For every young child, books provide new worlds to explore, imaginary characters to befriend and, crucially, opportunities to build literacy in an engaging and playful way. Put simply, access to books is an extraordinarily powerful way to promote children’s learning…
Despite the progress made towards improving early childhood development (ECD), children in Kenya face persistent obstacles to accessing quality, structured learning during their foundational years. One of the key challenges within Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) in Kenya is…
“Whilst political trends come and go and there are difficult times, the people of Afghanistan are still here. The resilience and strength of Afghan communities gives me hope.” – Dr Najmuddin Najm, CEO of AKF Afghanistan Despite the ongoing humanitarian…
Finding innovative solutions to the complex problem of poverty is at the heart of what we do at AKF. As an organisation guided by the communities we serve, creating solutions that are adaptable, contextually relevant and sustainable is central to…
Abdallah Salim lives with his wife Mariam, and 4-year-old son, Salim, in the remote village of Mbuta, which is near Mombasa on the coast of Kenya. Salim goes to Kadiria community pre-school, which has been supported by the Aga Khan…
Women around the world are struggling with the additional pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic – from the demands of home-schooling, to feeding families on reduced incomes, or even an increase in gender-based violence in some of the worst cases. Many…
As part of a wider programme that aims to provide support to unpaid carers – including young parents – Oxfam and the Aga Khan Foundation have established five Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Khatlon province in Tajikistan. AKF and Oxfam began implementing the second phase of the…
The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) sees an effective civil society – increasingly funded by indigenous sources – as key to improving the overall quality of life, both in developing and developed countries. That is why AKF, alongside the la Caixa Foundation,…
Community owned centres provide safe, healthy and joyful environments to ensure hopeful futures for pre-primary children. Shubhi Vijay & Lukhimai Linnebank report from Bihar. The early childhood years between 0 and 6 are critical for the physical, social, emotional, cognitive and…