Shezan Muhammedi is an Acting Assistant Director for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. He was a member of the 2024 cohort of AKFC’s Global Leadership Program.
In March 2024, I had the great honour to be part of the first Global Leadership Program (GLP) hosted by Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). It was a jam-packed four days in Ottawa where a diverse group of mid-career professionals came together to try and grapple with major global challenges. Our goal was to gain a better understanding of how Canada, Canadians, and its residents could play a leading role in addressing global shifts relating to pluralism, Indigenous-settler relations and reconciliation, global politics, development, economic transformation, and the fourth industrial revolution.
Looking back on the experience, there were countless takeaways and major learning moments. Several times throughout the program, we had long moments of silence. Each of us was trying to unpack what these global trends mean not only for our respective fields of work or disciplines of practice but for our fellow global citizens. For example, a jaw-dropping stat shared by one of the many esteemed speakers, Fatema Z Sumar was that the global population spent the same amount of money ($200 billion USD) on iPhone purchases as we did on global development aid in 2022 ($210 billion USD)! Another stat revealed that the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their wealth since 2020, while 5 billion people were made poorer.
While these were tough realities to grasp, each of my fellow GLPers focused on how to find a way forward in an increasingly divisive world. I truly appreciated the time and space to reflect on how our ever-changing world impacts all of us in different ways and to have the opportunity to do so with such an incredible group of human beings from across Canada.
One of my favourite activities from the program was the case study competition, where we were split into three groups and given two hours to pitch a funding request to a mock World Bank panel. The panelists were none other than AKFC’s CEO Khalil Z. Shariff, and Harvard’s Executive Director for International Development, Fatema Z. Sumar.
Each team was given a short summary of a current Aga Khan Development Network project in Central Asia, South Asia, or East Africa that has performed well but needs to secure additional sources of funds to expand its programs and reach a larger number of community members. The best part is that each team had a chance to virtually connect with the respective CEO of Aga Khan Foundation or the Dean of the Aga Khan University for the project. Our team worked with AKF India’s CEO Tinni Sawhney, to rapidly pull together facts and figures to present to the mock World Bank panel.
We were seeking funding for Project Mesha, a community-based intervention aimed at improving the lives of landless and marginalized farming households in the province of Bihar by strengthening goat rearing practices. The project trains women to become pashu sakhis (Hindi for “friends of the animals”) who provide essential veterinary services, including deworming, vaccinations, and basic health management for goats in the region.
Not only has it improved income levels for rural women in India – leading to increased household financial stability and female empowerment – but it has also decreased goat mortality and increased profits for goat herders. Since 2016, AKF has trained over 350 pashu sakhis in Bihar who provide veterinary services to over 70,000 female goat rearers. From everything we were able to research, this program sounded like a win for everyone involved.
The question was, could this project scale up to go beyond the state of Bihar? Could we seek to partner with the government of India to expand the project and serve the entire country? And lastly, could we secure additional funding from the global community and our mock World Bank panel to expand?
With my academic background in history and immigration, I was well outside my comfort zone. Coming from an arts and humanities background and as a self-proclaimed nerd, I have always wanted to participate in a case study competition. This was my moment!
Thanks to Tinni’s expertise and guidance, we were able to pull together some quick statistics and a two-minute pitch to the panel that focused on our slogan: “What can $5 and a goat get you?” This alluded to the cost of training for pashu sakhis, and of course, the 3 million households in Bihar who rear goats.
The feedback from the panel was clear: “This is a noble endeavour, but is it truly viable across the country, and do you have any genuine assurances that the Government of India would support such an initiative? If you can come back to us with a proven partnership with the government, we may be willing to financially support the initiative“.
These were real concerns, and this was a live example of how AKF India was trying to navigate the same challenge to secure more funding. My personal highlight from the workshop was when Tinni mentioned she loved the slogan and was going to borrow it!
Overall, the Global Leadership Program was an eye-opening experience filled with hope for how we can all, in our own way, contribute to making the world a better place. The networks and bonds that we created will certainly last a lifetime. I’m honoured to have been a participant and to join such a distinguished group of individuals as part of the first program cohort!
AKFC’s Global Leadership Program brings together Canadian mid-career professionals from across sectors to explore the forces shaping our world and connect with others committed to a more peaceful, prosperous, and pluralist world for all. Learn more about the program.
