AKU-IED will continue serving as a 'national resource' for building institutional capacity of education systems of developing countries, especially Pakistan through conducting research, promoting scholarship, offering innovative teaching programmes and influencing education policy and practice. It will also continue offering quality teaching and research programmes for building capacity and enhancing the professional status of teachers, teacher educators and others, who are responsible for successful implementation of educational reforms in Pakistan and other developing countries.

AKU-IED was established with the mandate to take a lead role in the Educational Reforms through enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of educational institutions: to improve quality of education in the developing countries. To achieve its objective; AKU-IED is engaged in individual and institutional capacity building through its academic and professional development programmes, research policy studies and service activities. Its direct beneficiaries are educational personnels, (teachers, educators, head teachers, educational officers, Organisations: AKDN, Government and Private), professional association and other institutions. The indirect beneficiaries includes students, parents, colleagues, teachers, professional association members, policy makers in government and non-government organisations, etc. AKU-IED is based in Karachi, Pakistan (and includes embedded professional development centre Karachi).