The passing of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV on February 4, 2025, marked the end of an era for Pakistan’s northern regions.
For nearly seven decades, he transformed Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral from remote, marginalized valleys into living examples of community-led, sustainable development. His work demonstrates that progress is most enduring when it is rooted in people, institutions, and culture, supported by a conducive policy and governance environment.
Since assuming the Imamat in 1957, Aga Khan IV combined spiritual leadership with a practical development vision. He recognised that poverty cannot be addressed by charity alone; it requires long-term investment in human capacity, social cohesion, and local governance. Through the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), he integrated education, health, infrastructure, culture, and livelihoods into a coherent model of inclusive development.
“Our ultimate goal is to enable people to become the masters of their own destiny,” he once said. This philosophy guided the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), launched in 1982, which mobilised villages and women’s groups to manage savings, irrigation, small enterprises, and local infrastructure. Unlike conventional top-down projects, AKRSP empowered communities to identify priorities, make decisions, and take responsibility, laying the foundation for self-reliance and social cohesion.
Building Strong Civil Society and Social Foundations
The Aga Khan firmly believed that sustainable development depends on strong civil institutions and social capital. He observed that no society can prosper without inclusive organizations that encourage participation, accountability, and cooperation. In Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, thousands of community-based organizations emerged under this framework. They managed schools, clinics, water systems, and micro-enterprises, while nurturing leadership among women and youth. These institutions strengthened social cohesion and enhanced collective problem-solving capacity. This model contrasted with conventional administrative approaches that rely mainly on centralized planning, showing that development rooted in local participation is more resilient and adaptable.
Education, Skills, and Cultural Confidence
Education was central to the Aga Khan’s development thinking. Through community schools, teacher training programmes, scholarships, and higher education institutions, he expanded learning opportunities in remote valleys. He stressed that education is the most important long-term investment for any society.
At the same time, he promoted cultural preservation as an integral component of development. The restoration of Baltit, Altit, Shigar and Khaplu forts, retrofitting of old Mosques, Khanqas, houses, the revival of traditional arts and crafts, and the protection of architectural heritage strengthened cultural confidence and supported sustainable tourism. By linking heritage with livelihoods, these initiatives demonstrated that modernization and tradition can advance together.
Peace, Pluralism, and Social Stability
In diverse and sensitive mountain regions, the Aga Khan consistently linked development with peace and pluralism. He emphasized that stability is built on justice, opportunity, and mutual respect. Through dialogue platforms, youth programmes, and inclusive institutions, AKDN initiatives helped reduce social divisions and foster cooperation across ethnic and sectarian lines. This experience highlights that economic progress and social harmony must advance simultaneously.
Enabling Environment: Scaling Bottom-Up Development
Aga Khan IV repeatedly emphasized the importance of the “enabling environment”, a set of policy, governance, and institutional conditions that allow local initiatives to flourish. Even successful bottom-up approaches have their limits when broader systemic support is absent. In Gilgit-Baltistan, community-led initiatives alone cannot overcome challenges posed by weak governance, unresolved constitutional status, or fragmented policy frameworks. Bottom-up development benefits most when complemented by strategic large-scale infrastructure projects such as the Karakoram Highway, sound fiscal policies, well-targeted public sector budgets, and functional local government systems. Regional economic integration, active participation of elected representatives, and the championing of women’s empowerment and climate resilience further enhance impact. When these elements align, bottom-up initiatives gain scale, legitimacy, and sustainability, demonstrating that local empowerment and macro-level planning are mutually reinforcing rather than opposing strategies.
Continuity and Innovation under His Successor
Following his passing, his successor, Prince Rahim Al Hussaini Aga Khan V , has reaffirmed this development philosophy of his father. Over the past year, AKDN programmes have strengthened climate adaptation, flood response, renewable energy, digital skills training, and youth entrepreneurship, quality education, secondary and tertiary health care in support of the government in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.
These initiatives reflect continuity in values and innovation in practice, responding to global climate change, technological transformation, and economic uncertainty.
Confronting Emerging Challenges
Northern Pakistan faces complex and interconnected pressures: climate change threatens glaciers, water security, and agriculture; youth unemployment increases migration; regional economic integration remains limited; governance gaps and top-down federal decision-making undermine local participation. Addressing these challenges requires stronger institutional frameworks, constitutional clarity, fiscal prudence, and policies that empower local governments and communities, the very “enabling environment” Aga Khan IV repeatedly highlighted as essential for sustainable development.
A Development Path Rooted in the People
Prince Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan IV’s work in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral represents one of the most sustained experiments in participatory development in the Global South. It combined ethical leadership with professional management, cultural sensitivity with modern institutions, and spiritual values with practical action. His legacy demonstrates that poverty reduction is not merely a technical task but a long-term social project grounded in inclusion, pluralism, and shared responsibility.
As mountain communities navigate rapid environmental and economic change, the principles he championed, self-help, education, cooperation, and respect for diversity, remain highly relevant. Under Prince Rahim, these principles are being applied to today’s challenges, ensuring that communities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral remain not only resilient but empowered to shape their own future.
