Reaching the Roof of the World: Assessing the SRHR Beliefs of Communities Residing in the Highest Mountain Ranges in the World for Integration of Lifeskills Based Education in School Curricula

The Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region of Pakistan is home to the highest mountains in the world, and the communities residing here are largely disconnected from development efforts dedicated to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Pakistan. In Gilgit-Baltistan, the unique topography and isolated nature of communities residing at high altitudes makes it challenging for SRHR programmers to firstly access these communities and, secondly, understand their prevalent beliefs and practices. Aahung is a Karachi-based NGO which is planning to pilot a curriculum for Life-Skills Based Education (LSBE) in schools in GB; however, with limited information available, we conducted formative research to inform curriculum design. The aim of this study is to understand the prevalent SRHR beliefs and practices with adolescence and gender as the crosscutting themes. 25 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 148 total participants in different districts of GB to assess the SRHR-related needs of adolescents in the region. Approximately 34 teachers, 36 parents, and 78 students between grades 6-10 participated in the study. All FGDs were separated by gender and the students were further divided into 2 groups: Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-10. FGD guides and consent forms were developed in English and translated into Urdu. Data were transcribed and thematically analyzed by researchers to identify the SRHR and health-related needs of adolescents in the studied region. Apart from the general prevalence of poor SRHR information among young people, findings showed a significant gender difference in SRHR knowledge and practices. Boys stated several sources of SRHR information, madrasah being the key one, whereas, girls shared that although they could receive some guidance regarding puberty from madrasah, friends and female family members, even their mothers were reluctant in discussing SRHR with them in greater detail. Findings from the study will be used to inform the design of a Life-Skills Based Education (LSBE) curriculum which will be piloted with schools in GB.