Aga Khan Foundation Canada

Published purpose

The project supports the Aga Khan Rural Support Program's (AKRSP) work in Pakistan's Northern Areas and in the district of Chitral. The purpose is to achieve improvement in peoples' livelihoods by increasing their human and institutional capacities and by expanding and diversifying their economic opportunities. AKRSP is acting as a broker and capacity builder as opposed to a direct provider of services and is facilitating partnerships between village organizations and women's organizations, government, civil society, and the private sector. Their strategy aims to increase self-reliance in the region and is comprised of three components: social development; women's development; and policy dialogue and partnership. It targets rural poverty and contributes to a wider process of policy reform and institutional development in the Northern Areas specifically, and in the country as a whole.