Aga Khan Foundation to get Rs 873.3 million

CHITRAL, 06 Oct 06: According to a press release of the Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan, The  Foundation is to get Rs 873.3 million from Netherlands. Copy of the press release is produced below

 Royal Netherlands Embassy to provide € 12.2 million (PKR 873.3 million) to Aga Khan

 

 Foundation (Pakistan), for Early Childhood Development  Programme

 

Islamabad, Pakistan (06 October 2006) – The Royal Netherlands Embassy and Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) today signed a € 12.2 million contract towards the development of Early Childhood Development Programmes. The programme will be implemented in seventeen (17) districts of Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP and Federally Administered Northern Areas. The “Releasing Confidence and Creativity: Early Childhood Education Programme in Pakistan” will be implemented through seven technical and implementing partners.

 

Speaking at the ceremony, the Netherlands Ambassador, H.E Willem Andreae highlighted the importance of education and shared that education is one of the two priority sectors under the Netherlands bilateral co-operation programme in Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan is committed to reach the Millennium Development Goals for education in 2015 as well as the Education for All goals. The Netherlands Government is equally committed to these goals and, in order to help reach these has consistently increased its development budget for education over the past years. In 2007, no less than 15 percent of the development budget will be available to support education programmes in developing countries, amounting to  nearly Euros 700 million (approx. PKR 55 billion).

Mr. Sohail Khoja, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) expressed AKF’s long-term commitment to provide quality education to the marginalized communities of the society. Mr. Sohail Khoja also thanked the Netherlands government for providing financial assistance to AKF (P) in the education sector.

The Releasing Confidence and Creativity: Early Childhood Programme seeks to ensure a good start in life for young children in Pakistan. It is primarily concerned with improving the quality and accessibility of early childhood development (ECD) programmes, especially for poor and marginalized children under the age of 8 years. The programme will work on multiple levels - strengthening quality provision for young children in schools, communities and families, as well as building capacity and institutionalizing commitment at district and national levels. Through this programme, the Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan), with the technical and implementing partners, will improve the quality of teaching and learning in katchi, class 1 and class 2; improve the ability of families and communities to effectively support children’s early development; and improve system capacity and commitment to ECD programmes. Special attention will be given to support governance and management of education as part of the devolution process, where District Governments will become responsible for education; to promote gender equality through girls’ education; and to increased participation of parents and the community at large in education. Concomitantly, the programme will facilitate improved networking to foster collaboration among different agencies, engage in documentation, research, dissemination and advocacy in order to positively influence ECD policies and practices at local and national levels. This will strengthen the foundations of sustainable human development in Pakistan. (Report sent by Munira Ajani)