The Aga Khan University

The Aga Khan University Programmes and Affiliations
PAKISTAN
KARACHI
Faculty of Health Sciences
Medical College
School of Nursing
University Hospital, Karachi
Institute for Educational Development, Pakistan
Institute for Educational Development –
Professional Development Centre
Examination Board
Faculty of Arts and Sciences*
CHITRAL
GILGIT
Institute for Educational Development –
Professional Development Centre
EAST AFRICA
KENYA
NAIROBI
University Hospital, Nairobi
Postgraduate Medical Education
Advanced Nursing Studies
Faculty of Health Sciences*
TANZANIA
DAR ES SALAAM
Institute for Educational Development, East Africa
Postgraduate Medical Education
Advanced Nursing Studies
ARUSHA
Faculty of Arts and Sciences*
UGANDA
KAMPALA
Advanced Nursing Studies
UNITED KINGDOM
LONDON
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
AFGHANISTAN
French Medical Institute for Children
Teaching site supporting postgraduate
medical education, nursing education and the
professional development of teacher educators
SYRIA
Teaching site supporting nursing education,
hospital quality assurance and the professional
development of teacher educators
EGYPT
Teaching site supporting nursing education
ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENTS
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya,
Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan,
Tanzania and Uganda
*Planned

As I have watched our recent progress, it is clear that we are now
moving at an accelerating pace into a new phase of our history –
a period in which our energies will be focused more than ever on
reaching out to new locations, new disciplines and new partners.
It is a time when we will become more inter-dependent, more interdisciplinary
and more international – just as our world itself is
becoming more inter-related.
The Aga Khan University has been described as a ‘problem-oriented
university’ – a description of which we should all be proud. It explains
why we focused so sharply on the fields of health and education in our
early days – these were the sectors where our planners identified as
the most urgent problems. And they are still areas of central concern.
But with the passage of time, we have come to see that meeting the
problems of any one sector increasingly requires an understanding
of other sectors – and that the best way to broaden our impact is to
broaden our reach.
There has always been a human tendency to seek a simple, allpowerful
answer to the world’s problems. Those who have lived or
worked in the developing world know this pattern particularly well.
When progress seems to be moving at a snail’s pace, we are easily
persuaded that there must be some ‘quick fix’.
And thus we have lurched from one panacea to another, from dogmatic
socialism to romantic nationalism, from embattled tribalism to
rampant individualism. For a period of time we behaved as though
our political systems or economic institutions or cultural traditions
could save us – or perhaps that some heroic leader was the answer.
I suspect that many of us have hoped, from time to time, that
education would be the solution – and that if we could create the
right learning institutions, then everything else would fall into place.
But the plain truth of the matter is that everything else does not
just fall into place. The hard reality of life is that there is no single
button we can push that will set off an unstoppable wave of progress.
Social progress, in the long run, will not be found by delegating
an all-dominant role to any one player – but rather through multisector
partnerships. And within each sector of society, diversity
should be a watchword. Healthy communities must respect a range
of educational choices, a diversity of economic decision-makers,
multiple levels of political activity, and a variety of religious and
cultural expressions.”
HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN
Chancellor’s Address at Aga Khan University Convocation 2006
3
Chancellor’s Message

Contents
Chairman’s Message 7
President’s Foreword 8
Capitalising on Synergies 12
University Overview 16
Impacting the Quality of Life 16
Leading the Way 22
Championing Access and Innovation 25
Expanding Horizons 27
Building Capacity 30
A University Dedicated to Diversity 32
Expanding the Frontiers of Knowledge 34
A Bold Vision for the Future 38
Alumni – Making a Difference 42
Forging Meaningful Partnerships 44
Investing in a Better Tomorrow 46
University Update 52
School of Nursing 52
Medical College 54
Aga Khan University Hospitals 56
Institutes for Educational Development 58
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations 60
Examination Board 62
Major Partners and Institutional Collaborations 66
University Governance 68
University in Numbers 70
Financial Information 72
Addresses 74

Chairman’s Message

Twenty-five years ago the Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan set an
ambitious vision to establish a university serving “the developing world
and Muslim societies in innovative and enduring ways”. Underlying
this vision was a commitment to bring the best in global academic and
research standards to the Aga Khan University. As such, the focus of
AKU has been necessarily international from its inception bringing
international best practices to serve the needs of local communities.
In its first quarter century, AKU established programmes that served the
community’s immediate needs for health care and education services.
In East Africa, AKU established continuing education programmes
that enabled working nurses and teachers to improve their professional
skills while continuing to provide for their families. In Afghanistan,
AKU developed the national nursing curriculum, teaching materials and
training for nurse educators and opened the first children’s hospital in
the country by partnering with national governments and an international
network of civil society institutions. In Pakistan, AKU elevated the nursing
profession and improved the status of women by introducing professional
nursing programmes and a nursing council for maintaining standards. At
the same time, the University produced highly competent physicians and
specialists who not only provided quality medical care but also engaged in
research funded by international research foundations to develop feasible
solutions to challenges, such as infant malnutrition and mortality.
Today, many institutions of higher education in the West are expanding
their scope to become more international. This has taken multiple
forms, including satellite campuses, delivering programmes in foreign
countries, student exchanges between sites, and visiting faculty. Our
approach to internationalisation is different.
As we expand and become a comprehensive university, we are setting up
multiple campuses and programmes spread across multiple regions in South
and Central Asia and East Africa. Historically, internationalisation has resulted
in a “brain drain” of the developing world’s limited intellectual resources to
the West. AKU now hopes to counter this effect by bringing together different
regions of the developing world through its multiple national or regional
campuses, introducing social, economic and academic benefits, and areas of
opportunity where they did not exist before. For AKU students and faculty
perhaps the most obvious opportunity is to connect as a global academic
community and share as well as create knowledge on a common platform.
Expanding internationally is not without its challenges. AKU must be careful
to retain the regional relevance of its offering by reflecting the region’s cultural
and social norms and needs in the profile of its faculty and students. At the
same time, we must work to derive the many benefits of scale from being part
of an international university. Consistent with its guiding principles, AKU
also seeks to build governance structures across its campuses that retain
and reflect the University’s commitment to international quality standards.
Internationalisation has to be a core dimension of the academic and service
functions of the University, in order that we may best equip our graduates to
be innovative and capable leaders, have the desired impact on society and
achieve long term sustainability for the Aga Khan University.
In the 2008 Report, you will be able to read more about how Aga Khan
University is expanding its international focus to include new regions of
East Africa and South and Central Asia.
Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi

President’s Foreword

As the Aga Khan University celebrates its first 25 years, it is important
for us to reflect on the role of the University in empowering society to
address its needs.
At its founding, one of the main purposes of our University was to be an
integral part of the development of the countries in which we work. In the
words of the Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, AKU was established
to be “the intellectual turning plate” for the Aga Khan Development
Network, focusing on education, research and best practices to improve
the quality of life in countries of Africa and South and Central Asia.
So what is the context within which we work to deliver to this vision?
Today, AKU operates in eight countries spread across three continents.
In each of these regions we see that youth are frustrated and puzzled
by the conditions in their societies. We have a generation weary and
angry from the condescension they have to tolerate – being viewed as
the world’s charity case and having solutions from outside dictated to
them. Young leaders look out to their nation’s neighbours and struggle
to understand just where did things go so wrong? After several centuries
of common history, they are rightfully asking how is it possible that
these neighbouring countries are living such different economic and
political existences? Youth are also straining to recover from decades
of constraints and eager to join and benefit from the global economy.
They are grappling with the diversity of their societies, particularly their
historical ethnic and faith differences as well as the recent effects of
immigration and internally displaced persons on distinct societies that
are now compelled to redefine themselves as pluralistic nations.
These challenges, coupled with increasing global competition, rising
environmental uncertainties and a technology-driven knowledge society
mean that young leaders are searching for the capacities and capabilities
to tackle problems faced by their people. They want to engage local talent
and local resources to determine solutions to local challenges. They
want to be able to hold their leaders accountable and rid their countries
of corruption and nepotism so that they may emerge as meritocracies.
As a university of the developing world, we have an opportunity to equip
and empower a generation that will need broader knowledge and a more
complex set of interwoven skills to become leaders in their societies.
They must understand and honour the traditional life and history from
which they have come, be able to transform these into new patterns and
practices to succeed in the current context and then move beyond to
shape the context to reflect their aspirations. They must understand
pluralism as a process that knits humanity together, one that allows for
several interpretations of the same thing and the strength which arises
from it. They must learn to be problem solvers; developing multiple
solutions on various levels in the face of fluctuating variables and
rising uncertainty. The most resilient of these leaders must work with
multiple factors, multiple scales of action from global to local and have
the capacity to imagine solutions with multiple possibilities. These are
the thoughtful, talented, agile and creative young leaders that we must
produce for the developing world

comprehensive university by adding new faculties and programmes
in several countries to offer bright, deserving students new
learning opportunities in the arts, sciences, humanities, media and
communications, architecture, law and human development, among
other disciplines.
Despite our ambitious growth over the next 25 years, we will remain
a relatively small university, focusing on quality over quantity. This
compels us to reflect on how we can have the greatest impact on the
future of these developing communities. We must focus on catalytic
leadership – cultivating job-creators, not just job-seekers, nurturing
thought leaders and trail blazers. But we are equally obligated to anchor
our students morally to the community, reducing the chance that they
will become abstracted, distant professionals and experts, ensuring
instead that they are tied to the community’s needs and work to improve
the quality of life for all.
It is only in fulfilling this mandate that the Aga Khan University will
realise its purpose and vision – in the words of our Chancellor, “to
be on the frontiers of scientific and humanistic knowledge, radiating
intelligence, confidence, research and graduates into flourishing
economies and progressive legal and political systems”.
I invite you to read through Report 2008 and learn more about what we
have accomplished and the path we seek to pursue as we set course for
the next 25 years.
Firoz Rasul

Capitalising on Synergies Aga Khan Development Network
Much recent discourse on development has arrived at the consensus
that solutions to poverty and disease must be multi-input and
multidisciplinary. Lasting, sustainable solutions cannot be the sum of
narrowly defined projects undertaken in isolation, but rather should
feature a critical mass of development activities that are coordinated and
integrated. A recent study by development luminaries commissioned by
the World Health Organization, for example, argued that improvements
to health care could not be disassociated from social, economic and
cultural development, and therefore, had to be integrated with a wide
range of other activities.
This “multi-input” model has been the modus operandi of the
Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) for decades. Founded and
guided by His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the
Ismaili Muslims, AKDN brings together a number of international
development agencies, institutions and programmes that work primarily
in the poorest parts of South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle
East. Together they collaborate in working towards a common goal –
to build programmes and institutions that improve the welfare and
prospects of people in countries of the developing world, particularly in
Asia and Africa.

Within the Network, Aga Khan University (AKU) plays a central role,
both in terms of the pursuit of intellectual development as well as
practical solutions to advance social progress. To that end, AKU works
closely with a number of AKDN agencies, notably in Afghanistan, East
Africa, Syria and Egypt. One of its principal partners is the Aga Khan
Foundation (AKF) whose work centres on inclusive, community-based
development approaches in which local organisations identify, prioritise
and implement projects with the Foundation’s assistance. Within this
ethos, AKF focuses on five major areas: education, rural development,
environment, health and civil society development.
Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), another close collaborator of
AKU, aims to diminish obstacles to educational access, quality and
achievement. It operates more than 300 schools incorporating advanced
educational programmes at the pre-school, primary, secondary and
higher secondary levels in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic,
Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda. AKES emphasises studentcentred
teaching methods, field-based teacher training and school
improvement.
Aga Khan Academies, which will host AKU-designed professional
development courses as they are built, will grow into a network of academic
centres of excellence dedicated to providing an international standard
of primary and secondary education to students in the developing world.
Entry to the schools in operation is merit-based and needs-blind.

Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) provides primary and curative health
care in Afghanistan, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Tanzania,
through 237 health centres, dispensaries, hospitals, diagnostic centres
and community health outlets. Annually, AKHS provides primary health
care to one million beneficiaries and handles 1.2 million patient visits. It
also works with governments and other institutions to improve national
health systems. As AKDN agencies, AKHS and AKU have begun to
collaborate on an integrated health care system that spans primary
through tertiary care.
Aga Khan Planning and Building Services assists communities with
village planning, natural hazard mitigation, environmental sanitation,
water supply systems and improved design and construction of both
housing and public buildings. It provides material and technical
expertise, as well as training and construction management services to
rural and urban areas.
Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance works to expand access for the poor
to a broad range of financial services, including micro-insurance, small
housing loans, savings, education and health accounts. Its programmes
range from village lending cooperatives to self-standing microfinance
banks in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) works
to strengthen the private sector through investments in industrial
production, infrastructure, tourism development, financial services,
aviation and media. AKFED takes bold but calculated steps to invest
in environments that are fragile and complex. It has assisted in the
rehabilitation of economies after civil conflict or internal turmoil in
environments as varied as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique,
Tajikistan and Uganda.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) implements initiatives in
culture, architecture, architectural education, urban revitalisation,
museum projects and traditional music. AKTC aims to improve built
environments and, through its related programmes, the overall quality of
life in societies where Muslims have a significant presence.
AKDN also encompasses the independent University of Central Asia
(UCA). Chartered in 2000, the University is located on three campuses:
in Khorog, Tajikistan; Tekeli, Kazakhstan; and Naryn in the Kyrgyz
Republic. UCA’s mission is to serve, both directly and indirectly, the
largest possible number of people in the mountain regions of Central
Asia. UCA will offer three main programmes: a Master of Arts degree
in disciplines related to mountain development; a Bachelor of Arts
programme based on the liberal arts and sciences; and non-degree
courses in practical areas relevant to economic and social development.
Although UCA and AKU have their own independent charters, they
collaborate closely to leverage intellectual capital, institutional synergies
as well as economies of scale, wherever applicable.

University Overview
Aga Khan University’s evolution has primarily been inspired and
driven by its forward-looking Charter, granted in 1983. The University
continues to strive for quality and excellence in all endeavours; provides
equal access to all; works to be of relevance and worth to the societies
it serves; and measures its impact by being an agent of positive change
in the lives of people in the developing world. These principles, which
have stood the test of time, are as relevant today as they were at the
University’s inception – and will, undoubtedly, continue to be in the next
quarter century.
Impacting the Quality of Life
In its early days, the University was called upon to address the quality of
health care, by training more nurses. However, over the last 25 years it has
evolved into an institution that is having a much larger, positive impact
through the work of the 3,600 nurses who have graduated from its diploma,
undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. The quality of its
instruction, the efforts to elevate the status of nurses in Pakistan and East
Africa as well as in other countries, and the influence of its staff and alumni
on health care policy, have had a multiplier effect in societal benefits that
is much broader than the mere number of nurses it has trained.
In 2001, the international nursing honour society, Sigma Theta Tau
International, recognised this achievement by presenting His Highness
the Aga Khan, Chancellor of the University, with their Archon Award
for “leadership in promoting global health and welfare and for his
compassionate support of nursing and nursing research in developing
countries”.
Archon, in Greek, means “first to lead” and in many ways, the University
has striven to be the first to lead in a number of areas along with nursing.
In Pakistan, for instance, it has set standards for health care quality that
are emulated throughout the country and abroad. Aga Khan University
Hospitals, both in Karachi and Nairobi, have the distinction of having
received the latest ISO 9001 quality certification. The University
Hospital in Karachi has also received the US-based Joint Commission
International accreditation, recognition of its international practise
standards in health delivery and hospital care.
The University Hospital in Karachi has expanded its laboratory collection
units to 187 in 82 cities and towns in Pakistan, and to 5 in Kabul
in Afghanistan. It also has a larger facility for its central processing
laboratory in Karachi. Perhaps, even more importantly, the Hospital
laboratories have set a high standard that is now being emulated by other
laboratories which, in the process, have raised the quality of their own
equipment and procedures – leading to an overall improvement in the
quality of diagnostic services in the country.
In line with improving quality of life, AKU’s Institute for Educational
Development (AKU-IED) has had an equal impact on the state of
education in rural and urban schools. In a programme designed to develop

educators who then go on to facilitate the professional development of
their colleagues and others, AKU-IED graduates from its Certificate,
Advanced Diploma and Master of Education programmes, have mentored
nearly 145,000 teachers in Pakistan and East Africa. Assuming that
each teacher reaches out to at least 100 students, these teachers, in turn,
have delivered quality education to over 14.5 million children.
However, it is not just about numbers; the key factor is the quality and
lasting impact of education that these teachers impart when they return
to their schools, some of which are located in the most impoverished
areas of the world. Teachers developed at AKU-IED are empowered
with innovative methods for raising the quality of teaching and learning
in classrooms and improving school management. Increasingly, AKUIED
is also being called upon by governments at all levels to advise

on policy related to teacher education, overall school improvement
and effectiveness, and curriculum development, particularly in Pakistan
where it has worked with the government for over a decade and a half.
In line with its mission to seek and enhance knowledge, the University
also makes important contributions through research in health sciences
and educational development. In health sciences, research focuses
on various aspects of infectious and cardiovascular diseases, cancer,
reproductive health, population genetics and systems of health care
delivery to enable informed decision making on national health policies.
In educational research AKU focuses its efforts on quality improvement
in classrooms and schools, including teacher development, school
management and appropriate pedagogy.
In every research endeavour, relevance to the problems and challenges
of the developing world has been of paramount concern. Programmes
and problem-based research are intended to yield practical applications
that can be replicated within the country as well as regionally
and internationally. In other words, AKU’s research goes beyond
intellectual curiosity and seeks to apply new learning to pressing
development problems.
The University’s plans for the next 25 years are no less ambitious. A
major expansion will create two new Faculties of Arts and Sciences:
in Karachi, Pakistan and Arusha, Tanzania. Whereas the original
professional programmes in education and medicine at the University
addressed urgent needs for trained professionals in those fields, the new
faculties will address another important aspect of the quality of life:
developing leaders in government, business and civil society. These
faculties will aim to equip new leaders with the critical thinking and
problem solving skills needed for the creation of successful societies in
the 21st century.
A host of new disciplines, pertinent to the challenges of developing
countries, will be offered at the new campuses in Karachi and Arusha,
including graduate professional education in architecture and human
settlement; government, civil society and public policy; economic growth
and development; education; law; leisure and tourism; and media and
communications – in short, many of the key determinants to improve the
quality of life.
Twenty-five years ago, a new university was established in a developing
country with a particularly demanding mandate: to be of the calibre that
could assist nations with their development and be the catalyst for social
change. It was to offer education and service programmes that would
match the best in international standards and engage in research that
would provide practical solutions to challenges faced by society at large.
Admissions to its programmes were to be strictly on merit. A quarter of
a century later, buttressed by its accomplishments, AKU has become
a unique hybrid – an institution of academic excellence that is also an
agent for social development.

Leading the Way
The University has been at the forefront of maternal, newborn and
child health initiatives, including research on the causes of poor health
in vulnerable populations. Over the years, AKU has operated
programmes of preventive care and community participation in ultrapoor
inner-city neighbourhoods of Karachi and several rural areas of
Pakistan, reaching out to a quarter of a million people within the city
and over 6 million across the country. These efforts have reduced infant
deaths from newborn illnesses and diarrhoeal diseases substantially over
a 12-year period. These programmes now serve as models throughout
Pakistan and other developing countries, influencing regional and global
policies on newborn care, especially community-based approaches, and
the integration of mother and child health provision in primary
care settings.
AKU has played an influential role in understanding the prevalence
of maternal and child undernutrition and the impact of poor diets. It
took the lead in a global review of nutrition-related interventions to
raise awareness and spur action in 36 countries where 90 per cent
of undernourished children live. As a consequence of its initiatives.
the University facilitated a micronutrient survey in the Maldives that
provided essential input to the development of a national micronutrient
policy. In Sri Lanka, the University led a nationwide study on the causes of
child undernutrition. Similarly, in Pakistan, the University is evaluating
the role of vitamins and micronutrients in reducing the effects of poor
nutrition in children under two years of age – the most critical period for
predicting future health and well-being – and has played a key role in
developing a national policy on infant and young child feeding.
In education, Aga Khan University Examination Board (AKU-EB) is
setting standards in national assessments, with the objective of improving
the secondary and higher secondary school leaving certification system.
In Pakistan, AKU-EB has introduced high quality examinations in both
English and Urdu that emphasise the understanding and application of
knowledge and, in the process, assess a wide range of abilities including
comprehension, logical thinking and problem solving skills. In 2007,
this examination model – of testing knowledge rather than rote learning
– was adopted as national policy and will be followed by all government
examination boards in the country

AKU-EB has also introduced examinations that are based on
educationally worthwhile standards, such as what students should know
and be able to do in their age group. This is a practice similar to wellregarded
certification systems such as the Cambridge ‘O’ Levels and
brings local exams on par with such international standards. Through
the USAID-funded Links to Learning (ED-LINKS) project – aimed
at improving the quality of education in selected districts of Sindh,
Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Islamabad
Capital Territory – AKU-EB is working in 22 districts across Sindh and
Balochistan, with government middle and secondary school teachers,
to help establish common standards of achievement in years 6 through
8. This will help in reducing the great disparities between certificates
issued by different government boards in Pakistan.
Thinking of new and innovative ways of school improvement while
using advances in modern technology, AKU-EB uses its computerised
examination processing system to generate meaningful feedback on
candidate performance student by student, question by question and school
by school. The Feedback to Schools report, which is released annually,
enables teachers and schools to plan for and see gradual improvement in
classroom teaching and learning practices from year to year.
AKU’s Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) has developed
demonstrably effective models to improve the quality of education
systems through pioneering teacher education and school improvement
programmes. Through its Professional Development Centres (PDCs),
AKU-IED has been able to reach out to teachers, teacher educators,
supervisory personnel and other officials, who otherwise would not be able
to access quality professional development. These centres offer educators
opportunities to improve their qualifications and skills through a range
of programmes such as Primary Education, Educational Leadership and
Management, and Early Childhood Education and Development, with
continuing support from AKU-IED faculty and graduates.
A number of AKU-IED Master of Education (MEd) graduates work as
part of a faculty team at the PDCs to share their learning experiences.
As they re-enter their schools, these Professional Development Teachers
(PDTs) mentor fellow teachers to improve their practice, knowledge and
attitudes, as well as to become facilitators for change and improvement
in the entire school. At present, over 359 PDTs who graduated from
AKU-IED, Pakistan’s MEd programme, are working in Kenya, Tanzania,
Zanzibar and Uganda as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz
Republic, Syria and Afghanistan.

Championing Access and Innovation
As part of its mandate, AKU continues to provide merit-based, needsblind
opportunities and access to promising students from disadvantaged
backgrounds, encouraging both talent and diversity. For example, an
intensive 18-week preparatory programme in mathematics, English,
basic sciences and personal and professional development, is offered to
students who meet the basic entrance criteria for the General Nursing
diploma. By 2008, up to 277 young women had completed this preliminary
course and continued on to the nursing programme. The Medical College
offers a similar nine-month foundation course to potential students.
Started in 1995, the programme has graduated 31 students who have
gone on to complete graduate degrees and residency programmes.
To underscore the importance of access for all, the University also
offers scholarships to talented individuals from Afghanistan. Initiated in
2004, the scholarship programme has helped public health practitioners
access graduate programmes in Health Policy and Management,
and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Afghan nursing students have
graduated with Bachelor degrees from Aga Khan University School of
Nursing (AKU-SON), while teacher educators have completed their
Master’s programme at AKU-IED. Syrian students have also benefited
from scholarships to attend nursing and teacher educator programmes.
Advanced clinical training in a wide range of medical specialities is
offered through the Medical College’s Postgraduate Medical Education
(PGME) programme. It aims to retain bright, capable physicians
in the developing world and to help young doctors evolve into
compassionate and competent specialists, who can go on to improve
the health care systems in their countries. The PGME programme
is now offered in East Africa, in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as in
Pakistan. In East Africa, seven residents have graduated with Master
of Medicine degrees and 62 are currently engaged in the programme.
In Pakistan, a growing number of residency and fellowship programmes
– most recognised by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan,
and several by the Royal Colleges of Scotland and England – have
led to 1,600 graduates by 2008. In Afghanistan, the Medical College
is assisting the Kabul Medical University to develop similar PGME
programmes in paediatrics, internal medicine and general surgery.
In East Africa, AKU-IED is playing a leading role in providing
teachers in the public sector with professional development through
innovative education programmes. In Uganda, for instance, AKUIED,
East Africa has worked closely with the Ministry of Education
and Sports and the Kyambogo University, to improve the capacity of
teachers by training college principals, deputy principals and education
development officers in 48 Primary Teachers Colleges. This initiative
has had a multiplier effect in that all 1,500 primary teacher educators
across Uganda have been equipped with professional development
to better support novice and working teachers on an ongoing basis.

Through a cluster-based teacher mentoring programme, AKU-IED,
Pakistan has been able to reach 8,000 primary government school
teachers in Sindh and Balochistan, thus improving the quality of teaching
and learning in the classroom. Similarly, through the ED-LINKS project,
AKU-IED will work with teachers and teacher educators in over 600
schools in selected districts in Sindh and Balochistan, offering access to
quality teacher education, improved learning opportunities for children
in these schools and an appreciation of education in the community
at large.
Conflicts, natural disasters and traumatic events in South Asia and East
Africa have underscored the need for mental health services in these
regions. AKU’s interventions include training in counselling to doctors
working in areas affected by the October 2005 earthquake in northern
Pakistan, and to the poor in the urban slums affected by the political
unrest in Kenya at the end of 2007. In Afghanistan, the University is
working with Aga Khan Health Service to provide mental health care
services to people, especially women, suffering from the effects of
long term conflict. AKU is also raising awareness of the growing need
to include mental health services in national health care systems to
improve the quality of social development.

Expanding Horizons
To realise the vision articulated in the Chancellor’s message “reaching
out to new locations, new disciplines and new partners”, AKU will be
investing US$ 700 million in East Africa over the next 15 years. In
August 2007, the Chancellor inaugurated the construction of a US$ 46
million Heart and Cancer Centre at Aga Khan University Hospital in
Nairobi. This will create a high quality, comprehensive cardiovascular
and oncology centre of excellence in East and Central Africa, with a
referral network extending from primary preventative care to tertiary
cardiac surgery and rehabilitation. The Centre will enable the Hospital
to educate residents and nurses in an innovative, technology-enabled
teaching environment.
In addition to the Heart and Cancer Centre, His Highness the Aga Khan
inaugurated a US$ 250 million Faculty of Health Sciences in Nairobi
that will grow to include a Medical College, a School of Nursing and
a School of Allied Health Sciences. Supplemented by the University
Hospital in Nairobi, it will be mandated to expand the number of doctors,
nurses and allied health professionals for the East African region. These
two projects are in addition to several other projects envisioned for the
region over the next 15 years.

Building Capacity
AKU, in collaboration with other AKDN agencies, has been building
capacity in nursing, medical and teacher education, but it has also
worked with governments, government agencies and local universities in
Afghanistan and the Middle East to develop policies that have a positive
impact on health and education.
The University manages the French Medical Institute for Children
(FMIC) – regarded as Afghanistan’s premier health care facility and
the first-ever ISO certified health care institution in the country – as
part of an innovative four-way partnership between the Governments
of France and Afghanistan, AKDN and the French NGO, La Chaîne
de l’Espoir. To develop a pool of qualified professionals in all areas of
health care delivery, leadership and administration, on- and off-site
training has been provided by the partners. Since 2007, 43 local staff
have been trained overseas: in paediatric and cardiac surgery in France,
in anaesthesiology in India and nursing and quality improvement in
Pakistan at the University Hospital, Karachi. In Kabul, off-site training
has also taken place through partnerships with the Institute for Health
Sciences and the NGOs Focus Humanitarian Assistance and Handicap
International. On-site training has taken place through 42 short-term
foreign missions between 2006 and 2008. In 2008 alone, FMIC’s Nursing
Education Service organised 222 continuing education trainings for its
nurses in areas identified through a needs assessment. As a result, FMIC
has become a unique model of capacity building in all areas of medical,
nursing, allied health and support services in Afghanistan.
AKU-SON is providing technical advice and support to the Afghan
Ministry of Public Health, the Institutes of Health Sciences and the
Kabul Medical University on health policy and nursing and midwifery
education; and developed the international standard nursing diploma

curriculum adopted by the government. Since 2004, 427 midwives and
313 nurses have graduated from the Kabul Institute of Health Sciences
through the nursing and midwifery diploma programmes supported by
AKU-SON.
AKU-IED, AKES and AKDN Afghanistan are also working with
the Afghan Ministry of Education and teacher training colleges to
upgrade teaching skills and qualifications, and improve the capacity of
educational leaders responsible for quality improvement in education.
To date, 139 teachers and teacher educators have completed a tailormade
course and 36 are currently enrolled. Through another tailor-made
course funded by the German Embassy in Kabul, 368 teachers have
been trained. Two Afghan candidates have graduated from AKU-IED,
Pakistan’s Master of Education (MEd) programme and one more will be
graduating in 2009. These programmes are introducing new concepts of
activity-based learning and reflective practice, rather than rote learning,
encouraging teacher educators and managers to act as agents of change
in their school environments by sharing their new teaching practices
with fellow teachers.
In Syria, AKU has revised the general nursing curriculum, which is
being implemented at all 14 of the Syrian Ministry of Health’s Schools
of Nursing. Syrian nurses have graduated from Bachelor and Master
level programmes at AKU-SON and are now faculty members at nursing
schools in Syria. One graduate has become the first qualified nurse
to head a university-level nursing programme in Syria, elevating the
position of women and nurses in the country. Nurses from Syria have
benefited from comprehensive clinical skills training at the University
Hospital in Karachi and nursing quality procedures have also been
introduced at five hospitals in Syria. The University’s work in Syria has
helped shift national policy on nursing education and delivery in the
country, with the Ministry of Health recognising the need for universitylevel
nursing education and professional nursing standards.
AKU-IED, Pakistan is also working closely with the Government of
Syria through AKES and AKDN Syria, to develop institutional capacity
to improve the quality of education in the country, working with teachers,
teacher educators and English Language Inspectors. Three Syrians have
graduated from the Master’s programme at AKU-IED, Pakistan, with one
returning to a senior position in the Ministry of Education; three Syrian
candidates are enrolled in the MEd class of 2010. Discussions are being
held with the Syrian Ministry of Education on establishing a Professional
Development Centre in Damascus to ensure long term sustainability for
capacity development in education.
To address the acute shortage of nurses and nurse leaders in Egypt,
AKU-SON has partnered with the Egyptian Om-Habibeh Foundation
(an AKDN affiliate) in Aswan, to build local nursing capacities. AKUSON
has provided leadership and management courses to develop nurse
leaders and is also exploring options for higher education for nurses,
including partnerships with Egyptian and international universities, to
start a Bachelor of Science in Nursing programme in Aswan.

A University Dedicated to Diversity
In 1994, the Chancellor’s Commission reported that there was an
urgent need to strengthen institutions that were able to adopt the
norms and techniques of modern scholarship, without losing sight
of the “lived” and historical experiences of Muslims struggling to
resolve contemporary challenges. The Commission’s remarks were
made in the context of a lapse in the grand tradition of Muslim
scholarship. Too few books on Muslim history, architecture, city
planning, art, philosophy, economics, languages and literature were
emerging from the Muslim world. The consequence was a near vacuum
into which came a one-way flow of scholarship and popular culture from
the West. At the same time, the dearth of scholarship and works of the
creative imagination from the Muslim world made it certain that the
West received too little that was creative and interpretative, scholarly
and artistic, from the Muslim world. Such a state of affairs contributed to
the “clash of ignorance”.
To encourage pluralism and strengthen diversity, AKU’s Institute for
the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) has sought to create
opportunities to explore the Muslim civilisations and cultures of the
past, and to develop a more enlightened understanding of the challenges
faced by contemporary societies in the Muslim world.
The graduate programme at AKU-ISMC provides students with a
distinctive way of understanding the cultures of Muslims as they have
evolved over time. The first cohort of Master’s students, the Class of
2008, included 11 graduates from seven countries – Canada, India, Iran,
Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tunisia and the US.
Interaction among academics, traditionally trained scholars and other
professionals is actively encouraged to deepen the understanding of
pressing issues of public life affecting Muslim societies. AKU-ISMC
has conducted a series of public seminars on topics ranging from
medieval Islamic criminal law to anti-Semitism in Medieval England
and problems with histories of religious conflict, to a study of a Chinese
version of the Arabian Nights. The Institute has drawn on speakers from
the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; School
of Divinity, Edinburgh University; and the Centre for South Asian
Studies, School of Advanced Studies of Social Sciences, University
of Paris.
AKU-ISMC has also spread its reach to offer certificate courses for
teachers in Pakistan and customised courses for diplomats from the
European Union, Belgium, Canada and Germany. In 2008, the Institute
began offering a range of short courses aimed at providing participants
with an overview of Muslim civilisations. A summer programme, in
cooperation with Simon Fraser University in Canada, seeks to provide a
window into the diversity of cultures and societies of Muslims, past and
present, and covers a range of topics including contemporary debates,
law, the arts, Islam in the media, civil society and ethics.

In another partnership, AKU-ISMC and the University of Texas at
Austin’s College of Liberal Arts are collaborating on a Muslim Histories
and Cultures Project, aimed at helping secondary school teachers in
the state of Texas develop a better understanding of Muslim histories
and civilisations, and to use this knowledge to create a more balanced
curriculum within the Texas school system. In the past two years,
the programme has trained 83 teachers in 10 school districts. These
teachers are, in turn, holding workshops and sharing their experiences
and knowledge with others, multiplying the effect. The goal is to train
an additional 180 teachers over the next three years, reaching a total of
54,000 students in the state.
33

Expanding the Frontiers of Knowledge
Established as a “problem solving university” and a “university in the
real world”, AKU conducts research that is relevant to the problems
of the developing world and that has a positive impact on policies and
practices in the field, not only within the country but also regionally and
internationally.
AKU’s research has grappled with some of the more urgent health issues
in developing countries and contributed to the corpus of knowledge
on maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, liver and kidney
diseases, tuberculosis, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, genetics and
human development. By working to identify populations at risk and
developing practical applications, research outcomes are being used by
local, national and international programmes to develop global policy
and country action plans.
AKU was a lead contributor for two major global reviews in 2008 by
The Lancet: on undernutrition in women and children and on evidencebased
primary care strategies. Both provided solid recommendations
for action in maternal, newborn and child health and a way forward for
implementation by governments and international agencies.

Funded by the Third World Academy of Sciences and Higher Education
Commission Pakistan, researchers at AKU are developing a biomarker
test that would identify individuals at risk of developing tuberculosis
(TB) before they actually develop the disease. Early diagnosis limits the
spread of the disease, benefitting national TB control programmes.
Another case in point is the issue of HIV/AIDS in Kenya: AKU’s Advanced
Nursing Programme, East Africa, collaborated with the International
HIV/AIDS Nursing Research Network, University of California, San
Francisco, in evaluating an HIV/AIDS Symptoms Management Manual.
As a consequence of this collaborative effort, the manual’s revised Signs
and Symptoms Check-List for Persons Living with HIV Disease is now
being translated into Kiswahili and other local languages to be used in
rural areas of Kenya.
Research in education has been designed to inform innovative practices in
teacher education and leadership and in school improvement programmes
that can lead to positive change in the quality of education. In Pakistan,
AKU-IED has examined the effects of different teaching strategies in
the classroom. For example, on inquiry-based learning in science and
mathematics and on health education practices in primary classrooms;
issues in teacher education such as the notions of citizenship, human
rights and conflict resolution; the degree of community participation in
teacher education and school improvement; and the consequences of
decentralisation on the effectiveness and efficiency of education.
AKU-IED, East Africa’s review of teacher education curricula for HIV/
AIDS, health and gender equality in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda has
led to an action research study to improve the curriculum in Tanzania.
Research on technology and teaching is assessing new modes of
delivering educational courses, and providing field-based support using
online and mobile phone-based technology that has the potential to
change the quality of teacher education in rural areas. Many of AKU’s
programmes strive to operate as laboratories for testing and refining
culturally relevant approaches to educational reform that will benefit a
new generation of teacher educators, head teachers and policy makers.
A cornerstone of ISMC’s research programmes is to better understand the
critical concerns of Muslim societies, including their views of the past
and the challenges they face today. To that end, the Muslim Civilisations
Abstracts project was conceived to share knowledge on original work
published in the Muslim world as well as in China, India, Russia and
South Eastern Europe, where large Muslim communities have been
living for centuries. In the first phase of this project, abstracts on modern
encyclopaedias about the Muslim world, written by 113 scholars, will
be made available in three languages, to promote research within the
Muslim world and dialogue between Western and Muslim scholars.
As the University’s reputation for research continues to grow, the
quantum of external grants is increasing proportionally. In the last five
years, the University has received grants worth US$ 23 million from
leading global and national research funding bodies.

Perhaps the most significant transformation taking place at the University
is the planned establishment of Aga Khan University Faculties of Arts
and Sciences (AKU-FAS) for Pakistan and East Africa – a major step
towards building a comprehensive university. To put this initiative in
perspective, AKU will establish a residential campus in Karachi that will
essentially double the current student body while tripling its physical
facilities. In Tanzania, the Arusha campus will not only be comparable
to Karachi’s campus in size and scope, but it will also be the University’s
first permanent campus serving students from all across the East
African community.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Investments in physical facilities will be matched by programmes
intended to have far-reaching impact. As most East African countries
and Pakistan formulate their social and economic development plans
going forward, they will undoubtedly have a need for quality human
resources. AKU thus aims to play a pivotal role in developing leaders
who are well-equipped to drive the region’s social and economic
revitalisation.
AKU-FAS will encompass both graduate and liberal arts undergraduate
programmes. Undergraduates will be expected to complete a two-year
course of studies, a core curriculum that spans the sciences, the social
sciences, the arts and the humanities, providing a rich exposure to the
subjects of human inquiry before they embark on a major area of study.
This approach is meant to encourage students to engage in disciplined
reflection and critical thinking, nurturing a new generation of leaders,
open to fresh expression and new insight, able to energise others with
the spirit of coordination and cooperation. Besides a liberal arts
education, AKU-FAS will offer specialised professional education
through a number of graduate schools in various fields: architecture
and human settlement; government, civil society and public policy;
economic growth and development; education; law; leisure and tourism;
and media and communications.
Human Development Programme
To better understand how people develop through their lives, and the
effects of environmental and social conditions in early childhood on
subsequent well-being and performance, the University created the
Human Development Programme. Intended to provide fresh insight
into development policy and practice, the programme works to
establish evidence-based strategies that enhance human development.
A particular emphasis is on the provision of health, education
and nutrition services for mothers and young children that can lift
the well-being of the very poor and stimulate development in
environments where governments are weak or non-performing. Its
ultimate objective is to offer policy makers reliable information on the
state of human development in their countries as well as strategies
to improve these conditions.

Expanding Health Care Coverage
Among the challenges facing many countries is improving access
to quality health care for the poor – a phenomenon not necessarily
restricted to the developing world. The University, together with other
AKDN agencies and especially Aga Khan Health Services, is looking
to create a health system encompassing primary through tertiary care,
starting in South Asia.
In Pakistan, AKU and AKHS are developing a model of integrated health
care. The quality of AKHS, Pakistan’s primary care is being assured and
its secondary care hospitals are being remodelled as teaching hospitals
by the University Hospital. Both these services are to integrate and link
with the tertiary care University Hospital to form a health system offering
new opportunities for academic training, research and medical services.
In East Africa, the new Faculty of Health Sciences in Nairobi will
include a teaching hospital that will allow quality health care services to
be extended to the entire region.
In Afghanistan, AKU and AKDN agencies will assist with FMIC’s
development into an expanded health complex with an academic health
sciences centre on additional land committed by the Government of
Afghanistan. Over time, FMIC is expected to grow beyond its initial focus
on paediatrics, to encompass other specialised and general services.
The first stage of the planned expansion, into a maternal and child
health hospital, will cost US$ 12.5 million. It will become an important
national diagnostic and treatment referral centre for provincial hospitals
that are being established in Afghanistan under the government’s long
term health care development strategy and a centre of excellence for
medical education for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in
the country. Eventually, FMIC is intended to become a regional centre of
excellence and tie-in to the AKDN Central Asian Health Strategy.