Two Pakistanis were among 16 innovators, activists and entrepreneurs from 12 countries that have been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Youth Awards 2020, organisers said on Thursday.
A pan-Commonwealth judging panel met last week and selected the top individuals in each of the award’s four regional categories. Who are the two Pakistani’s who got nominated? Jaya Rajwani, who is the technical lead for ‘Aurat Raaj’; a social enterprise which creates technology-based products and services to educate girls on health, hygiene and safety, was among the Pakistanis shortlisted for the awards in the Gender Equality category, according to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s press release. Hafiz Usama Tanveer – the founder of ‘PakVitae’; a social enterprise that produces and supplies water treatment products to provide clean and accessible drinking water to rural communities and refugee camps in Pakistan – was shortlisted in the Clean Water and Sanitation category. PakVitae has so far reached over 11,000 people including victims of the Kerala flood, Afghan refugee camps and remote schools in rural areas. How does the Commonwealth Youth Awards work? The regional winners will each earn a trip to London to attend the awards ceremony on 11 March 2020 and will receive £3,000. The overall pan-Commonwealth winner will take home a total of £5,000.
The judging panel included high commissioners, development experts and youth leaders from across the Commonwealth.