Changing Lives: Two Pakistanis to Get Queen’s Young Leaders Award

Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain will present a Young Leaders Award to two young people from Pakistan at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace for their exceptional life-changing work.

Twenty-eight-year-old Muhammad Usman from Punjab has been recognized for his dedication to helping all children receive an education. He designed an educational program called "Back to Life Edutainment for Street Children," which was upheld through social media and inspired over 500 young people to voluntarily implement the project in four cities. Muhammad told BBC he was grateful to his father who had pushed him to get an education, despite the fact that he grew up in a poor village. This inspired him to set up the program of free quality education, including computer skills, English language and peace education.

Twenty-six-year-old Zainab Bibi, another winner from Pakistan, Lahore, will become the first Pakistani female to get the award for her work and research. As well as establishing the Pakistan Society for Green Energy, Zainab has developed a bio-fuel from waste tissue paper which could help to provide cleaner energy. She also introduced to Pakistan, from the USA, a plant species that produces bioethanol (biodiesel). "Camelina sativa" has a short growth cycle and a greater resistance to drought, which means that it can be grown in desert areas in Pakistan.

Sixty winners aged between 18 and 29 were selected from a competitive process where thousands of young people from 45 Commonwealth countries applied to be a Queen's Young Leader. Usman and Zainab will be representing Pakistan while participating in five days of sophisticated activities, which will help them further for their life-changing work.

The ceremony will be held at Buckingham Palace in London on June 23. Before receiving their Queen's Young Leaders Award at Buckingham Palace, the winners will visit 10 Downing Street, the UK headquarters of Twitter and meet with senior executives at the BBC World Service main office. 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.