Earlier this year, I was honoured to receive The Diana Award. The award was established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, and is the most prestigious accolade a young person aged 9-25 years can receive for their social action or humanitarian work.
I was awarded this honour because of my work, namely in respect of women’s rights and, in particular, period poverty.
I have been extremely fortunate to have had the experience of being on the Amnesty International Junior Advisory Board for two years as the voice for young people in the South West. This experience has helped me develop a better understanding of human rights issues and how to combat them, but also how to encourage my peers to get involved with social issues and human rights issues.
Over the past three years, I have also had the opportunity of lobbying US politicians (such as Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Representative Sean P. Duffy and Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Missouri) at Capitol Hill in Washington DC while working with The United Nations Youth Foundation. I have lobbied on issues relating to young women such as forced marriage, period poverty, reproductive rights and FGM. We also campaigned for young refugees' rights to education.
Last year, I realised period poverty continued to be a problem for many, due to the existing taboo, lack of knowledge of available resources, and poverty itself, which led me to create an online course as there was no other training of its kind. Since then, schools and colleges of further education have used this training in-house to gain a further insight into period poverty and how they can support students.
On Monday 28th June, I was honoured to attend a virtual ceremony along with fellow award recipients from all over the world.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, supports of The Diana Award and attended the ceremony. He said: "I want to thank you for being part of this important moment and for being such an invaluable asset to your community. I'm truly honoured to be celebrating your work, your commitment to change making, and the vital role you've taken on representing a new generation of humanitarianism."
It was an uplifting and inspiring experience. I now look forward to further developing my skills as I take part in The Diana Award Recipient Development Programme.
Ruby, UC4
Main picture courtesy of The Diana Award
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