Skip to content 
FOCUS USA
“In the wake of a natural disaster, I felt a calling…”
Earthquakes, avalanches, floods, landslides, cyclones – a changing climate has led to increases in their frequency and intensity in many parts of the world. In a conversation with AKAH Pakistan CEO Nusrat Nasab, she recounts how one such disastrous event, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, changed the course of her life, igniting a passion for a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
FOCUS: Pakistan flood response
Pakistan, April 2016 – In April 2016, heavy rain and snow fall in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral triggered a series of devastating avalanches, flash floods and landslides that damaged over 600 houses. FOCUS evacuated critical patients utilizing AKDN helicopters and provided tents, blankets and non-food aid to affected households. With support from AKDN agencies, water purification tablets […]
Focus and USAID said sign agreement to create resilient communities
Pakistan, January 2017 – The Department of Emergency Management (formerly FOCUS) of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund Program initiated a project “Creating Resilient Communities in Shimshal Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan”. The project, which aims to build resilience against the threat of glacial […]
AKAH invests in capacity development for SART
Pakistan, October 2018 – The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Pakistan collaborated with the United Kingdom International Search and Rescue (UKISAR) and the Punjab Emergency Service to organize a certification course for its Search and Rescue Teams (SART) in Lahore.1 26 SART members, which included both men and women, attended the seven day long training […]
AKAH helps vulnerable communities meet their food needs during covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan
PAKISTAN (March 2020) – The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) in Pakistan was enlisted as a member of the Pakistani national task force to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the isolated mountain communities of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan. FOCUS USA, which engages in crisis response and humanitarian relief through AKAH in developing countries, provided emergency […]
Pakistani women are key in successful rescue missions
The Challenge Middle-school teacher Shamim Bano is one of the 50,000 volunteers trained in this joint community-based disaster risk management effort since 1998. As a young girl, Bano was disturbed to learn how often women were left behind during search and rescue missions, which is why she herself became a search and rescue volunteer in […]
