Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

KARACHI - The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Monday urged the international community to remain engaged and to act, with compassion and foresight, to address dire humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan.

In a statement delivered by Michael Kocher, General Manager of the Aga Khan Foundation, at the invitation of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at the High-level Ministerial Meeting on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, the AKDN affirmed that its commitment to the people of Afghanistan remains unshaken.

As the clock ticks to Tuesday’s deadline for American forces to leave Afghanistan, the arts and culture sector faces a sobering new reality. After the Americans leave, what will happen to Afghan artists and performers, cultural workers, and nongovernmental organization staffers engaged with heritage, traditional crafts and preservation? There are no answers, but their future depends not just on what the Taliban does, but how deeply civil society has taken root in Afghanistan over the past two decades.

Twenty years ago, the Taliban attached dynamite to two 6th-century Buddhas in the Bamiyan valley and famously blew the enormous statues to bits. The group’s reputation has since been synonymous with the destruction of cultural heritage, and many assume that their return to power will bring about a similar campaign of devastation.

But when the Taliban entered Kabul this month, they posted guards around the National Museum of Afghanistan, saving its antiquities from any feared looting. No vandalism or destruction of major heritage sites has yet been reported.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Monday, arrived Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, to hold discussions on promoting peace and stability in the south Asian country.

The ex-president is said to have held discussions with Sheherzade Hijri, ambassador of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), and other diplomatic representatives.

Mansoor Khan, ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan, confirmed the development via a tweet on his official handle on Monday.

PHOTO: 2004, July 7th, H.H. The Aga Khan, Mowlana Hazir imam in Afghanistan with Sayed Mansoor Naderi, political leader in Afghanistan since many years and his elder son, both Ismailis.

(MENAFN - Wadsam) The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has committed to restore an ancient minaret in the city of Herat.

Presidential spokesperson Sediq Seddiqi said AKDN in a letter to President Ghani has vowed to help the Afghan government in restoration and protection of one of the five ancient minarets of Herat in Musallah complex that is on the verge of destruction.

India signed an MoU with Afghanistan in August for restoration of Bala Hissar fortress, pledging approximately $1 mn. Aga Khan Trust for Culture plans to compete project by 2022.

New Delhi: The restoration work of ancient fortress Bala Hissar in Afghanistan’s Kabul, which received financial aid from the Government of India in August, has started. The fortress is being converted into the country’s first archaeological park.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) Afghanistan, which is executing the project, plans to complete the work by 2022.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) has recently restored the 12.5 hectare Chihilsitoon Garden in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Incorporating 10,200m2 of modernised or newly constructed rammed earth buildings, the project now provides high-quality facilities for visitors.

Once a 19th century royal garden that was transformed into a state property that welcomed visiting dignitaries in the 20th century, Chihilsitoon was looted during the Afghan Civil War of the early 1990s and left in a severely damaged state.

(MENAFN - Daily Outlook Afghanistan) KABUL - A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Tuesday at the Presidential Palace on power supply to northeastern Badakhshan province and construction of a hydroelectric dam there at a cost of $631 million.

A statement from the Presidential Palace received by Pajhwok Afghan News said the MoU was signed between acting energy and water minister Mohammad Gul Khulami and Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) head Eng. Amanullah Ghalib and representative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

Work on renovation of Chihil Sutun Palace – meaning Forty Columns in English – a cultural heritage from the 19th century, has been completed. The palace was built by Abdur Rahman Khan who was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901.

The palace, that includes a garden and a pavilion, is lying over 60 acres of land in Kabul’s Chihil Sutun area in PD7. It is expected to attract thousands of visitors from Kabul and other provinces of the country.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) have channeled roughly around $700 million of assistance to Afghanistan since the foundation begun it’s engagement in Afghanistan in 1995.

More than 2.5 million people have benefited from the assistance which mainly focuses on world development health care, education, financial services, mobile telephony and other sectors.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani met with Nurjehan Mawani, the Ambassador of High Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan in Afghanistan, to discuss the future of Aga Khan Development Network development projects in Afghanistan.

The Office of the President, ARG Palace, in a statement said the meeting was organized in ARG Presidential Palace on Saturday morning.

The statement further added that two sides discussed the implementation of projects by Aga Khan Development Network in various countries in energy, communications, and agriculture.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan at the Inauguration of the Bamyan Provincial Hospital, Afghanistan 2017-04-26

WAKHAN CORRIDOR: “Taliban — what’s that?” asks Sultan Begium shyly from her freezing home in Afghanistan’s mountainous Wakhan Corridor, a region so remote that its residents are untouched by the decades of conflict that have devastated their country.

The frail-looking grandmother whose harsh life has etched deep lines in her face, is a woman of the Wakhi, a tribe of roughly 12,000 nomadic people who populate the area.

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) will soon start the rebuilding process of four historic sites in capital Kabul, including the sites located along Kabul River.

The AKTC officials informed regarding the plans during a meeting with the Minister of Urban Development and Housing Syed Sadat Mansoor Naderi.

The 2017 International Ashden Award for Increasing Energy Access will be handed out to Pamir Energy, the first public-private partnership in Tajikistan, for restoring 11 small hydro power plants and upgrading 4,300 km of old transmission and distribution facilities in eastern Tajikistan.

As a result, some 200,000 locals, i.e. 96% of households, are now supplied with 24-hour clean energy, while their average household energy cost are cut from around $98 to $15 per calendar month.

Princess Zahra Aga Khan meets the Second Vice-President of Afghanistan Sarwar Danesh to open the 141-bed facility for the Bamyan Provincial Hospital with a major focus on the health of mothers and children 2017-04-25

On Tuesday April 25, Princess Zahra Aga Khan was met at the Khorog airport by GBAO governor Shodikhon Jamshed, senior representatives of the Khorog mayor’s office and other regional administrators. While in Gorno Badakhshan, Princess Zahra Aga Khan has reportedly visited a number of programs and projects of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in the region. Yesterday, she, in particular, visited the Langar area in the Ishakshim district. Today, Princess Zahra Aga Khan is visiting the Gudara area in the Rushan district and the Khidorjev area in the Roshtqala district.