Aahung

It is usually when I am describing Aahung’s work to an unfamiliar third party that the sheer audacity of our vision strikes me. I am now rather used to being asked, “How do you get away with your work in a place like Pakistan?!” Aahung, a non-profit organization situated in Karachi has been tackling some of the most critical and controversial areas in the field of sexual health for over 25 years. We have worked on issues such as access to safe abortion, child marriage and sexual diversity, all while fostering community and institutional support, attitude change, and system reform. Aahung’s comprehensive sexuality education model (CSE), which I was told 15 years ago could never work in Pakistan’s conservative society, is today being run in over 500 schools and has been integrated into the provincial government curriculum of Sindh. Technology is fast expanding, and right now Pakistan has its largest youth population to date. Simultaneously, when the critical need to empower and invest in girls to enhance their potential is being highlighted, I seek out the Elevate prize to support the advancement of Aahung’s groundbreaking CSE programs, situated to expand nationally and impact the lives of millions of adolescents.

I have been told that there is often a personal reason why individuals gravitate towards working on certain development causes. For me, I think it was the blatant contrast between my privilege, which had afforded me the resources and family support to pursue an education and make independent life choices, and the reality of most women and girls in Pakistan, that drew me towards working on women’s rights. Aahung was still young when I joined in 2003, but the vision of the organization to promote and protect sexual health and rights with a key lens towards gender justice resonated deeply for me. As I transitioned from field work into management, I became keen to address the core drivers of discrimination, intolerance and violence towards young people, who, I believe, are more open to attitudinal shifts. As a result, I have expanded Aahung’s youth programs and envisage developing more innovative approaches that support adolescents with the knowledge, tools and services they rightfully deserve to develop a positive sexuality and live free of violence. In particular, I aim to continue finding avenues to reach girls and build their agency so that they have control over their bodies and can live with dignity.

In Pakistan sexuality is a stigmatized topic, with the body being something that is associated with shame or correlated with family honor in the case of women and girls. For adolescents, in Pakistan and in many parts of the world, their evolving sexuality is still largely viewed as a threat, and while evidence has shown that CSE programs curtail unsafe sexual behaviors, they are still met with resistance from parents and duty bearers. Without reliable outlets for communicating physical, mental and emotional concerns, adolescents are accessing their information predominantly through informal and unreliable channels such as peers or alternate health service providers, or are altogether left in the dark. Approximately 50% of Pakistani girls did not have any information about menstruation prior to menarche and 61% reported using old cloth to absorb blood without knowledge of appropriate hygiene practices (UNICEF). Aahung addresses this dearth of information and services through CSE programs that are mostly run in schools and by introducing youth friendly services in health care settings. As school enrollment remains low (especially for girls), Aahung also works with young people through community mobilization and communications activities and engages the support of tele-health and social media.

In Pakistan, it is at times controversial to send girls to school, let alone teach them about their bodies and sexuality. We, at Aahung, believe that girls are valuable, and should be presented with accurate information that would facilitate making beneficial life decisions. Giving them knowledge and skills is transformative, albeit subversive in our current social context. Similarly, while the potential of young people is frequently discussed as a development necessity, few substantive programs have addressed their SRHR needs. Aahung’s work is unique, in that it has pioneered school-based and community programs targeting adolescent SRHR. Moreover, in a country which promotes strong socio-cultural ageist practices, where the decisions of elders must be respected at all costs, Aahung has consistently incorporated and amplified young voices to state their own needs.

Aahung’s work is also unique because rather than bypass social gatekeepers, Aahung has engaged them through dialogue and inclusion. Aahung’s CSE curriculum is entirely locally developed with the input of members of government, parents, administrators and teachers, young people, and even, religious scholars. It is through engaging with the opposition and recognizing the value of transparency that Aahung has been successful in finding common areas of interest with community stakeholders.

Aahung’s CSE program evaluations have documented that girls show increased confidence, improved communication skills and can better negotiate critical life altering decisions, such as staying in school and what age they will be married. Similarly, interventions with boys have shown that gender transformative content can make them more tolerant, aware of toxic masculinity and contemplative of the negative impact of gender-based violence. As rights-holders, both girls and boys routinely express being better skilled at protecting themselves from sexual violence and harassment, which is a significant threat to young people in Pakistan. While the direct impact on the lives of young people cannot be underestimated, it is also essential to consider the broader social impact Aahung’s programs. Empowered adolescents play a key role in educating their families on health and safety, as well as providing guidance for siblings and peers in their communities. For example, several girls that have experienced Aahung’s programs have later reported educating others through involvement with volunteer programs, CSOs or by becoming teachers themselves. To date, Aahung has empowered over 200,000 adolescents through school and community outreach, creating a tremendous ripple effect in communities and sowing the seeds for sustainable social change.