The Aga Khan Foundation Pakistan (AKF, P) is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of development agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities for people across the developing world. AKF operates across Pakistan leveraging multi-sectoral expertise in climate resilience, renewable energy, water and sanitation, livelihoods, and disaster risk management. It works closely with governments, civil society, and communities through human-centered, locally relevant approaches to address complex development challenges.
Project Overview:
A two-year climate resilience programme (2024 – 2026) targeting coastal communities in Thatta and Sujawal districts of Sindh, focusing on disaster preparedness, mangrove management, sustainable livelihoods, clean energy, and WASH infrastructure to improve resilience to climate change for up to 8,000 beneficiaries.
The Context:
Pakistan's coastal Sindh is among the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world, facing compounding threats from sea-level rise, coastal flooding, erosion, and ecosystem degradation. Thatta and Sujawal, the focus districts of SCRIP, rank among the lowest in Sindh according to the Human Development Index (HDI), with communities experiencing extreme poverty, limited access to clean water and energy, and fragile marine-based livelihoods.
Rapid deforestation of mangroves, biodiversity loss, and the converging crises of climate change have severely undermined the region's capacity to recover and regenerate. Without targeted, community-level interventions, coastal populations remain exposed to climate shocks with little institutional or technical support to adapt. SCRIP was designed to directly address this gap, responding to the urgent need for integrated, locally grounded climate resilience programming in one of Pakistan's most underserved coastal regions.
The Approach:
SCRIP adopts a human-centered, multi-sectoral approach that combines community mobilization, technical support, and institutional capacity building. The programme is structured around seven core intervention areas:
The programme builds on AKF's global Indian Ocean Coastal Regeneration Initiative and works in close partnership with government, civil society, and local knowledge institutions. AKDN's affiliated agencies, AKRSP and AKAHP, provide complementary expertise to comprehensively address climate action and renewable energy gaps through proven multi-stakeholder approaches.
Results & Impact:
SCRIP is expected to deliver measurable improvements across two main areas. First, strengthened local capacity for disaster preparedness through formulated coastal resilience plans, operationalized CBDRM systems, and small-scale mitigation and adaptation solutions implemented in target communities. Second, improved livelihoods and habitat resilience through promotion of sustainable aquaculture, regenerative farming, clean energy access, and improved WASH infrastructure.
The programme directly contributes to Pakistan's strategic priorities on climate change, economic development, environmental protection, and social equity. By targeting Thatta and Sujawal, the lowest-ranked districts in Sindh by HDI, SCRIP ensures that interventions reach the most marginalized and climate-exposed populations. The total programme investment is expected to benefit up to 8,000 people over two years, with an even split between climate adaptation and climate mitigation activities.
SDGs:
Insights & Replication Potential:
A key insight underpinning SCRIP is the importance of integrating local institutional capacity with globally tested frameworks – in this case, AKF's Indian Ocean Coastal Regeneration Initiative – to deliver contextually relevant solutions at scale. The programme's human-centered design, emphasizing early community engagement and participatory planning, has been critical to ensuring buy-in and long-term sustainability of interventions.
Key challenges include managing risks related to natural disasters and community reluctance to adopt new approaches, both of which are being addressed through pre-existing hazard assessments, flexible procurement, and community mobilization built into the programme design. Financial accountability is safeguarded through AKDN's established control systems aligned with donor guidelines.
The SCRIP model is highly replicable across other climate-vulnerable coastal districts in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's riverine belts, as well as in other Indian Ocean coastal nations facing similar convergences of climate stress, ecosystem degradation, and livelihood fragility. The modular structure of the programme enables adaptation to different ecological and socioeconomic contexts with appropriate institutional support and data access.
Media Links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6JOxS2P1CE