A Delegation from the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) including Dr Abad Ahmad, Chairman of the Aga Khan Foundation and Mr Gulam Rahimtoola, President of the Ismaili Council for India, met with the Honourable Prime Minister to brief him regarding the programmes of the Network in India. The Honourable Prime Minister welcomed the delegation, discussed the work being done by the Network, and encouraged the AKDN to focus on access to sanitation, in the rural and urban regions that AKDN works in, towards universal access to sanitation by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, and the revitalisation of historic cities. The AKDN works in 30 countries around the world. It employs approximately 80,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries. AKDN agencies work to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa, without regard to faith, origin or gender. In India the AKDN works in eight states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.