Pakhtun girl wins Princess Diana Award

PESHAWAR: A young Pakhtun girl, Mashal Aamir, has been awarded the Princess Diana Award, the highest accolade a young person can receive for their humanitarian work.

The award is retrospective and credits those who have demonstrated a consistent and sustained commitment to the advancement of humanitarian causes. She has undertaken social work since her childhood that focused on environmental and equality activism.

Continuing onto present day, she is a barrister by profession and focuses on providing a platform for marginalised voices on a global scale, particularly ethnic women and vulnerable children. Additionally, Mashal was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, UK, an award granted to those who have made outstanding achievements to social progress and development.

She has undertaken work internationally such as in South Korea, America, Pakistan and The Hague including the ‘International Criminal Court’, ‘Supreme Court of Pakistan’, ‘Legal Aid USA’ and ‘Citizens Advice Bureau Scotland’ and thus was awarded a scholarship for her commitment to the field of criminal justice. She has been selected as one of 30 Under-30 Inspiring Scottish Women and 100 Notable Women in Law.

Mashal completed her high-school education in Islamabad and Peshawar and her law studies took place at the University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow and University of North Carolina USA with further studies at The Hague Academy and Radboud University Nijmegen. Her father is a physician, Prof Dr Aamir Ghafoor Khan.

Princess Diana Award was established in memory of late Princess Diana, the only award in her name and honoured by her children. “I received the award for my many years of charity work, this ranges from ICC in The Hague, America, South Korea and in Pakistan. I help Pashto speaking community with the support of my family and varied organisations that I have been involved with to bring about positive impact,” she said in her remarks.