Paris, France, 11 November 2020 – As a Founding Member of the Paris Peace Forum, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is pleased to participate in the Third Edition of the Forum taking place on 11-13 November 2020. This year’s Forum is being held online, allowing for more than 10,000 participants, including heads of state and government, leaders from civil society and the private sector, and global experts, to come together to address better the health and socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s Forum also includes a Finance in Common Summit, bringing together 450 Public Development Banks from around the world to assess how they can leverage financial flows to tackle the current pandemic and contribute further to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The unprecedented global pandemic has presented major public health challenges,” said His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and Founder of the Aga Khan Development Network. “We require continued collaborative energy from governments, civil society institutions, and the private sector to overcome this crisis, protect life, and build for the future from a position of strength and wisdom. I am pleased that the Aga Khan Development Network and the Paris Peace Forum are working closely towards these goals.”

Justin Vaïsse, Director General of the Paris Peace Forum, said, “This year’s Forum is devoted to the response to the crisis and the principles that should govern the post-Covid international order. It also focuses on projects and initiatives from around the world aimed at providing immediate responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, improving our medium-term resilience, and rebuilding a more sustainable world.”
In partnership with governments and international agencies, the AKDN and its agencies have been responding to the Covid-19 pandemic through humanitarian assistance for vulnerable populations, healthcare for Covid-19 patients and the communities in which they live, and technical support to local and national authorities.

For further information, please contact:

Semin Abdulla
E-mail: info@akdn.org

NOTES

The first edition of the Paris Peace Forum was inaugurated on 11 November 2018 by President Emmanuel Macron, alongside the ceremonies to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of First World War. The annual Paris Peace Forum is open to all actors of global governance: members of civil society, and representatives from international organisations, NGOs, companies, foundations, philanthropic organisations, development agencies, religious groups, trade unions, think tanks, universities, and more. Since 2018, the Paris Peace Forum has been the place where heads of state and international organizations meet civil society and the private sector to construct new forms of collective action. On 11-13 November 2020, its third edition will be chiefly devoted to the multi-actor response to Coronavirus, with the conviction that we can collectively overcome the enormous challenges before us – and use the crisis as an opportunity to rebuild a more sustainable world.

Founded by His Highness the Aga Khan, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private, international, non-denominational agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities for people in specific regions of the developing world. The Network’s organisations have individual mandates that range from healthcare (400 health facilities, including 13 hospitals) and education (with over 200 schools) to architecture, rural development, the built environment and the promotion of private-sector enterprise. Together, they work towards a common goal – to build institutions and programmes that can respond to the challenges of social, economic and cultural change on an on-going basis. AKDN works in 30 countries around the world, employing approximately 96,000 people, the majority of whom are based in developing countries. The AKDN’s annual budget for non-profit development is approximately US$ 1 billion. AKDN agencies conduct their programmes without regard to faith, origin or gender.