Aga Khan Foundation
Funding Focus areas: Architecture, Civil Society,Culture, Economic Development, Education, Health, HistoricCities, Humanitarian Assistance, Microfinance, Music, Planning & building, Rural development.
Eligible/ Priority Countries:visit for more info on Aga Khan’s priorities in your country.
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
Canada
Congo (DRC)
Côte d'Ivoire
Egypt
India
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kyrgyz Republic
Madagascar
Mali
Mozambique
Portugal
Pakistan
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Uganda
United Kingdom
USA
HOW TO APPLY:
Funding Strategy
The Foundation has a sharply defined funding strategy, and its standards are, of necessity, high. Grants are normally given to local organisations interested in testing new solutions, in learning from experience and in being agents of lasting change. These organisations must share the Foundation's and AKDN's goals in the fields of health, education, rural development and strengthening of civil society. If no established group exists, the Foundation occasionally creates new organisations to tackle particularly important problems.
With few exceptions, the Foundation funds programmes in countries where it has offices and local professional staff to monitor implementation (South and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East).
Except for buildings that it owns, the Foundation does not fund construction. It cannot make grants to individuals in response to personal needs. Travel and study awards are made only to Foundation-sponsored project staff directly involved in programme implementation and the sharing of lessons learned through such activities.
Application Procedures
There are no formal application procedures. Before developing full proposals, enquiries should be made to the Foundation office in the country where the proposal originates or where the project would be executed. If there is no local AKF branch or affiliate, enquiries may be addressed to the Foundation office in Geneva.
The Foundation will only respond to serious requests that correspond to the concerns expressed in the AKDN website and propose activities that further the Foundation's understanding of development issues, problems and effective solutions. Unrelated solicitations will not be entertained.
Addresses of AgaKhan Foundation Country Offices
Aga Khan Foundation (Afghanistan)
House N° 43, Street N° 13, Main Road
Wazir Akbar Khan
P.O. Box 5753
Kabul
Afghanistan
Aga Khan Foundation (Bangladesh)
SW(F)3B, Road N° 2 Gulshan
P.O. Box 6025
Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
Aga Khan Foundation (Canada)
The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat
199 Sussex Drive
OttawaK1N 1K6
Canada
Aga Khan Foundation (India)
Sarojini House, 2nd floor
6, Bhagwan Dass Road
New Delhi 110001
India
Aga Khan Foundation (Kenya)
East Africa Regional Office
P.O. Box 40898-00100
ICEA Building (8th floor)
Kenyatta Avenue
Nairobi
Kenya
Aga Khan Foundation (KyrgyzRepublic)
7, Michurina Street
714000 Osh
KyrgyzRepublic
Aga Khan Foundation (Mozambique)
Edificio Sua Alteza Aga Khan
Av. Albert Luthuli 739
P.O. Box 746
Maputo
Mozambique
Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan)
House N° 1, Street N° 61,
Sector F-6/3
Islamabad
Pakistan
Aga Khan Foundation (Portugal)
Ismaili Centre
1, Avenida Lusiada
1600-001 Lisbon
Portugal
Aga Khan Foundation (Syria)
Abou Rumaneh, Rawda Square
Abdul Kader Al Jazairi Street
Building No. 15
Damascus
Syria
Aga Khan Foundation (Tajikistan)
Rudaki 137
Building “Tajikmatlubot”, 4th floor
Dushanbe 734003
Tajikistan
Aga Khan Foundation (Tanzania)
P.O. Box 125
Plot 37, Haile Selaissie Road
Oyster Bay
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
Aga Khan Foundation (Uganda)
2nd Floor, DiamondTrustBuilding
Plot 17/19
Kampala Road
Kampala
Uganda
Aga Khan Foundation (United Kingdom)
3 CromwellGardens
London SW7 2HB
United Kingdom
Aga Khan Foundation (USA)
1825 K Street, N.W., Suite 901
Washington, D.C. 20006
United States of America
Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) is an international group of agencies established in Europe, North America and South Asia to complement the provision of emergency relief, principally in the developing world. It helps people in need reduce their dependence on humanitarian aid and facilitates their transition to sustainable self-reliant, long-term development. Focus Humanitarian Assistance is affiliated with the AgaKhan Development Network, a group of institutions working to improve opportunities and living conditions, for people of all faiths and origins, in specific regions of the developing world. Underlying the establishment of FOCUS by the Ismaili Muslim community is a history of successful initiatives to assist people struck by natural and man-made disasters in South and Central Asia, and Africa.
Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness (PMP)
Prevention, Mitigation, and Preparedness (PMP) is the channel through which FOCUS works to decrease a community’s vulnerability to natural disasters such as landslides, floods, mudslides, epidemics, and earthquakes, catastrophic rain or snow, and prepares them to respond rapidly and effectively to natural disasters. In this way, the initiative also seeks to ensure that communities are empowered in the learning process. There are a variety of activities in each category, including: building community awareness, the provision of communications equipment (two-way radios), and mitigation projects, such as flood retaining walls.
FOCUS PMP programmes are currently active at various levels in India, Tajikistan and Pakistan and are implemented in partnership with the AKDN, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the European Union (DIPECHO), United States government (USAID) and the Japanese Social Development Fund.
PMP in India - Preparing Families and Communities in Schools and HospitalsPractical experience in basic fire-fighting skills for local community volunteers
In India, FOCUS PMP initiatives operate in seven states. FOCUS facilities the development of annual, comprehensive disaster response plans in local communities enabling families to be better informed about the potential consequences of natural and manmade disasters. FOCUS works in collaboration with local schools, hospitals, specialist institutes as well as their stakeholders to ensure these communities are increasingly aware of what can be done to minimise potential dangers. Recently, FOCUS designed a training module on “Disaster Preparedness in Hospitals” aiming to enhance awareness in the medical fraternity for external and internal disaster responses. FOCUS will begin disaster preparedness training for hospital staff across Western India helping create safer environments.
PMP in Tajikistan - Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness in Tajikistan
Building a flood retaining wall under FOCUS’ Japanese Social Development Fund project Fostering disaster-resilient communities in isolated mountain areas is a primary goal for FOCUS. In Tajikistan, FOCUS builds disaster-resilient communities through programmes funded by the Disaster Preparedness Agency of the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (DIPECHO). These programmes operate in vulnerable areas of Vanj, Ishkashim, Roshtkala and Shugnan. Awareness-raising programmes, community disaster management planning and disaster-mitigation projects have reached nearly 37,000 beneficiaries. FOCUS also implements projects to strengthen the abilities of local communities and institutions, especially those of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Civil Defense (MoESCD), to cope with disasters through scientific knowledge generation, information management, capacity building, and community-based risk reduction initiatives.
A further DIPECHO grant will enhance risk management capacities in Tajikistan through the refinement of a risk model; risk assessment and risk reduction activities in villages; two-way radio communication systems; further strengthening of MoESCD’s capacity; and knowledge dissemination among institutions of higher education.
In collaboration with the Japanese Social Development Fund, FOCUS is implementing a programme aimed at reducing poverty in high mountain areas. This programme intends to further FOCUS’ mission of enabling disaster resilient communities not only through disaster preparedness and mitigation, but also with the added element of prioritised small-scale community-based investments identified by the communities themselves. To date, FOCUS has implemented structural mitigation projects, road rehabilitation, communications and income generation projects.
In partnership with Geo Hazard International (GHI) and funded by the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), FOCUS has implemented the Central Asian Republics Earthquake Safety Initiative (CARESI). The programme entails seminars which target government, urban communities, NGOs and research institutes and identify and implement measures to reduce the impact of seismic activity in Dushanbe. Some of the activities under this programme include the preparation and distribution of a Risk Reduction Framework in Russian and English; completion of 641 training sessions for 9,532 participants in Dushanbe; training of MoESCD representatives on Community Disaster Volunteers; and training professors from TajikTechnicalUniversity on Urban Community-Based Disaster Mitigation in Istanbul.
In 2006, FOCUS partnered with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to extend the geographic coverage of the CARESI project to the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). FOCUS is implementing awareness and training activities in six cities (Dushanbe, Khorog, Khojand, Kurgan-Teppa, Kulyab, and Garm) and 200 villages, thus benefiting at least 50,000 families. This programme will include the production and distribution of disaster awareness materials to all participants.
PMP in Pakistan - Towards Disaster Resilient Communities
Practical experience in basic first aid skills for local community volunteers FOCUS Pakistan’s Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness programme is based on a strategy of community preparedness and local capacity building which aims to reduce the vulnerability of over half a million people living in the mountainous Northern Areas of Pakistan against natural disasters.
FOCUS designed the Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) programme to enable disaster resilient communities by training men and women in vital skill sets and empowering them with basic technical knowledge required to respond, survive and recover from disasters.
In the Northern Areas, in population of nearly 700,000, FOCUS has trained over 25,000 community volunteers to utilise local resources to respond and manage local disaster situations. Volunteers undergo organisational, basic first aid as well as vigorous mountain search and rescue training. At community level, the volunteers are divided into planning and response groups ready to be deployed at short notice. FOCUS also provides stockpiles at community and regional level to support a community’s timely and effective response.