Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in South Asia, and the government is decreasing its 2009-10 education budget. Decreasing the education resources makes Barakat and other non-profits work vital to attempting to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Many of Barakat's students in Afghanistan are refugees originally from Pakistan. Pakistan is experiencing its worst refugee crisis since partition from India in 1947. Aid agencies report that nearly three million people live in others' homes or schools, many without access to the millions of dollars in international aid.