The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Afghanistan, which falls under the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), on Sunday launched a settlement program in Afghanistan – which includes construction of housing that meets required standards.
Onno Ruhl, the General Manager of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Afghanistan said that the program will help promote standard dwellings for returnees and help those living in remote regions to find shelter.
“All these activities I mentioned would be highly relevant in Afghanistan at the present time – that’s why we are here today. We are here because of all of us at AKDN believe that Afghanistan is one of the most important countries in the world for AKA to deliver its mandate. We want to build on 22 years of focus, excellent work, to make remote communities in the mountains of the Hindukush not just safe but for them to thrive. We want to deepen our partnership with the government and in particularly with ANDMA for even greater impact on all Afghanistan,” said Ruhl.
Afghan officials welcome the move and pointed out that Afghanistan deals with a wide range of regular natural disasters.
“We are in the first or second position among ten countries which have a lot of natural disasters,” said state minister for natural disaster management Najib Aqa Fahim.
“Restoring degraded land means better lives and incomes for farmers and pastoralists and less pressure on people to migrate to cities. We see this ethic of partnership,” said Noor Jahan Mawani, the ambassador of Karim Aga Khan to Afghanistan.
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