Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia
Project Title: Building a Sustainable Applied Behavior Analysis Workforce in Pakistan: A Training-of-Trainers Approach
Pakistan faces a substantial and growing burden of neurodevelopmental conditions, with an estimated 350,000 children affected, yet the availability of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services remains extremely limited. Existing services are concentrated in a handful of private organizations in large urban centers, leaving low-income families, public-sector schools, rural communities, and children with developmental disabilities with little to no access to evidence-based behavioral support. Professionals working in these underserved contexts often lack formal ABA training, constraining their ability to manage challenging behavior, support learning, and implement effective interventions.
This proposal aims to address this capacity gap by establishing a scalable, national-level Training-of-Trainers (ToT) programme in ABA. The programme will directly train 200 professionals drawn from universities, NGOs, schools, and clinical settings, equipping them with foundational ABA concepts, applied competencies, and instructor-level teaching skills. Using a cascade training model, each trained participant will conduct a minimum of five follow-on trainings within their own institution, extending reach to over 1,000 additional practitioners within the first year and establishing a self-sustaining pipeline of trainers.
The project will develop a comprehensive, reusable ToT package, including a trainer manual, participant workbook, standardized slide decks, culturally relevant case studies, assessment tools, and demonstration videos. These materials will remain freely available to trained educators, enabling institutions to independently continue ABA training cycles well beyond the grant period. Delivery will be supported by a digital dissemination and collaboration platform, ensuring nationwide access to training materials and ongoing communication with participants across geographically diverse and remote regions.
By building a national network of trained ABA facilitators, this initiative will reduce reliance on a small pool of urban experts, foster peer learning and cross-institutional collaboration, and strengthen classroom practices, therapy planning, and community-based services across the country. Ultimately, the programme seeks to improve the consistency and quality of behavior-analytic support available to underserved populations, positioning Pakistan to build a durable, replicable model for expanding ABA training in low-resource settings across the region.
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