About

Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization (G-B SWO)® works for the development of Gilgit-Baltistan by targeting social and economic frontiers like education, environment, tourism, economic development, health and individual awareness. This organization operates exclusively for the promotion of social welfare; it serves primarily to further the common good and general interest of the local community, such as bringing about civic betterment and social improvement.

Considering the immediate need for the improvement in educational sectors currently, we are focusing on education by creating awareness and arranging seminars, conferences, competitions and coaching sessions. This reason for the immediate attention on education is to uplift those communities which are relatively under-privileged. The geographical areas we cover is the region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The geographical dispersion of Gilgit-Baltistan on a vast area makes it challenging to identify, analyze and address the issues of the region like students’ guidance, awareness, tourism and future of this arena. The advancement of information technology has contracted the entire world to a global village, even to a global room. It has gifted us a facility of the internet that showed a positive influence on our lives. This interconnection has also provided an opportunity for the students of Gilgit-Baltistan to unite on one platform to address, share and resolve their issues in their way to a bright future. Thus a student dwelling whether in metropolitans of Karachi or the mountains of Karakorum, Hindukush, Himalayas or even somewhere else abroad can discuss and disseminate his/her information and experience.

Thus keeping in view the importance of the internet, we have established an NGO besides an online community. Its website will provide a common platform for the public, especially students of Gilgit-Baltistan who are the main target of our organization. It is managed and run by dedicated students as well as professional people of the region to provide information, discussions on various educational, cultural, social and political issues. The organization understands through considered introspection, analysis and self-reflection the right direction for a successful life. It provides ammunition, especially in the field of education to compete for upcoming challenges of the twenty-first century. It will try to instil qualities that lend a purpose to the people.

Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization® strives to work on the issues of educational, civic life and socio-cultural aspects. Keeping all these aspects in mind, the organization has given a core value in its manifesto to help to boost up the masses of the region, mainly student community, to compete at all stages of life.

According to Article IV.I of the Constitution of Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization (G-B SWO)®, the Aims and Objectives are:

1. To provide proper career guidance, both at the grass-root level and professional level via the network of professional advisors and psychologists.
2. To keep students up to date regarding admissions in different colleges and universities, both national and international.
3. To facilitate an online platform for its members for faster and better communication and to bridge the communication gap regarding different walks of life.
4. To facilitate students towards financial assistance and scholarship programs at the local, national, and international level.
5. To support and encourage ethical and value-based education via a focus on character building, tolerance, discipline, wisdom and team building through seminars and counselling in different community schools.
6. To promote and protect the indigenous culture(s) via promoting ecotourism.
7. To aware society of civic consciousness (like SOS centers and drug abuse) in public by encouraging and involving them in healthy learning activities that would enable them to be politically groomed, socially responsible and culturally cultivated citizens.
8. To bring females, particularly female students into equal footings with male counterparts through a cooperative and counselling approach that will help them out to overcome the difficulties like miscommunication, misrepresentation and misperceptions.
9. To arrange workshops and vocational training and to seek assistance from the government and other non-governmental organizations in the accomplishment of its aims and objectives so the region may be developed.
10. To promote volunteerism by providing a platform where G-Bians will polish their built-in abilities. That includes; teaching, presentations and artwork etc.
11. To encourage research on different issues and suggest policy recommendations for the government.
12. To cooperate with government and other non-government organizations to protect and sustainable use of natural recourses and ensure sustainable development.
13. To cooperate with the government and other non-government organizations to combat social issues to promote peace and love.

In the year 2004, the exceeding inspiration of Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization® was engendered by a connection of friends in Islamabad Pakistan. They comprehended the magnitude of Information sharing and instigated a yahoo group named ‘Geogilgit’, to carve up information with their associates, in Gilgit-Baltistan region. Afterwards, the founder of the ‘Geogilgit’, moved to Lahore, got admission at Forman Christian College Lahore (A Chartered University), to complete his baccalaureate degree program with major in Economics and minor in Political Science.

Geogilgit aspired to bring students to the prestigious institutes of the country from the remote region of Gilgit-Baltistan. With this endeavour in mind, the team of Geogilgit worked a lot, campaigned on personal capacity with their school mates and raised the number from seven in 2005 to fifty plus in at2009 at Forman Christian College Lahore (A Chartered University). These students became the extraordinary students in the school and were admitted by the administration and faculty in different programs – and ultimately became a gold medalist and reward honours. The Founder of Geogilgit got a Fulbright Scholarship to the United States. He was the first student ever to get this scholarship in the history of Forman Christian College (A Chartered University) from 1864 to 2008.

The efforts of Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization® used social media networks such as Yahoo group, Facebook and Orkut from the very beginning. Students from the remote region of Gilgit-Baltistan were endowed with information and supervision; and they got admission in numerous well-known colleges and universities in Pakistan including Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS), the BEST and emblem of elite’ class in the county, and about which people can only dream about.

Keeping in mind the interest of the student, active community participation, and progress of the Geogilgit – it was decided by the Managing Committee on August 12, 2008, at Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS) Lahore Pakistan, to get registered and work at the national level and international level. Hence, an application was put together, and Gilgit-Baltistan Social Welfare Organization® was registered under the Social Welfare Act.