Long-standing partners, the German Federal Foreign Office through Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) Development Bank and agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN - Aga Khan Foundation, Pakistan (AKF-P) and Aga Khan Planning and Building Service, Pakistan (AKPBS, P) - have concluded a successful four-year project to help improve the quality of lives for over 200,000 people by providing safe drinking water and sanitation facilities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.
A seminar was organised to share key knowledge gained from this project that demonstrates a unique public-private partnership between AKDN, the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the local communities. As part of KfW's grant of €9.4 million (Rs 1.25 billion) announced in 2010, safe drinking water, sanitation and sewerage facilities were provided in northern Pakistan, through the implementation of the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP), one of Aga Khan Planning and Building Service's award-winning, flagship programmes.
During the seminar, Wolfgang Moellers, KfW Country Director emphasised the role of WASEP in promoting peace and harmony amongst the communities by mediating the sharing of water resources. "We appreciate the combined efforts of the concerned government departments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan and the Aga Khan Development Network in addressing the local development issues with effective public participation. This synergistic approach is the reason why Germany has supported AKDN over the last 20 years," said Moellers.
In his opening remarks, Akhtar Iqbal, CEO-AKF (Pak) said, "WASEP not only provides support to address basic water and sanitation needs of the people but facilitates the communities to put in place structures for long-term development in their respective areas. WASEP's approach of "working with the communities" has helped in building capacities of the local people, and empowering women. We are indebted to our German partners for this splendid support and uncompromising collaboration."
Sohail Khoja Vice-Chair of Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan extended his gratitude to the German government and KfW. He talked about the partnership between AKDN and KfW that has been effective in Africa, Central Asia, Middle East and Pakistan. He also emphasised on the partnership between AKDN and the government in Pakistan that has been exemplary in Pakistan and successful projects like improving maternal, neo-natal and child health have the potential to be replicated in other districts of Pakistan.-PR
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