Aga Khan Development Network

“It’s becoming a concrete jungle,” says Waseem Jamal, founder of ORA Studios.

In Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan, traditional homes are no longer being built. Architect Kamal Shah says that even when a new house goes up, “it doesn’t feel like a home.”

The team looked to traditional settlements for inspiration, where homes were designed in response to the climate and the environment. On a residential project, they used local wood and stone, insulated with traditional Hali, stained timber with walnut leaves instead of synthetic paint, and planted a tree for every one they cut.

A school they built in Chipursan using mud blocks withstood the recent earthquake. “It has shown that this approach can work for future projects,” Waseem says.

Founded in 2024, ORA Studios was selected that year for the entrepreneurship programme of Accelerate Prosperity Pakistan, part of AKDN, receiving business training, advisory support and patient debt financing.

Watch how ORA Studios is reviving traditional ways of building in Hunza.

@ApProsperity

#TraditionalArchitecture #SustainableBuilding #GilgitBaltistan #Pakistan

In the world’s most peaceful countries, 99% of students complete secondary school. Explore five ways education can nurture peace, from Kenya to Syria to Pakistan.

#Education #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment #Peacebuilding #GenderEquality

From 5-10 November 2025, His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V visited Texas, USA.

In Houston, the Ismaili Center, Houston was formally inaugurated by Mayor John Whitmire in the presence of His Highness. The ceremony was attended by civic and cultural leaders from Houston and beyond, as well as leaders and supporters from the Ismaili community from around the world. Prince Amyn, Prince Hussain and Prince Aly Muhammad were at the inauguration.

The Ismaili Center, Houston is the nation’s first Ismaili civic and cultural complex dedicated to dialogue, culture and shared human values. Designed by Farshid Moussavi, with landscape architecture by Thomas Woltz, the Ismaili Center, Houston is the first in the United States and the seventh worldwide. It is set on 11 acres (4.5 hectares) overlooking Buffalo Bayou Park.

In Dallas, during the course of his visit to Texas, His Highness met with civic leaders, including Mayor Eric Johnson of Dallas, Mayor Steve Babick of Carrollton, Mayor John B. Muns of Plano, Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Troyer of Lewisville and Mayor Pro-Tem Tim Stinneford of Euless.

Officials from the five cities recognised AKDN’s longstanding civic engagement and outreach in the region, built over decades under the leadership of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, including collaboration with AKDN volunteers and local partners on community initiatives. The cities conferred civic honours to mark the occasion. Dallas, Euless and Carrollton presented His Highness with keys to their cities, while Plano and Lewisville issued official proclamations recognising his visit.

This short film revisits key moments from the visit.

“When you live in an urban area like Dar, junk food is cheaper than groceries.”

Adult obesity has more than tripled since the 1990s in Tanzania, driven by urbanisation, sedentary lifestyles and a shift from whole foods to cheap processed products. Treating the resulting diabetes, strokes and heart disease strains household budgets, and the combined health and productivity losses could cost the economy $1.26 billion a year by 2030.

Said Shukuru, 31, weighed 150 kg with a blood pressure of 190/100. Last year, he underwent a mini gastric bypass operation in April at the Aga Khan Specialised Polyclinic in Masaki, Dar es Salaam. His weight has since halved.

But clinics alone cannot turn this around. Tanzania is considering a sugar tax, while experts point to tighter marketing restrictions on unhealthy foods, clearer labelling and better urban infrastructure for walking and cycling.

Read the full story: the.akdn/en/resources-m…

Photos: AKDN/Asia Mbwana

#Tanzania #PublicHealth #Obesity #HealthPolicy

His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V was received today at Belém Palace by the President of the Portuguese Republic, António José Seguro.

The meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on the strong relationship between the Ismaili Imamat and Portugal, and on the main partnership projects under way.

His Highness and the President reaffirmed the importance and strength of the relationship between the Ismaili Imamat, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Portuguese Republic, which is founded on ongoing collaboration and a shared set of values.

Before his meeting with the President, His Highness also met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, at the Necessidades Palace. They exchanged views on the Ismaili Imamat’s relationship with Portugal and with Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as on the current international situation.

The Ismaili Imamat has its Seat in Portugal under the Agreement signed with the Portuguese Republic on 3 June 2015 and subsequently approved by the Assembly of the Republic.

The Ismaili Imamat is a supra-national institution, established in accordance with the applicable customary international law, representing the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet Muhammad. His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, and the Chair of AKDN.

For more than four decades, the relationship between the Ismaili Imamat and the Portuguese Republic has reflected a shared commitment to pluralism, inclusion and a global vision of human development. AKDN has also been active in Portugal for several decades, with the Aga Khan Foundation beginning its work in the country in 1983.

Photos: Miguel Figueiredo Lopes / Presidency of the Republic, AKDN / Luís Filipe Catarino