, private and civil sectors as they confront the great challenges of our time.

Source: http://www.akdn.org/speeches/2007Aug14_state.htm

Speech By MHI at the Inauguration of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Aga Khan University Nairobi

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan

Remarks by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Inauguration
of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Aga Khan University,
Nairobi – 13 August 2007

Honourable Minister for Education Professor George Saitoti
Honourable Ministers
Excellencies
Chairman Dehlavi and the Members of the Aga Khan University Board of Trustees
President Firoz Rasul
Generous donors and well wishers of the University
Distinguished guests

My thanks go out to all of you for sharing in this occasion with me. It is a special one for many reasons – including my close ties over so many years to this country, and to so many here whose friendship has enriched my life.

It was just one month ago that I celebrated my 50th year as Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. We are marking that occasion with a series of visits to places where our community has been most deeply rooted. This visit to East Africa is the first of those tours – and that is most appropriate, given Nairobi’s central role both in our community life and in so many activities of the Aga Khan Development Network – including, of course, the educational work of the Aga Khan University.

A golden jubilee is a valuable opportunity for putting the present into historical perspective. In that spirit, I would begin today by emphasizing how my concern for education grows intimately out of my family history. It was just a century ago that my late Grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, began to build a network of educational institutions which would eventually include some 300 schools, many of them in East Africa.

My late Grandfather, who was also the founding figure of Aligarh University in India, was renewing a tradition which stretches back over 1000 years, to our forefathers, the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs of Egypt, who founded Al-Azhar University and the Academy of Knowledge in Cairo. And going back even further, I would cite the words of the first hereditary Imam of the Shia Muslims, Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who emphasized in his teachings that “No honour is like knowledge.”

Those words have inspired an emphasis on education within our tradition ever since that time. That tradition has been expressed in recent decades in many ways, ranging from the sponsorship of Madrasa early childhood projects to the founding of the Aga Khan University and the University of Central Asia. We are also establishing a new network of Aga Khan Academies – outstanding residential primary and secondary schools – teaching the International Baccalaureate and covering no less than 14 countries in Africa and Asia. The first of these is already functioning in Mombasa – I will visit there tomorrow to launch the building of its new residential campus.

The Aga Khan University (AKU) itself opened officially in 1983 in Pakistan where, I am happy to note, it has been voted as the country’s leading university, and where it is now establishing a new under-graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences. AKU is also planning a number of new post-graduate schools in Pakistan and Eastern Africa, to meet important needs in both areas. Amongst these Graduate Schools will most probably be “Architecture and Human Settlement”, “Media and Communications”, “Tourism and Leisure”, “Management” and “Government, Public Policy and Civil Society”.

AKU’s expanding presence now includes teaching sites in eight countries, three of them in East Africa, working primarily in the fields of medicine, nursing and education – the East African sites now enroll fully one-third of all AKU students.

This brings me to a central point of these remarks, which is to announce another major step forward for the University. 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 central challenge of this new faculty will be to address the crucial health care priorities of the East African population – and indeed all of sub-Saharan Africa – from Sudan to Mozambique, from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic.

The new Faculty of Health Sciences will educate future generations of professional leaders in the evidence-based practice of medicine. Emphasizing both teaching and research, it will be accompanied by a major expansion of the Aga Khan University Hospital here, including a new Heart and Cancer Centre, which is scheduled to begin construction this year.

What we envision here in the coming years is an institution of some 1000 students and 175 faculty members, admitting students on a merit basis. Our new facilities, including a teaching hospital of 500 beds, will eventually occupy some 80,000 square meters. The total investment over the next fifteen years will be about 250 million dollars. When the project is complete, the Aga Khan University in Kenya alone will employ over 4000 people.

Let me add some further comments about the background to this massive engagement:

To begin with, it should be said in all candor that the recent history of higher education in numerous less developed countries has been discouraging. Many development policy makers in the 1960’s and 1970’s simply did not see higher education as a priority concern – instead they incorrectly calculated that they could not justify the cost of higher education from the foreseeable productivity of university graduates. As a result, some African countries which had strong institutions of higher education at the time of their independence, now find themselves unable to achieve even minimum global standards.

This sad situation demands urgent attention. In responding, we can try to learn from the successful examples of others. One reason for the success of American higher education, for example, is its highly diversified base – it looks to a mix of national, state, and local governments for support – as well as to the private sector. It thus serves a host of different constituencies, and provides a variety of essential specialities. I believe that the developing countries of Asia and Africa will likewise be well-served by encouraging private, self-governing institutions to develop side by side with those which are supported by the public sector.

The challenges of developing any new university are immense. They are massive consumers of human and material resources – even when they fall short of world-class standards. This means that the sponsors of new universities in the developing world will need to make significant long term commitments – and be capable of keeping them. They will also need access to the right human resources, as well as global perspectives on higher education, and a sense of complete dedication to the highest educational standards.

AKU is developing close partnerships with universities and centres of excellence around the world. It is also expanding geographically – throughout the East African region, for example. But for its work to be optimized here in Kenya – especially in the field of health sciences – processes such as accreditation and the recognition of medical credentials may need reviewing.

While Eastern Africa presently lacks a strong private university sector, this trend is changing. My hope is that the commitment we are announcing today will encourage other private initiatives, while also encouraging educators from the public sector to welcome private institutions as complementary players rather than as competitive ones.

The initiative we are describing today blends the realm of education with the realm of health care – so let me take a moment to say that our concern for health care also has deep and well-developed roots. The Ismaili Community in Kenya has been closely involved in health care in this country for many years, and numerous members of the community have become doctors, dentists, pharmacologists and nurses. Meanwhile, the community and the Ismaili Imamat have fostered the development over fifty years of the Aga Khan Hospitals in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. These institutions, staffed by some of the most talented professionals from within the Ismaili community and from outside, have, I believe, served the surrounding populations with integrity and commitment. The Aga Khan Hospital here in Nairobi was the first multi-racial hospital in colonial Kenya, and it has recently set another new precedent by becoming the first private sector hospital in Kenya to educate in medicine and nursing, through its new affiliation with the Faculty of Health Sciences of AKU in Pakistan.

Earlier, I discussed the need for private and public cooperation in the field of education. The same approach is also needed in the field of medicine. I am aware of perceptions that private health care in Kenya is expensive – health care worldwide, in fact, is becoming more expensive every year. Sophisticated equipment is increasingly costly, and new technologies are replacing old ones at shorter and shorter intervals. More and more, the treatment of complex cases is calling for teams of specialized professionals rather than single generalists.

The Aga Khan Hospitals in Kenya, and everywhere else they exist – in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tanzania – operate on a non-profit basis – no dividends are ever distributed, but they also aim to operate on a break even, self-sustaining basis. In this way, if new external funding is available, it can provide for expanded facilities, new buildings and expensive new equipment, rather than compensating for operating losses. This is the only way that private institutions can provide ever-improving services, which will, in turn, have a beneficial impact on the quality of medical practice for the whole of society.
Even as we recognize the realities of private medical care, so we must recognize the importance of the public health care sector. In discussing this topic, I want to acknowledge the importance of the Kenyan Ministry of Health’s assertive push towards a national health sector strategic plan. Such plans are essential not only for Kenya, but also for other developing countries. They should, no doubt, be drawn in wide consultation with all the stakeholders, including those from the private sector, who are the majority providers in Kenya.

In such plans, the question of human resources will be central. How will Kenya retain as many of its qualified practitioners as possible, reversing the trend toward a greater foreign migration of medical and nursing personnel? How can we attract back the Kenyan professionals who have left to practice elsewhere? The answers will be complex. But the creation of a world class health care faculty for the Aga Khan University, and the expansion of its teaching hospital, should make an important contribution to that goal, and thus to the achievement of global best practice standards throughout the region.

Thank You.

His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki bestows Kenya’s highest medal of honour, the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart

14th August

(View related articles)

His Excellency President Mwai Kibaki bestows Kenya’s highest medal of honour, the Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart, on His Highness the Aga Khan at State House. File size: 651 KB Photo credit: Gary Otte

Source: http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug15_photos.html

Aga Khan visits Africa to see results of initiatives

(CNN) — The works and achievements of the influential spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims have long been baffling to categorize.

 

 

 

Prince Karim Al Husseini, the 49th Imam of the Isamailis and the 49th Aga Khan.

 

var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger(\\’cnnImgChngr\\’,\\’/2007/WORLD/africa/08/16/aga.khan/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html\\’,1,1); //CNN.imageChanger.load(\\’cnnImgChngr\\’,\\’imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html\\’); But as this rather enigmatic figurehead pays an official visit to East Africa the results of his work in rural development, education and healthcare on the continent are sparking interest.In much the same way, he has already attracted attention with investment in small and medium size enterprises which indirectly provide employment for hundreds of thousands in a swathe of countries across the continent.

Prince Karim Al Husseini, who is the 49th Imam of the Isamailis and the 49th Aga Khan, is celebrating 50 years as religious leader and visiting Kenya the country of his childhood.

Through the Aga Khan Development Network, the world’s largest private development agency, countries as diverse as Mali, Rwanda, Egypt and Tanzania have benefited from a wide range of projects.

The programs have been aimed at a reduction in poverty, a boost to education, basic health care, micro-finance for the poor and promotion of private enterprise. there has also been a drive to revitalize certain historic cities and a prize for architecture and the protection of culture.

The Nation Media group was founded by the Aga Khan in 1960 and now has a growing number of newspapers, magazines, and radio and television stations in English and Kiswahili. It now also operates in Uganda and Tanzania.

The Nation is the most influential media group in East Africa and has its origins in two papers set up to give the region a distinctive, national voice as Kenya and the surrounding countries geared up for independence. Today the Nation still has an independent stance on major issues and is majority owned and run by Kenyans.

In Kenya recognizing that marketing and expansion are of equal importance, has helped small-scale farmers export slim green beans or “haricot vert” directly to European supermarkets.

The Aga Khan Fund For Economic Development’s Frigoken has invested in providing seeds, fertilizer and expert growing advice to more than 20,000 farmers scattered throughout the country. By setting up collection points and building a factory where the beans are topped and tailed and processed profits are maximized and farmers are assured of a regular market for their goods.

 

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was set up 30 years ago to reward outstanding examples of contemporary design, social housing, landscaping, environmental awareness and community enhancement relevant to the Muslim world.There have been many African winners of the award; among them Mauretania’s Kaedi Regional Hospital which uses local materials to create a network of bee-hive shaped building connected by small corridors. These rounded structures are reminiscent of traditional housing and can easily be closed off turning a pod into a isolation ward.

In Egypt’s capital a 500 year-old rubbish tip was imaginatively turned into a green and verdant space, the Al Azhar Park. The adjoining “historic” neighborhood of Cairo has undergone a transformation with the Aga Khan Development network also funding the restoration of mosques and cultural architecturally significant buildings.

The impoverished area of Darb-El-Ahmar has been boosted by increasing numbers of visitors who are attracted to the park’s lush and spacious slopes from where they enjoy spectacular views over the Islamic city.

In 2004 the new library in Alexandria, or the Biblioteca Alexandrina, was recognized as putting the city back on the intellectual map as a center for learning and culture. It is an echo of the legendary “knowledge center” of classical antiquity used by the likes of Aristotle.

The construction has also given Egypt’s second city a landmark building and in its funding, design and concept has emphasized the possibilities of international collaboration.

 

 

Restoring Zanzibar’s Old Stone Town and historic sea front buildings is part of an initiative to revitalize the island’s heritage tourism. With many of the building crumbling and in danger of collapse, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has restored landmark buildings to a high standard combining the renovation with providing top quality accommodation.

The disused telegraph building was transformed into the Zanzibar Serena Inn and the former old dispensary into shops and offices. The initiative has grown and UNESCO has recognized the Stone Town as a World Heritage Site.

Aga Khan Academy Mombasa Builds Residential Campus to Welcome Students from Across Kenya

Mombasa, Kenya, 14th August

(View related articles)

His Highness the Aga Khan talks to some of the Aga Khan Academy’s top achievers during his visit to the school. Looking on are Professor George Saitoti, Kenya’s Minister for Education, Salim Bhatia, Director of the Academies Programme and Peter McMurray, also of the Academy. File size: 715 KB Photo credit: Gary Otte Click on thumbnail for larger image.

Source: http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug15_academy_photos.html

Aga Khan Foundation Celebrates 25 Years of Madrasa Programme, 14 August 2007

Aga Khan Foundation Celebrates
Twenty-Five Years of the Madrasa Programme

(View related articles)

Mombasa, Kenya, 14 August 2007 –The Aga Khan Foundation today marked the 25th anniversary of the Madrasa Early Childhood Development Programme in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and Chief Guest Kenya’s Minister for Science and Technology, Hon. Dr. Noah Wekesa.

The Madrasa Programme was launched a quarter of a century ago at the request of East Africa’s Muslim leaders who wanted to improve the overall educational achievement of their children while at the same time promoting a secular, integrated curriculum based on the universal ethics and values of Islam and local cultural traditions.

The project has led to the establishment of quality, affordable and sustainable community-based early childhood development centres open to children of all faiths, cultures and ethnicities. The programme has been developed in close collaboration with the governments in East Africa, and it provides valuable support in meeting national education goals.

The special event, “A Journey in Early Childhood Development,” was attended by government representatives from the region, leaders of the Ummah, pioneers of the Madrasa Programme, teachers, donors and well wishers. It highlighted the considerable achievements of the Programme in increasing the ability of children from marginalised communities in East Africa to access and succeed in primary and later schooling. This is achieved through fostering pre-school environments in children’s formative years that are stimulating and developmentally and culturally appropriate.

The involvement of parents and communities has been vital to the success and sustainability of the programme, through both their active participation in management and governance of their pre-schools. The Madrasa curriculum adapts universal educational principles through the regional context through the use of distinctly local learning aids made from available materials and by close policy collaboration with the East African Ministries of Education.

Teacher training and continuous mentoring on classroom practice are ensured through the regionally established Madrasa Resource Centres (MRCs). It is through the critical support provided by these MRCs in Mombasa, Kampala and Zanzibar that on-going development and successful implementation of the early childhood curriculum is guaranteed.

“The programme has ensured equal participation of girls and boys in the classroom and provided important employment and leadership opportunities to local women who work as pre-school teachers, trainers and community mobilisers,” says Najma Rashid, Regional Programme Director of the Madrasa Programme in East Africa.

Arif Neky, the Regional Chief Executive Officer of the Aga Khan Foundation in East Africa adds: “The programme has also been an important vector for pluralism in the region, as it has brought together parents, children and community members from different faiths and cultures in a common effort to improve education opportunities.”

The Madrasa Programme has benefited over 54,000 children in Mombasa, Kampala and Zanzibar and has trained over 5,000 teachers and 2,500 school committee members. Research results indicate that students who have attended a madrasa make a better transition into and through primary school than their peers.

During the event, His Highness the Aga Khan launched a new publication, “School Improvement and Early Childhood Development in East Africa: Experiences of the Aga Khan Development Network.” The book consolidates research, lessons and best practices of the Aga Khan Development Network’s education programmes for the benefit of both policymakers and practitioners.

Source: http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug14_madrasa.htm

Aga Khan Foundation Celebrates 25 Years of Madrasa Programme, 14 August 2007

14th August

(View related articles)

His Highness the Aga Khan being welcomed by students of the Aga Khan Primary School upon arrival in Mombasa.File size: 491KB Photo credit: Gary Otte Click on thumbnail for larger image.

Source: http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug15_madrasaphotos.html

Street Sign Welcoming MHI….

Video of announcement ceremony of Aga Khan University’s Faculty of Health Sciences in East Africa – via akdn.org

Sorry Can’t Post the Video due to Copy right laws please visit the link below.

Source: http://www.akdn.org/news/2007Aug13_video.htm

Video of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to East Africa via theismaili.org

Sorry Can’t Post the Video due to Copy right laws please visit the link below.

Source: http://www.theismaili.org/ea_arrival_video.htm