The Role of Aga Khan Foundation in Socio-Economic Development of People of District Gilgit

Abstract

The chief objective of the study is to explore the Role of Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in socio- economic development of people of district Gilgit. The services of Aga Khan Foundation are admirable in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. There are many agencies working under Aga Khan Foundation including Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), Local Support Organization (LSO), etc. The large numbers of people of the Northern Areas as well as the people of Gilgit are getting advantages from the services of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). The foundation has been providing the health facilities, educational opportunities, and the agricultural comforts. In the area, the water supply and sanitation development Programme and provision of shelter to the homeless people are also provided by the AKF. The provision of health facilities remained a problem for a long time including unavailability of qualified doctors, lack of medicines in government hospitals and not access to the balanced diet for the common people in District Gilgit. Moreover, the public has been facing various issues in the access of education; e.g., having no access to quality education especially for the girls. The water is available to the people but the filter plants are not available anywhere in the area to avail the facility of pure water. The interviews have a great importance in this research, which helped the investigators to understand the issues of the people of Gilgit. The Aga Khan Foundation is solving some of the issues but there must be some other institutions to work in the remote areas.

Keywords: Aga Khan, Rural, Handicrafts, Agriculture, Welfare.