Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

25 May 2015- Toronto, Canada –His Highness the Aga Khan and Premier Wynne signed an agreement between the Province of Ontario and the Ismaili Imamat that sets a blueprint for cooperation in a number of areas including culture and education.

The partnership combines Ontario’s excellence in education, green energy, health care and other key areas with the Aga Khan Development Network’s vast global experience in bringing sustainable development to societies living in diverse cultural and geographical environments.

“Today, Ontario and the Ismaili Imamat have signed a historic agreement of cooperation to explore areas of cooperation and joint initiatives including education, diversity and economic development,” said Premier Wynne at the signing ceremony at Queen’s Park. “This agreement is a partnership that will allow us to have a mutual benefit in terms of educational sharing of resources but also in terms of policy development.”

The agreement draws on existing activities of the Aga Khan Development Network and the Aga Khan Council for Canada, which align with current priority areas for the Province of Ontario, including:

supporting social and economic advancement of people, particularly the vulnerable in Ontario and other parts of the world;
creating new opportunities and educational resources for Ontario teachers and local and global students that promote pluralism; and
leveraging the societal and economic benefits of diversity and successful pluralistic societies to further equitable human advancement and social justice.

“There are three professions in the developing world which are undervalued. First is nursing, the second is education and the third is journalism. And yet all those professions are critical for the development of a quality civil society,” said His Highness following the signing, speaking on the importance of Ontario's contributions to "repositioning" these professions in the developing world.