A strong and vibrant civil society harnesses its people’s strengths and enables them to guide their own community’s development. It plays a vital role in economic development, poverty reduction and the promotion of pluralism. Several of our agencies help build civil society, including the universities and the independent media outlets. In particular, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)’s programmes build capacity, improve governance and support the development of civil society.
94,000
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is supporting 38 civil society organisations, reaching 94,000 people
AKF works with several civil society and community-based organisations in the West Nile region of Uganda in education, financial inclusion and youth empowerment. In partnering with local civil society actors, the Foundation builds the capacity of community-based groups to respond to development challenges, allowing them to continue addressing the needs of Ugandans long after a project ends.
AKF is working with Partners in Community Transformation (PICOT), Needy Kids and Hear International, three local education-centric civil society organisations, to strengthen education systems, improve learning outcomes, raise awareness of challenges facing girls’ education and mainstream gender in pre-primary and primary schools. AKF also works with three Head Teacher Associations and 150 Parent Teacher Associations and School Management committees in the region as part of its whole school approach to education programming. Through this collaboration, we are encouraging school communities to develop and implement gender-responsive school development plans, foster supportive learning environments and share best practices for teaching and classroom management.
AKF also works with the Community Organization for Rural Enterprise Activity Management (CREAM), a civil society organisation based in Arua District, to implement a financial inclusion project aimed at supporting community-based savings groups. Together, AKF and CREAM are linking remote communities to formal financial institutions. This increases community members’ access to credit and the safety of their savings. Over 20,000 people have benefitted to date.