From Teaching to Community Leadership for Welfare

I hold a Bachelor of Education and currently work as a school teacher. Coming from a modest background I worked hard to complete my education while supporting myself through manual labor. After graduating, I returned to my village and accepted a teaching position because the community and my family wanted me to serve here.

Alongside teaching, I became involved in community development. Around 1990, people in our village realized that wildlife and natural resources were disappearing rapidly. This encouraged us to begin conservation efforts. My formal journey into social work began when a group of educated young people who had returned to the village, like myself, established the Shahi Khyber Imamabad Welfare Organization (SKIDO). In 1988, community organizations established under the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) had split into two groups. Because our village shared common natural resources, this division made development difficult, and we recognized the need to work together in a united manner.

In 1995, International Union for Conservation of Nature, with financial support from the United Nations Development Programme/ The Global Environment Facility, launched a community-based wildlife conservation programme in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Our village became the first Community Conservation Area, and I have been involved in conservation work since its beginning. Later, disagreements developed between AKRSP and the community organizations over who should manage the conservation programme. To protect community unity and ensure that conservation work continued, we established the Shahi Khyber Imamabad Development Organization (SKIDO) in 1998. SKIDO brought together both community organizations and women’s organizations under one umbrella.

I served as SKIDO’s first Vice Chairman from 1998 to 2001, Chairman from 2002 to 2006, and later as a member of its Board of Directors from 2019 to 2023. Over approximately 35 years of experience, I have learned an important lesson- NGOs can also experience disagreements, often because of funding and organizational interests. Community unity should always come before organizational competition and the interests of foreign funders.

Today, SKIDO works in wildlife conservation, environmental protection, community development, sustainable livelihoods, and community-based natural resource management. Our main goal is to conserve biodiversity- including ibex, snow leopards, birds, and native plant species, while improving the livelihoods of local people through community-based conservation.

Moving Beyond Donor-Dependent Welfare to Sustainable and Independent Community Welfare

Over the years, our conservation efforts have produced important results. The ibex population has increased because of better wildlife protection, while rotational grazing has improved pasture management for both livestock and wild ibex. A regulated ibex trophy-hunting programme has created a sustainable source of income for the local community. The increase in the snow leopard population has also attracted international tourists, providing another source of income for local people.

Around 30-40% of the revenue generated from trophy hunting is reinvested in wildlife conservation. The remaining amount is distributed within the community, with 20% allocated specifically to women and the rest shared among households. This income also helped establish a community cooperative society in which every household, including women, is a member and can access financial support for livelihood improvement.

Based on my 35 years of experience, I believe that many of the challenges facing development come from welfare organizations themselves as well as from funding agencies. Donors usually work with fixed project timelines and specific objectives, while communities need long-term support and sustainable development. Other problems include different priorities among NGOs, limited understanding of local social and environmental conditions, inexperienced leadership, weak long-term planning, limited financial resources, poor project planning and implementation, nepotism in appointments and decision-making, and a lack of commitment and professional dedication among some development practitioners. The competence and mindset of government officials are also important because their approach can greatly affect the success of development initiatives.

Communities often see NGOs as their last hope for solving local problems. However, when project funding ends, activities often stop, leaving people disappointed. For me, the biggest challenge is the lack of sustainability. At present, I do not believe there is any government or non-government organization in Gilgit-Baltistan that fully meets the expectations of ordinary people. The government has financial resources, but too much of its budget is spent on administration. Recent budgets show that around 70% is spent on administrative expenses and discretionary government spending, while only 30% is allocated to development sectors such as education, health, and infrastructure. Administrative expenses should be reduced so that more resources can go toward public welfare and development.

The situation is similar in many NGOs. Around 60% of their budgets are spent on salaries and staff benefits, while much of the remaining funding is used for conferences, workshops, and training programmes. Very little reaches actual development work at the community level. Development organizations should focus more on practical community development rather than spending most of their resources on administration.

Financial sustainability is therefore very important. Most development projects depend on donor funding with fixed timelines, and once funding ends, many activities stop. We need sustainable funding mechanisms so that conservation and community development can continue beyond individual projects. Transparency can also be improved by giving local communities a greater role in monitoring projects, making decisions, and managing financial resources.

From Beneficiaries to Partners: Reimagining Community Development & Local Governance

I believe the way forward is to strengthen local governments and give them greater responsibility for development and social welfare. At the same time, communities must have the authority to manage their own resources and take part in decisions that affect their lives. Our ibex conservation and trophy-hunting programme is a good example of such success. The community owns its natural resources, and 80% of the revenue generated is returned directly to local people. This has supported both conservation and community development, and I believe the same approach can be used in other sectors across Gilgit-Baltistan, and Pakistan.

Despite billions of dollars spent by NGOs in Gilgit-Baltistan over the past forty years, poverty still exists. This shows that charity and short-term donor-funded projects cannot solve the problem on their own. We need both short- and long-term government planning, with development carried out through strong local governments in partnership with existing community organizations in every village. Regular local government elections and greater authority for local institutions are essential. When local governments and community organizations work together and share decision-making, there is greater potential for transparency, accountability, and effective implementation.

Government and non-government organizations also need to change the way they work with communities. Too often, officials and development organizations assume that they know what is best. Local people, however, understand their environment, culture, and needs better than anyone else. They should therefore be involved in planning, decision-making, monitoring, and management. Government policies, donor priorities, funding, and relationships between organizations and communities will always influence development, but these factors can be managed better when communities are included rather than treated simply as beneficiaries.

For me, the most important lesson from my experience is that communities need legal ownership and a real stake in the resources they protect. This means strengthening local government institutions, recognizing community organizations as partners, and building stronger cooperation among local governments, communities, and development agencies. Greater government support is needed to make this possible. We should also improve coordination, reduce unnecessary administrative expenditure, strengthen transparency and accountability, and ensure that communities are involved in monitoring and oversight. Welfare work remains important, particularly when people need immediate help during emergencies. But relief alone cannot create lasting development. If we want Gilgit-Baltistan to achieve sustainable social and economic progress, communities must become partners in development rather than simply its beneficiaries. They must have a voice in decisions, legal authority over their resources, and the opportunity to benefit directly from what they protect and manage. With strong local governments, empowered communities, and long-term planning, I believe we can build a more sustainable future for Gilgit-Baltistan.

To learn more about the welfare work being done by Shahi Khyber Imamabad Development Organization, please visit:

Website : https://skido.org/

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