IGHD has established its first project office and storage facility in Gilgit-Baltistan to support the PICCTURE Pakistan Trial in District Astore. Located in a rented building in Eidgah, Astore, the extendable facility will serve as a local base for project staff, field operations, community engagement, and implementation activities.
The PICCTURE Pakistan Trial — Preparedness, Integrated Community Capacity, and Transformative Understanding for Resilience Enhancement — is a cluster randomised controlled trial focused on strengthening community preparedness and resilience in climate-vulnerable settings.
Establishing the office required extensive coordination due to the area's remote location, limited transport access, and challenging terrain. Despite these logistical difficulties, the team successfully completed the necessary assessments and arrangements to establish IGHD's presence in the region.
The AKU team was led by Muhammad Siddique from IGHD and included Major Basit Arshad from Safety and Security, Syed Babar Shah from Construction, and Khurram Ismail from Housing. Their combined expertise helped ensure that the site was suitable and ready to support the project.
The establishment of this first IGHD base in Gilgit-Baltistan marks an important step in expanding the Institute's field presence and strengthening its capacity to work directly with remote and climate-vulnerable communities.
IGHD has established its first project office and storage facility in Gilgit-Baltistan to support the PICCTURE Pakistan Trial in District Astore. Located in a rented building in Eidgah, Astore, the extendable facility will serve as a local base for project staff, field operations, community engagement, and implementation activities.
The PICCTURE Pakistan Trial — Preparedness, Integrated Community Capacity, and Transformative Understanding for Resilience Enhancement — is a cluster randomised controlled trial focused on strengthening community preparedness and resilience in climate-vulnerable settings.
Establishing the office required extensive coordination due to the area's remote location, limited transport access, and challenging terrain. Despite these logistical difficulties, the team successfully completed the necessary assessments and arrangements to establish IGHD's presence in the region.
The AKU team was led by Muhammad Siddique from IGHD and included Major Basit Arshad from Safety and Security, Syed Babar Shah from Construction, and Khurram Ismail from Housing. Their combined expertise helped ensure that the site was suitable and ready to support the project.
The establishment of this first IGHD base in Gilgit-Baltistan marks an important step in expanding the Institute's field presence and strengthening its capacity to work directly with remote and climate-vulnerable communities.
