Nestled in the mountains and off the main roads, the remote and low-resource mountain communities in Gilgit Baltistan are primarily reliant on farming, livestock and tourism for their income. The marginalisation in these communities disproportionately affects young girls and their access to education. In addition to helping out with home chores and looking after younger siblings, girls in these communities participate in farming and also take on shepherd duties.

The quality of education available fails to equip them with the skills to succeed in the future. In public schools, where the most marginalised turn to for an education, there are next to no opportunities for hands-on learning and development of critical skills. Only a handful of remote public schools have access to digital resources as basic as computers, and even fewer are equipped with teachers trained to make effective use of these resources and create learning environments conducive to support holistic child development.

Outside schools and the religious centres, girls and women have extremely limited access to community spaces where they can meet to explore ideas, learn together, support each other in overcoming learning difficulties, and exercise their agency. We summarise our findings from pre-existing research and our own discussions with marginalized communities in 4 key need areas where attention is required to enable girls with the skills and tools for success: