In 2008 the Aga Khan Development Network jointly with the government of Pakistan organized an international conference on School Safety in Islamabad. The conference advised celebrating school safety day on May 16 each year to create awareness about the importance of a safe and secure learning environment.

Therefore, on this day each year, AKAH celebrates the National School Safety day by organizing a range of events across Pakistan together with its partners and key stakeholders. This year the school safety day was celebrated through virtual sessions, engaging relevant government authorities, AKDN institutions, Schools, parents, teachers, and students.

Sharing his thoughts on the occasion Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO Aga Khan Agency for Habitat said “Children are the future of our nation and it is our collective responsibility to make schools safe for our children. The school safety day also reminds us of the unfortunate earthquake of 2005 when thousands of children and teachers lost their life due to the collapse of structurally unsafe buildings. We need to make sure that this is not repeated”.

Mr. Khan further added that “to keep children safe from the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic it is critical that School management ensures implantation of COVID 19 SOPs issued by health authorities,”.

AKAH, since 2006, through its ongoing school safety programme, has engaged with over 1500 schools benefiting 40,000 students and 3000 teachers. In addition, 19,000 members of school safety committees, 6500 School Management Committees and Parent-Teacher Associations have benefitted from the programme.

Through its school safety programme AKAH provided technical support to the development of
Pakistan School Safety Framework, and the Gilgit-Baltistan School Safety Strategy.

The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat partners with the Karakoram
International University, Gilgit, for programs of scientific and technical collaborations to advance the state of living conditions and reduce the vulnerability of mountain communities.

This partnership will encourage and facilitate young researchers and development practitioners in the field of disaster management and related disciplines such as hazard identification and assessment, mitigation, preparedness socioeconomic vulnerability assessment, climate change
induced disasters, Glacier and Glacier lakes, radiation hazards in the built environment and area focused structural design.

A high-level meeting held between Aga Khan Agency for Habitat and Karakoram International University, at Gilgit on 29 May 2019 to discuss technical aspects of the partnership for information sharing, exchange of resources and provision of opportunities. The meeting followed by the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to advance the state of living conditions and reduces the vulnerability of mountain communities to natural disasters. The MoU was signed by the Vice Chancellor of KIU and the CEO of AKAH.

In his remarks Engr. Prof. Dr. Attaullah Shah, Vice Chancellor, Karakoram International University shared that “KIU is committed to making social development and evolution of peaceful and pluralistic societies in the mountainous areas of Pakistan. This formal linkage between the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat and KIU will be considered vital to boost research
and technical cooperation by sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources”.

“Dealing with the issues of climate change and ensuring a safe and sustainable human habitat in the mountain areas is a key challenge of our times. We believe this challenge can only be addressed through strong cooperation and synergy between public and private sector organizations including academia and the civil society through generation and sharing of

knowledge, experience and technical cooperation” emphasized by Mr. Nawab Ali Khan, CEO of AKAH while speaking to the occasion. He further added that “this partnership will provide KIU researchers the opportunity of a field laboratory in AKDN projects for applied research in areas of disaster management and climate change adaptation and mitigation which will ultimately contribute to improvement in the quality of life of the communities. He appreciated the support that the public sector organizations have extended to AKDN and termed this partnership another key step for the development of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.

In the past AKAH (AKPBS) jointly with KIU has worked on the development of skilled craftsmanship in Gilgit-Baltistan through joint programs.

Hundreds of craftspeople have benefited from the joint program and are benefitting communities with their learned skills.