AKF Annual Report - Aga Khan Development Network

COUNTRY REVIEW
EUROPE
AND NORTH AMERICA
PORTUGAL
UNITED KINGDOM
CANADA
UNITED STATES
.
PORTUGAL
Since 2004, AKF has been addressing poverty alleviation and problems
of social exclusion in urban neighbourhoods of Portugal. The goal is to
improve the quality of life for marginalised groups, including cultural
and ethnic minorities.
SPOTLIGHT:
Strengthening Urban Neighbourhoods
AKF Portugal currently runs one major programme, the Urban
Community Support Programme (UCSP), in the neighbourhoods of Alta
de Lisboa, Mira Sintra and Ameixoeira. Since 2004, AKF has been working
in education, economic development, social cohesion and citizenship.
TAJIKISTAN
The valley of the Murghob river is prone
to natural disasters. Earthquakes may
cause landslides or even cause the breach
of the natural Usoi dam that forms Lake
Sarez, unleashing over 15 cubic kilometres
of water down the valley. Focus
Humanitarian Assistance built this footbridge
to allow villagers to gain access
to safe areas. AKF’s office in the United
Kingdom has been instrumental in raising
funds for projects that reduce the vulnerability
of communities to natural hazards.
In education, AKF has worked to:
• Improve access: Nine hundred students benefited from a new teachinglearning
model enhancement project on mathematics; a leisure
educational centre was created by a group of parents, with UCSP’s
support, removing 60 children from a drug dealing street environment;
• Improve quality: More than 100 children, their families
and pre-school teachers in four kindergarten classrooms
benefited from better quality early childhood education;
• Increase computer use and skills: Three free internet cafés
benefited nearly 750 users, including women, long-term
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