AKU

Funded by a US$25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Umeed-e-Nau (new hope) is a five-year project that will see AKU work with public sector programmes and primary care providers such as Lady Health Workers and Community Health Midwives to deliver proven interventions and improve the quality of care at health facilities in 14 mainly rural districts in Balochistan, Southern Punjab and Sindh, as well as urban slums in Karachi.

The districts include Badin, Dadu, Hyderabad/Matiari, Karachi, Jafferabad, Jamshoro, Lasbela, Mirpur Khas, Muzaffargarh, Nasirabad, Qambar Shahdadkot, Rahim Yar Khan, Sanghar and Thatta. The project also includes a groundbreaking effort to provide health education through schools for adolescent girls in Pakistan.

“Federal and provincial governments, public and private institutions, civil society and every one of us have to team up to meet the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030,” said Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Founding Director of the Aga Khan University’s Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health. “Projects like Umeed-e-Nau can help Pakistan achieve Goal 3 for health, which also requires additional investments in improving nutrition, keeping children in schools and addressing environmental health and gender equity.”

 

Website: AKU Umeed-e-Nau Project