FOCUS USA
I was a nursing student in Afghanistan…
Now I am rebuilding my life in Canada as a healthcare professional. Forced to flee Afghanistan, Dilruba Hussaini was living as a refugee in India. Dilruba’s international training qualified her to work at Chancellor Park, a long-term continuing care facility in St. John’s NF. Read Hussaini’s story.
FOCUS Delivers Critical Aid – Türkiye & Syria
It’s been over a month since 6 February 2023, when a 7.8 earthquake struck Türkiye and Syria resulting in over 50,000 casualties and catastrophic damage to homes, buildings and infrastructure. The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Syria immediately activated its specialized search and rescue and response teams providing critical humanitarian aid, working closely with the United […]
FOCUS USA and AKAH Partnering to Respond to Devastating Flooding in Pakistan
In response to the flooding emergency in Pakistan, FOCUS’s partner AKAH,P has provided evacuation and shelter support, technical coordination services, and emergency relief supplies with funding support from Focus Humanitarian Assistance. Extreme temperatures in early July 2022 led to glacial melting, high river and stream levels, and flash flooding throughout Pakistan, intensified by heavy monsoon […]
FOCUS’s Newly Arrived Migrants Program
FOCUS professionals in Europe offering assistance in navigating asylum process to newly arrived refugees who have fled conflict and political unrest.
International Women’s Day – Breaking Taboos: Women in Search & Rescue
On this International Women’s Day, we highlight three inspirational women of various generations who overcame societal pressures to help save lives within their communities. In 2000, Gul Noori was among the first women to respond to a call for volunteers in FOCUS’s inaugural Search & Rescue Team (SART), but she faced a number of social […]
FOCUS USA and the Ismaili community support national & local COVID-19 vaccination efforts
The Challenge Upon taking office, United States President Joe Biden committed to an initial goal of administering 100 million vaccinations in the country. The day after his inauguration, Focus Humanitarian Assistance USA (FOCUS USA) received a call from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Voluntary Agency Coordination Office to help support the national vaccination effort. […]
National Preparedness Month
USA, August 2013 – FOCUS USA was invited to attend the National Preparedness Month Proclamation signing ceremony with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, held at the State Capitol in Atlanta. In the presence of Georgia Volunteer Organisations Active in Disaster (VOAD), government officials, and leaders from multiple faith-based organizations, the Governor officially declared September as the National […]
Tajikistan flood relief
Tajikistan, July 2015 – In July 2015 villages across Tajikistan experienced severe flooding and mud flows as the result of an outburst of glacial lakes up in the mountains. These disastrous events destroyed homes, knocked down power lines, and disrupted transportation and communication between villages. Focus Humanitarian Assistance Tajikistan, in collaboration with its partners and the […]
ShakeOut: Earthquake Preparedness
USA, October 2015 – During the month of October 2015, FOCUS-trained volunteers across the United States led their communities in the 2015 AKDN ShakeOut drill. The purpose of this drill was simple – practice makes perfect – as the drill taught individuals what to do in the event of an earthquake. In addition to teaching individuals […]
Earthquake relief in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan
Afghanistan/Tajikistan/Pakistan, October 2015 – Following a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Central Asia in October 2015, Focus Humanitarian Assistance – in collaboration with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other partner agencies – provided relief efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan to support affected communities. Immediately following the […]
