During post-earthquake reconstruction, AKDN worked both in the Chakama Valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the Uri Block in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, helping with the reconstruction of homes, schools and clinics.
AKAH
During post-earthquake reconstruction, AKDN worked both in the Chakama Valley in Pakistan-administered …
AKAH
This page is also available inVision and Mission
Our goal is that people live in safe, sustainable, and resilient habitats with the opportunity to thrive, whether in a remote mountain village, a town, or a densely populated urban centre. We work with communities to help them prepare for and respond to natural disasters and the effects of climate change. We also want people to have access to services and the opportunity to improve their life.
We are there to help communities prepare for the worst; we are there to provide immediate relief after disaster strikes; and we are there to help build back better – and greener – while planning for a better future.
We currently operate in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Syria, Pakistan and India, with plans to expand further in Central Asia and to East Africa.
History
Established in 2016, AKAH brings together several AKDN agencies and programmes that had been working on habitat and disaster preparedness and relief since the 1990s, including Focus Humanitarian Assistance, Aga Khan Planning and Building Services, the Disaster Risk Management Initiative and the Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Fund for the Environment.
AKAH’s technical experts conduct hazard vulnerability and risk assessments using satellite data and geographic information system technologies together with participatory on-site assessments to help communities understand, map and plan for the risks they face.
AKAH
Disaster Preparedness and Response
We work with communities to understand their vulnerabilities and protect themselves against the risks they face. Combining scientific analysis with local knowledge and community participation, we have conducted hazard, vulnerability and risk assessments (HVRAs) for over 2,500 settlements covering nearly three million people.
Using these assessments and satellite data we maintain a detailed GIS database that analyses and predicts disaster risk. We monitor 15 glacial lakes and operate 88 community-managed weather monitoring posts covering over 600 avalanche-prone settlements, to provide early warning of potential disasters.
We also support a network of nearly 40,000 local emergency first response volunteers, almost half of whom are women. These volunteer teams warn and safely evacuate people before disasters strike. They respond with first aid, search and rescue, and emergency relief post-disaster.
Participatory planning pre-pandemic in Khorog, Tajikistan in 2018. AKAH looked at the experience of some leading urban planning practitioners in the developing world for lessons on how to continue community engagement during a pandemic.
AKDN
Habitat Planning
We bring communities together to design a better future, thinking about what it takes to make neighbourhoods, villages and towns safe while creating places that offer economic opportunity. We have developed a unique approach to planning that integrates community engagement, data-driven decision-making and spatial design to create thriving communities for decades to come.
This water installation in Pakistan ensures clean and safe water. Before, people drank from irrigation channels, which caused health problems such as diarrhoea, skin infections, eye infections and hepatitis.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Water and Sanitation
Our experts work with communities to construct critical infrastructure for clean water and sanitation. Our aim is to ensure access to safe drinking water and sanitation for every family – in their home. We have built safe water and sanitation systems for more than 600,000 people, trained hundreds of community volunteers to operate and maintain water supply systems and conducted thousands of school and community health and hygiene sessions.
When disasters like floods and seismic activity have tested the resilience of villagers in Darvaz, Tajikistan, AKAH has helped the community recover with new housing, water systems and other infrastructure.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Safe and Sustainable Construction
We provide planning, design and construction management services to promote safe, seismically resistant construction and develops green, energy-efficient solutions. Our teams have helped communities build 50,000 homes and 5,000 hospitals, schools, and community centres in many remote areas, which are resilient to natural hazards.
They are also designed to use energy and resources efficiently. We promote resilient and climate-smart construction by providing green building solutions and safe construction design and management services.
Our vision is that even the most vulnerable communities live in safe places where they can thrive for generations to come.