Pakistan Islamic Republic

Anwar Ali Merchant Congratulates the Cabinet of Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani

2008-04-02T13:03:33+02:00

Anwar Ali Merchant Congratulates the Cabinet of Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani

Press Release
For Immediate Release

Text of the message of congratulations for Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani:

Islamabad, March 31, 2008
Excellency Yousuf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister
Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Sir,

On the happy occasion of your 24-member cabinet sworn in by His Excellency President Musharraf, I send you my warmest hearty congratulations with prayers for success in all your future endeavors.

I send my hearty felicitations and best wishes individually to each of the honorable ministers sworn in today:
Shah Mehmood Qureshi (Foreign Minister), Sherry Rehman (Information Minister), Syed Naveed Qamar (Minister for Privatisation/Port and Shipping-additional), Raja Pervez Ashraf (Minister for Water and Power), Syed Khursheed Shah (Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis), Qamar Zaman Kaira (Minister for Kashmir Affairs), Senator Farooq Naek (Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights), Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (Minister for Defence), Nazar Muhammad Gondal (Minister for Narcotics), Najamuddin Khan (Minister for States and Frontier Region) and Mir Humayon Aziz Kurd (Minister for Population Welfare), Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan (Senior Minister), Senator Ishaq Dar (Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Commerce), Ahsan Iqbal (Minister for Education), Tehmina Daultana (Minister for Women Development), Sardar Mehtab Abbasi (Minister for Railways), Khawaja Asif (Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources), Rana Tanveer Hussain (Minister for Defense Production), Shahid Khakhan Abbasi (Ministry of Trade), Khawaja Saad Rafiq (Minister for Youth Affairs), Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (Minister for Local Government and Rural Development), Khawaja Mohammed Khan Hoti (Minister for Social Welfare), Rehmatullah Kakar, Hameedullah Jan Afridi, and Rehman Malik.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate President Musharraf for having successfully put Pakistan on the roadmap of democracy and welfare of the people of Pakistan.

Excellency, once again I congratulate you and the honorable ministers from the bottom of my heart with prayers for welfare, happiness, independence and sovereignty of our great nation – Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Anwar Merchant
Founder Chairman – President
Muslim Democracy League

Islamabad 44000
Pakistan
+923455086313
Email: muslimdemocracy@gmail.com

NOTES:

Formed on the auspicious birth anniversary of Holy Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him and his family] Rabi ul Awwal 12, 1429 ME, Friday March 21 2008, Muslim Democracy League is the political forum and thinktank of Pakistan, contributing knowledge, consultation and insight related to promotion of faith based consensus democracy in Pakistan.

The norms and assumptions that characterise belief and action in Islam have their initial inspiration in two foundation sources. One is the message revealed by God to the Holy Prophet [peace be upon him and his family] and recorded in Quran. The second is Sunnah, the recording of the Prophet's life, his words, actions and habits, his character, struggle, piety, modesty and success that has come in time to represent for Muslims, a timeless pattern for daily life. And this is true both for the state and the individual. Accordingly, Muslim Democracy League supports to enhance theological and political consensus among different stake holders for the development of good governance in Pakistan.

Muslim Democracy League is the continuation of the original theme and format of Muslim League [1906]. It works to build confidence between West and Muslims, and facilitates collaboration between people, civil society and government to address some of the development needs in Pakistan today.

Muslim Democracy works to historically deliver, both for Pakistan and world community so to speak about civil society and democracy, knowledge and learning, health, housing and economy, technology, industry and commerce, heritage and environment, alleviation of the sufferings of the poor, the sick and the needy, women emancipation and good governance, theological and political consensus, protection and welfare of minorities, support for responsible media, independence of judiciary, indigenous rule of the people, dignity and integrity of the government, Muslim Caliphate, Armed Forces, Law Agencies, and Islamic ethics of discipline, tolerance, knowledge, development, pluralism, interfaith harmony and global peace.

Election Pakistan 2008 : Fair Peaceful Transparent

2008-02-19T11:48:44+01:00

Election Pakistan 2008 : Fair Peaceful Transparent All Credits For President Musharraf Victory For Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf Monday said the winning party or a coalition would form the next government and he would work with it according to the constitution. Talking to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is Co-Chair of the Pakistan Caucus on the Hill, at the President’s Camp Office here he said there was no conflict in his role with the Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution, which was based on the parliamentary system.

The President said holding of the general election have belied those who raveled in conspiracy theories and spread misperceptions.

Sheila Jackson, who is in Pakistan to observe the elections, exchanged views about the political process and the democratic elections in the country.

President Musharraf gave an overview of the developments leading up to the election and said that the government was committed to full transition to democracy and these elections were yet another evidence of the sincerity of his commitment.

He said Pakistan suffered from many misperceptions such as the doubts that were being cast over the holding of the election especially when these were briefly postponed after the tragic assassination of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

Sheila Jackson said as member of the House she reflected feelings of her colleagues on the Hill who desired to see democratic, stable and strong Pakistan that continues to play its important role for peace and progress in the region and in the world.

They wanted to see Pakistan emerge as a role model following the elections, she added.

She recalled that she visited Pakistan earlier while accompanying former President Clinton and was impressed by the vision of the President for Pakistan.

Sheila Jackson appreciated President’s policies especially for empowerment of women and promotion of a vibrant free media with scores of private sector TV channels operating in the country.

She praised the role of Pakistan in fighting terrorism and paid tribute to the sacrifices made by the Pakistan armed forces. She affirmed that as a friend it would remain her endeavour to present an honest and correct perception of Pakistan .

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Mother of All Elections - February 18 2008 Victory for Pakistan

2008-02-17T12:57:20+01:00

Mother of All Elections - February 18, 2008 VICTORY FOR PAKISTAN

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Fate of Pakistan Pivotal For The Future Of The World - Historian Karen Armstrong

2008-02-09T10:44:08+01:00

Fate of Pakistan pivotal for the future of the world- historian Karen Armstrong

03 Feb 2008 09:53:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD, Feb 3, 2008 - The future of Pakistan, and how it balances the need for Muslim symbols with the secularism needed to run a modern state, will be important for the future of the world, according to historian and theologian Karen Armstrong.

Nuclear-armed and reaping the grim harvest of "extremism" resulting from the West's support for a religious war to drive the Soviet Union out of neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan has a big question to answer, says Armstrong. "How do you become a secular Muslim state?"

Last Thursday, Armstrong, whose writings have highlighted the tolerant and pluralistic nature of Islam, met President Pervez Musharraf, who hoped to change Pakistan into a state where "enlightened moderation" prevailed.

"Pakistan is on the frontier of this present struggle," Armstrong told Reuters during a visit to Islamabad to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Aga Khan, Fatimid Imam Caliph of Islam.

"I think it is not so much important for the future of Islam as important for the future of the world," said the 63-year-old Briton, whose book "The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam" was released a year before 2001 attacks on the United States.

"What happens here will be very decisive in how the so-called war against terrorism proceeds in other regions."

"The kind of conversations I have about this topic remind me very much of conversations I had in Israel, another secular state born out of displacement and tragedy."

Armstrong said Israelis faced a similar struggle between secularists in tune with the vision of their country's founder, David Ben-Gurion, and ultra-orthodox Jews, some of them militant.

Even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, realised the need to have a degree of secularism in order to run a modern state, she said. Khomeini, just before he died in 1989, told mullahs not to meddle in defence and economic policies, she said.

CORNERED BY SECULARISM
The separation of religion in the state represents a modern, major change in societies where religion is a way of life. When it happens too quickly, people feel threatened and if attacked through the media or by force, they become aggressive, said Armstrong, a former nun who describes herself as a "freelance monotheist". "Most of these extreme movements are rooted in profound fear, a fear of annihilation," she said, stressing that the same dynamics play out in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. "In small-town America there are Christians who believe they are going to be wiped out by a so-called liberal establishment."

During the interview, Armstrong cited the example of Sayyid Qutb, whose writings from an Egyptian jail in the 1950s and 60s helped craft a strain of Sunni Muslim fundamentalism that spawned the global jihad of al Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

People should study Qutb's texts rather than the Koran if they wanted to understand al Qaeda, she said. But they had to be read in the context of the torture Qutb suffered and his reaction to efforts to secularise Egypt, she said. Attempts to introduce secularism, which took centuries in the West, has been done too quickly in the Middle East, according to Armstrong, resulting in religious movements that tend to become lethal if they occur in regions where violence is endemic.

Armstrong didn't see militancy in Pakistan's tribal lands, or Hamas or Hizbollah movements, or even bin Laden's al Qaeda, as being motivated principally by religion. It is more of a kind of political followup.

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Aga Khan on Arabic as National Language of Pakistan

2008-02-08T15:05:10+01:00

Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, the 48th Fatimid Imam Caliph and founder of Pakistan at a session of Motamer al-Alam-al-Islamiyya on February 9, 1951 in Karachi said:

“I can assure you that it is not with a light heart that I address you this evening. I fully realise that what I am going to say will make me most unpopular with important sections of the population. However, I would be a traitor to Islam if I let this opportunity pass without placing before the people of this powerful and populous Islamic nation the views which I consider my duty to place before the Muslims with as many of the arguments as I am capable of using in a short address.

I fear some of my arguments will mortally offend those who under totally different conditions gave so much of their life for the support of the cause which I think today has been passed by events far more important than any dreamt of in those days. I feel the responsibility greater than any I can think of to place my views and arguments before the Muslim population of Pakistan as a whole - each and every province - while what I consider a tragic and deadly step is not yet taken and not added to the constitution of this realm.

The language of a nation is not only the expression of its own voice but the mode of interpretation with all other human societies. Before it is too late, I, an old man, implore my brothers in Islam here not to finally decide for Urdu as the national language of Pakistan but to choose Arabic. Please hear my arguments.

If what was the other part of the former British Empire of India had made Urdu its national language, there would have been a great argument for Pakistan doing ditto. It could have been a linguistic and important point of contact with the vast Republic of the South. I am the last man on earth to desire to break any bridge of contact and understanding between Pakistan and its immense neighbour. Not only Urdu but even Hindustani has been replaced by Hindi throughout Bharat as the national language. The people of Bharat were perfectly justified to choose any language which the majority considered most appropriate and historically justified to be their national language. The majority there has the right to choose what was most suitable for them as the official language of the country.

Your choice in Pakistan of Urdu will in no way ameliorate or help your relations with your neighbour, nor will it help the Muslim minorities there in any conceivable way. Howsoever you may add Arabic and Persian words to Urdu there is no denying the fact that the syntax, the form, the fundamentals of the language are derived from Hindi and not from Arabic. Was Urdu the language of the Muslims of India at the time of their glory? During the long Pathan period, Urdu was never considered the language of the rulers.

Now we come to the Moghul Empire in the period of its glory. It was not the language of the educated. I defy anybody to produce a letter or any other form of writing by Emperors Aurangzeb, Shah Jehan, Jehangir, Akbar, Humayun or Babar in Urdu language. All that was spoken at the Court was Persian or occasional Turkish. I have read many of the writings of Aurangzeb and they are in beautiful Persian. Same is true if you go to the Taj Mahal and read what is written on the tombs of the Emperor and his famous consort. Persian was the court language and the language of the educated and even till the early 19th century in far Bengal, the Hindu intelligentsia wrote and used Persian and not Urdu. Up to the time of Macaulay, Persian was the language of Bengali upper classes irrespective of faith and of official documents and various Sadar Adalat. We must look historical facts in the face. Urdu became the language of Muslim India after the downfall. It is a language associated with the downfall. Its great poets are of the downfall period. The last and the greatest of them was lqbal, who with the inspiration of revival gave up Urdu poetry for Persian poetry. There was a meeting in Iqbal’s honour in London organised by men such as Prof. Nicholson. I was present at that meeting. Iqbal said that he went in for Persian poetry because it was associated with the greatness of the Islamic epoch and not with its misfortunes. Is it right that the language of the downfall period should become the national language of what we hope now is a phoenix-like national rising? All the great masters of Urdu belong to the period of greatest depression and defeat. It was then a legitimate attempt by the use of a language of Hindi derivation with Arabic and Persian words to find ways and means of better understanding with the then majority fellow countrymen.

Today that vast British dependency is partitioned and succeeded by two independent and great nations and the whole world hopes that both sides now accept partition as final. Is it a natural and national language of the present population of Pakistan? Is it the language of Bengal where the majority of Muslims live? Is it what you. hear in the streets of Dacca or Chittagong? Is it the language of the North West Frontier? Is it the language of Sind? Is it the language of the Punjab? Certainly after the fall of the Mughal Empire the Muslims and Hindus of certain areas found in it a common bond, but now today other forms of bridges must be found for mutual understanding. Who were the creators of Urdu? What are the origins of Urdu? Where did it come from? The camp followers, the vast Hindi-speaking population attached to the Imperial Court who adapted, as they went along, more Arabic and Persian words into the syntax. of their own language just as in later days the English words such as glass and cup became part of a new form of Urdu called Hindustani. Are you going to make the language of the Camp, or of the Court, the national language of your new-born realm? Every Muslim child of a certain economic standard learns the Quran in Arabic, whether he is from Dacca or Quetta. He learns Arabic to read the Quran.

Arabic is the language of Islam. The Qur’an is in Arabic. The Prophet’s hadith are in Arabic. The highest form of Islamic culture in Spain was in Arabic. Your children must learn Arabic to a certain extent always. The same is true of your West whether Sind, Baluchistan or the North. From the practical and worldly point of view, Arabic will give you, as a national language, immediate contact not only with the 40 million Arabic-speaking people of independent nations on your West, but the other 60 million more or less Arabic-speaking people who are not independent but who exist in Africa. Right up to the Atlantic, not only in North but as far South as Nigeria and the Gold Coast, Arabic is known to the upper classes of the population. In all the Sudans, on the Nile or under French rule, Arabic is the language right up to the borders of Portuguese West Africa. In East Africa, not only in Zanzibar but amongst the Muslim population of even countries as far apart as Madagascar and Portuguese East Africa, Arabic is known. If we turn to the Far East, Arabic has prospered throughout the region inhabited by 80 million Muslims of Indonesia, Malaya and Philippines. In Ceylon, Muslim children of the well-to-do classes get some knowledge of Arabic.

Is it not right and proper that this powerful Muslim State of Pakistan, with its central geographical position, its bridges between the nearly 100 million Muslims of the East and 100 million Muslims of the West - its position of the East from Philippines and the Great State of Indonesia and Malaya and Burma and then westward with the hundred millions in Africa, right up to the Atlantic, should make Arabic its national language and not isolate itself from all its neighbors and from the world of Islam with a language that was associated with the period of downfall of Muslim States.

And finally, whi1e Arabic, as a universal language of the Muslim world will unite, Urdu will divide and isolate. Gentlemen, brothers in Islam, people of Pakistan, people of every Province, I appeal to you, before you take the final and what I unfortunately must say, I consider, the fatal jump down the precipice, please discuss and let all and every one contribute their views. Take time and think over it. Once more I appeal for Islamic charity from those whom I may have offended and I appeal to all others to look to the facts in the face both historically and as they exist at present. I pray that the people of this country may be guided by Divine Wisdom before they decide.”

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Aziz calls on Aga Khan Fatimid Imam Caliph

2008-02-03T07:16:28+01:00

Aziz calls on Aga Khan : Shaukat Aziz former Prime Minister of Pakistan called on His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan at his Paris residence this week January 31 2008. The two leaders exchanged views on international situation. The former Prime Minister paid rich tributes to Prince Aga Khan for his excemplary meritorious services for the cause of Muslim Ummah, and the poor, the sick and the needy in emerging economies. The Fatimid Imam Caliph expressed his pleasure over the financial development of Pakistan. Due to effective economic policy of the government, financial stability took place in Pakistan, said Aga Khan.

His Highness Aga Khan is establishing a Muslim University with a total cost of US $ 500 million, the president of Aga Khan Council, Iqbal Waljee, said in Karachi on Thursday, 24 January 2008.. He said 1,000 acres of land has been acquired for the purpose on Super Highway in Karachi. The Aga Khan will inaugurate the ground breaking shortly, he said adding that acadamic activity will start from 2011. Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Imamat Caliphate of Aga Khan is being marked in Pakistan with high profile programmes including lecture series by Karen Armstrong on intellectual traditions in Islam.

And as Pakistan is going through anxious moments, Fatimid Heritage Foundation, Geneva Peace Development Centre and Mountain Girls Education Development Program have endorsed full confidence in the leadership of Excellency President Musharraf. We believe President Musharraf has been historically delivering his best, both for Pakistan and world community so to speak about civil society and democracy, women emancipation and good governance, theological and political consensus, freedom of expression, media support, independence of judiciary, indigenous rule of people and global peace.

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More effective strategies needed to prevent global conflicts – UN report

2008-02-02T16:20:02+01:00

Despite a wide range of tools available to the United Nations in the areas of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacebuilding, a new United Nations report calls for measures to boost the world body’s capacity to prevent conflicts.

Citing a “considerable gap” between rhetoric surrounding prevention and the use of measures towards that end, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon states that “the overriding challenge for the international community remains the development of more effective strategies for preventing conflict.”

In his latest report on conflict prevention, particularly in Africa, Mr. Ban notes that the cost of armed conflict on the continent is equal to or greater than the amount of money it receives in international aid. “Had that money not been lost as a result of armed conflict, it could have been used to address Africa’s growing development and humanitarian needs,” he points out.

The Secretary-General believes the key priority is to further enhance the UN’s work in the area of conflict prevention, and has unveiled plans to strengthen the capacity of the Secretariat, especially the Department of Political Affairs.

The report proposes to strengthen the Organization’s regional field presence in support of prevention, particularly in Africa.

While effective preventive action requires substantial human and financial resources, peacekeeping or peace enforcement costs much more, he notes, adding “we must therefore move from declarations of intent to concrete actions to ensure that preventive diplomacy becomes more effective.”

He notes that the UN is already bolstering its partnerships with Member States and regional organizations to develop their conflict prevention capacities, as evidenced by the world body’s close cooperation with the African Union on several prevention, peacekeeping and peacemaking initiatives.

Noting the underrepresentation of women at the formal stages of conflict prevention, Mr. Ban stresses the need for the UN to make an increased effort to support and encourage their full participation in this area.

To prevent crises from escalating into armed conflict, Mr. Ban calls on the Security Council to enhance its prevention capacity, including by dispatching timely missions to the field to assess situations on the ground.

He also urges the Council to increase the use of its “Arria formula” meetings, whereby non-governmental actors can address the 15-member body outside official sessions, and to work to ensure the “creative and constructive” use of sanctions as a tool for preventing conflicts.

Mr. Ban adds that it is only through political settlements that conflicts can be resolved. “If we do not deal with the root causes of conflict – and offer sustainable solutions – we will be left with humanitarian emergencies and peacekeeping operations without end.”

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Asian Development Bank and Aga Khan Development Network Strengthen Partnership

2008-01-31T06:11:04+01:00

His Highness Aga Khan Fatimid Imam Caliph, founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), today 30th January 2008 met with Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), for discussions on joint collaboration between the ADB and AKDN. The meeting preceded the signing of an agreement aimed at expanding the partnership between the two institutions.

“A strengthened partnership between ADB and the Aga Khan Development Network provides an effective channel for supporting inclusive development in the region, especially for the benefit of the poorest and most vulnerable people in society,” said Mr. Kuroda.

The Aga Khan’s younger brother, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, who signed the agreement on the Aga Khan’s behalf, thanked the ADB for its long-standing cooperation and lauded the Bank’s efforts to adopt a new long-term strategy this year in the face of growing challenges and opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prince Amyn Aga Khan expressed confidence that the agreement will enable an intensification of the collaboration between the two institutions, thereby helping to transform the lives of many.

He added that the agreement is “an expression of our shared commitment to ensure that marginalized and impoverished areas of South and Central Asia receive the attention and support needed to alleviate poverty and to create stability in cross border areas, by connecting isolated communities, developing markets, incomes, and employment, and fostering an enabling environment.”

The joint ADB/AKDN agreement stresses the need “to find ways to undertake investments to connect the poor to the opportunities of growth and to connect services to the poor emanating from national and regional growth benefits.”

The ADB and the AKDN collaborate across multiple sectors in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, India, and Pakistan. The agreement signed today reinforces the need for cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure, economic development, and human capacity building. It expresses the joint commitment of both institutions to local and regional ownership of development policies and programmes, long-term approaches to sustainable development, and investments which connect the poor to growth opportunities. Amongst the new areas for potential partnership are investments in higher education, including with the Aga Khan University and the University of Central Asia.

Notes:

ADB, a major development institution in the Asia and Pacific region, seeks to foster economic growth, good governance, human resource development, and the reduction of poverty for the benefit of its developing member countries.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working to empower communities and individuals to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East. The Network’s nine development agencies focus on social, cultural and economic development for all citizens, regardless of gender, origin or religion. The AKDN’s underlying ethic is compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget for social development is in excess of US$300million.

For more information please contact:

Jason Rush
Media Relations
Asian Development Bank
Tel: (632) 632-4444
www.adb.org
Aly Nazerali
European Representative and CEO
AKDN
3 Cromwell Gardens
London SW7 2HB
Tel: +442075916800
E-mail: aly.nazerali@akdn.org

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Princess Zahra Aga Khan Speaks at Davos 25 January 2008

2008-01-30T04:34:47+01:00

Speech by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, Head of the Social Welfare Department
of the Aga Khan Development Network, at the launching event
for the United Nations World Disaster Reduction Campaign 2008-2009
“Hospitals safe from disasters”
Davos 25 January 2008

The Aga Khan Development Network has always worked in areas of the world susceptible to natural disasters: in the seismically active and landslide affected mountain areas of South and Central Asia, in the flood and typhoon prone coastal areas of East Africa and South Asia, and in places that are regularly victim to drought and famine. Climate change is likely to increase the frequency and severity of these natural disasters.

In a hundred years of activity, Aga Khan Institutions and their personnel have experienced many such disasters firsthand. We have seen and felt the human, physical and financial cost of catastrophes. However these difficult experiences have also taught us the value of investing in disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response.

We see the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction’s World Campaign for Hospitals Safe from Disasters as a useful tool in making sure that we all understand the need to be better prepared. In any disaster situation, the ability to maintain functioning health services is a matter of life and death. The success of a disaster preparedness effort depends on our ability to ensure that health facilities can perform three vital functions:

• To protect the lives of patients and health workers by ensuring the structural resilience of health facilities;
• To ensure that health facilities and services are able to function in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters; and
• To improve the ability of health workers and institutions, to react to and manage emergency situations.

I would like to offer a few observations on these objectives, based on the experience of the AKDN, which owns and operates more than 200 private-not-for profit health facilities including 12 hospitals, as well as 300 schools, and numerous other institutions. The AKDN also provides technical assistance and support to government facilities and systems in a total of 19 countries in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Our experience has taught us to view disaster preparedness and mitigation as core components of our overall development approach. In the Network, we use the term mitigation to describe the measures incorporated into physical infrastructure that increase its ability to withstand the worst effects of natural disasters. We use the term preparedness to describe the community’s ability to plan for and react to these disasters. We have learnt that preparedness and mitigation are not marginal activities – they are fundamental, cost-effective, and they save lives.

All AKDN buildings are built to withstand the seismic risk of their individual locations - “Code +2” or simply put - exceeding the required safety standards. In the last five years we have initiated a survey that includes every single Network building in a risk area, mapping those risks and evaluating the resilience of each building.
We intend to ensure that every AKDN building will withstand the effects of natural disasters.

Since 1983 the AKDN has developed and employed state-of-the-art technologies, including modified versions of older seismic resistant, low-cost techniques in the construction of its health and education facilities. The Network has ensured that the technologies are not only used, but acquired and adopted by the communities in which we work, thus spreading the benefits of these simple, locally-available disaster mitigation techniques.

We have also initiated a programme to stock key facilities with essential food, water and medical supplies, as well as communication systems, for use during and after emergencies. Furthermore, we have developed training programmes for communities at risk and health workers so that they are able to use these facilities and react to natural disasters.

These facilities therefore can also serve as safe havens.

Access to clean water is another critical component of post-disaster response as it prevents the spread of communicable disease. This is why communal water-distribution systems should also be built to withstand natural disasters.

We are currently endeavouring to build access to transportation to all our programme areas, including safe helipads that would ensure rapid evacuation of victims and distribution of essential supplies.

Let me share with you the AKDN experience in Kashmir, where we have been implementing a multi-input programme since the devastating earthquake of 2005 in the Chakama Valley in Pakistan and the Uri Block in India. In the particular programme areas assigned to us, all health units and schools had been partially or totally destroyed. When reviewing the aftermath, we thought it would be irresponsible to rebuild the health clinics and schools without first obtaining a better understanding of the levels of seismic risk for each institution. Resisting the pressures to rebuild this critical infrastructure quickly, we commissioned a series of micro-zoning and geotechnical studies to evaluate the safety of their original locations, and to identify safer sites if necessary.

This allowed us to categorise the overall programme areas by levels of relative risk and to identify the types and probability of localized hazards such as flooding and landslides.

This analysis provided other concrete benefits:

Firstly, we were able to demonstrate to the governments that many of the original clinics and schools should never have been built at their original sites. Along with this, the very sad experience of having a newly built health facility wash away in a mudslide led the Pakistani Government to issue a decree stating that no public buildings could be reconstructed before a risk assessment had been undertaken for any proposed site.

Secondly, sharing our risk assessments with local communities allowed us to discuss and develop a disaster preparedness programme. Indeed, after they acquired a better understanding of the potential risks to their health facilities and schools, communities in both the Indian and Pakistani programme areas donated safer land to the reconstruction of the public buildings.

Thirdly, the seismic analyses have enabled us to design and build new health facilities and schools incorporating seismically resistant features responding to the conditions of the site.

What happens inside a health facility is more important than the physical building itself. Ensuring that health facilities and services are able to function in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters is only possible if the health system functions well before disasters strike.

In many critical situations, air access is the only means of reaching stricken areas and it is essential that as much information as possible is made available to the air services, such as the availability of fuel, coordinates of landing areas, access to spare parts etc. This is particularly critical in the interfacing between military and civilian infrastructure.

The private sector can play an important role in strengthening health systems and in developing technologies and programmes that promote disaster mitigation and preparedness. AKDN’s efforts to re-establish the health system in disaster-affected areas has allowed us to interact closely with local and central governments to introduce better clinical and preventive programmes. We believe that these activities have positive impacts on the health status of the affected communities. Partnerships between the public and private sectors in healthcare can provide new dimensions of complementary and collaborative work aimed at improving people’s health.

The experience of our Network underscores the need for new thinking that emphasizes disaster preparedness and mitigation as well as supporting the continued functioning of critical health facilities and systems. These are the means to save lives and to reduce destruction to infrastructure and livelihoods. In our areas of operation, disasters have taken place and will certainly occur in the future. We believe that we have developed some robust means to prepare for and to ease the effects of future disasters. We also know that implementing these measures is cost-effective and essential to safeguarding investments in infrastructure and human life.

When a disaster strikes, many look to the government and the international inter-governmental and non-governmental agencies. However the private sector’s involvement on both preparedness and response is equally important.

As I wrap up, let me emphasise once more that perhaps one of the most vital lessons the Aga Khan Development Network has learned in the field is that disaster resistant health facilities, staffed with well trained personnel and capable of functioning in a situations where all else seems to fail, are key to saving lives. Helping the world understand that is a noble cause. I wish much success to this campaign.

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Ismaili Muslim Center Work Starts in Glenview

2007-12-05T09:04:49+01:00

After overcoming a push to keep them out, Chicago's Ismaili Muslim community took the first formal step Friday toward moving into north suburban Glenview with a festive ceremony to celebrate the groundbreaking of a 26,000-square-foot community center to be built on 9.5 acres of manicured greenery at Shermer and Golf Roads.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Glenview President Kerry Cummings laid mortar and pressed bricks into a facade at the conclusion of the ceremony, in a gesture of support for the center. Work began Nov. 1 and is scheduled to continue for 12 to 14 months.

"We can recall spirited discussions," said Mahmood Eboo, president of the Ismaili Council for the United States of America, referring to controversy over the center. "We are grateful to the village staff for long and deliberate discussions on this issue."

The center, called the Ismaili Jamatkhana, will include a prayer hall that faces east, toward Mecca, as well as offices, classrooms and halls for social gatherings. It will become the epicenter of the 5,000-strong Ismaili Muslim community, which now meets at two smaller centers in the Chicago area, community members said. Glenview was selected as the site for the center because many Ismailis have settled in the north suburbs since arriving from Pakistan, India and east Africa.

The Glenview Village Board unanimously approved the center in 2006, but that vote came after much wrangling from neighbors who gathered about 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the board to deny permits to the group on grounds that the center would cause too much traffic.

At the time, some residents said the real concern stemmed from fear of Islam. On Friday, some Ismailis suggested residents simply needed time to learn about their Islam, whose members emphasize charity and civic duty.

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