Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday (June 23, 2016) will present Queen's Young Leaders Award to a Maldivian at Buckingham Palace, London.
As the Commonwealth celebrates the Queen’s 90th birthday, Safaath Ahmed Zahir is being recognized by for taking the lead in transforming the lives of others and making a lasting difference in her community. As a Queen’s Young Leader, she will be representing Maldives as she joins winners from 45 different Commonwealth countries in London for five days of high-level engagements, all designed to help them enhance their life-changing work.
Before receiving their Queen’s Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace, the winners will visit 10 Downing Street and the UK headquarters of global social networking company Twitter, and meet with senior executives at the BBC World Service. They will also meet the Commonwealth Secretary General, take part in workshops at the University of Cambridge, have meetings with UK business leaders, and visit projects that are changing the lives of vulnerable people in the UK.
Following his meeting with Safaath, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, James Dauris, said, "the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme recognizes the achievements of exceptional young people who work tirelessly for the betterment of their communities." He added that Safaath’s efforts to empower and secure recognition of the importance of women in the workforce is a great example for other aspiring young people, and is one that should encourage them to push for change with confidence”.
Selected through a competitive process where thousands of young people from all over the Commonwealth applied to be a Queen’s Young Leader, Safaath said, “I am looking forward to meeting Her Majesty, The Queen, and above all else I am really excited to meet the other 59 inspiring and passionate Queen's Young Leaders during Residential Week. I want to hear about their astounding work. I want to get to the end of the week with world-class knowledge, connections, ideas and resources that can support and encourage me in my quest to create change within the talented women of my country.”
This year’s award winners are working to support others, raise awareness and inspire change on a variety of issues including education, climate change, gender equality, mental health and improving the lives of people with disabilities.
The application process to become a 2017 Queen’s Young Leader opens on Friday (June 24, 2016). The programme is looking for people aged between 18 and 29 who are dedicated to creating positive changes to the lives of people in the Maldives.