Aga Khan Foundation Partners

Madrasa Resource Centre, Zanzibar

A regional program involving three local early childhood education and development resource centres. The Madrasa Program aims to develop a model for quality community-based early childhood education and development, which is at the same time effective, relevant to the local context, and financially sustainable. Significantly, it has enabled children from disadvantaged communities to gain entrance and excel in the mainstream education system.

Madras Resource Centre, Kenya

Their change project incorporates gender content into program activities. Girls will have equal opportunity at ECD Centres. Teachers and men and women from the community will also have an equal opportunity to participate in ECD activities, child and community development.

Education for Marginalized Children, Kenya (EMACK):

An initiative of the Ministry of Education (MOE), the overall goal of the project is to ensure equitable access to quality, basic education for marginalized children in the Coast and North Eastern Provinces of Kenya. EMACK employs a strategy that strengthens the entire school community (the Whole School Approach) to create a primary school learning environment in which parents support, children enjoy, and teachers facilitate quality education. In the North Eastern Province, in particular, EMACK identifies and addresses the unique educational needs of children from pastoral communities.

NGO Resource Centre, Zanzibar

Its aim is to create an enabling environment for NGOs and community based organizations (CBOs) to function effectively through research, capacity building, networking, and information dissemination.

Coastal Rural Support Program- Kenya (CRSP-K)

This program focuses on promoting of girl-child education and mentoring girls on leadership roles and skills. The program includes training girls on their sexuality, maturity, self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as training teachers and boys how to interact with and respect girls, and discussing the importance of educating girls with parents.

Raha Leo Health Facility (Zanzibar)

Improves the quality of its existing health services, including the renovation of the facility and the purchase of new equipment to increase the number of laboratory and diagnostic services offered to a greater number of patients.

Community Health Department

AKF-East Africa

The umbrella organization of the Aga Khan Foundation in East Africa oversees all the projects of the foundation.

A meeting to conduct a baseline assessment of an organization progressed smoothly, but the the group was not energized by the process. Collecting baseline information is tedious at the best of times. But things changed when the group was asked how they felt about working with their facilitators. This simple question of feelings, often overlooked, transformed the entire session. The natural shy nature of the members soon dissolved. Both men and women members revealed the traditional nature of their community and the fact that women are not viewed as significant contributing members of society.

more...