Girls in Kashmir — Education After the Earthquake

The October 2005 earthquake left Azad Kashmir in ruins, toppling homes, schools, and public infrastructure. More than 85,000 people lost their lives, including tens of thousands of children, and countless families were displaced, left to navigate grief, loss, and uncertainty.

Among the many consequences, the education of girls was particularly threatened. Though most girls aspired to continue their studies, the collapse of the school system, combined with entrenched traditions, made that goal fragile.

To counter this, the World Food Programme implemented initiatives to keep girls in school: families received food support conditional on regular attendance, and advocacy encouraged community leaders to support girls’ education. Yet uncertainty lingers. When international aid shifts priorities, old habits may resurface, and the delicate balance keeping girls in classrooms could be lost.

In this landscape of recovery and precarity, attending school becomes a statement — a quiet assertion of ambition, resilience, and the possibility of shaping a life beyond disaster. Education is both a refuge and a promise, fragile yet essential in a region still marked by the earthquake’s aftermath.