5 young Pakistanis win prestigious Diana Award 2020

Five Pakistani youngsters have made the nation proud by winning the prestigious Diana Award 2020 for inspiring youth and making exceptional efforts for the vulnerable segments of the society. The awardees include Lahore’s 18 year old Raina Khan Barki, Faisalabad’s Umer Mukhtar, DG Khan’s Nabila Abbas, Rahim Yar Khan’s Muhammad Ahmad Toor, and Muhammad Shohaib.

Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, The Diana Award is the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work. This is the longest running award for young people through a retrospective nomination process only.

Raina, founder and CEO of a non-profit organisation called ‘Zenana Foundation’, has been awarded for her efforts in female empowerment, health, education, and social entrepreneurship.

Umer Mukhtar, an 18 years old boy, bagged the United Kingdom’s award for his services to end inequalities through the power of literacy through his earliest initiative, the ‘Kitaab Foundation’.

Mohammad Ahmad Toor, a 23-year-old young man from Rahim Yar Khan, has won the global accolade for empowering thousands of youngsters through his organisation ‘MAPS’.

Nabila Abbas, a 23 years old girl from village Choti Zareen in Punjab’s DG Khan district, has been conferred with the Diana Award for providing education to the women and girls of rural areas.

Muhammad Shoaib, a 24 years old young man from lower Kurram in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, received the award for promoting peace, education and working on healthcare initiaves. Shoaib is CEO of ‘Kurram Welfare Home’, an NGO set up to counter violent extremism in Pakistan.

Source: Express Tribune