UNICEF Pakistan Youth Advocates

Taqwa Ahmad was appointed as UNICEF Pakistan's first-ever Youth Advocate in 2023. Born with physical limitations, she has turned her own experience into a powerful voice for children with disabilities, inclusive education, and children's rights across Pakistan.

Taqwa's advocacy has taken her to some of the most significant platforms in the world. In February 2025, she addressed the UNICEF Executive Board at its first regular session of the year, calling for more inclusive policies and programmes that ensure every child can reach their full potential. At the World Children's Day 2024 concert in Karachi, she delivered a speech on the urgent need for disability-inclusive opportunities for children, and in 2025 participated in the Kids Takeover at the Punjab Assembly in Lahore, bringing young voices directly into policy-making spaces.

Her commitment to advocacy extends beyond the stage. Taqwa has been an active voice on climate change, gender equality, and education for people with disabilities, and volunteers as an ambassador for several organisations working on human rights. Her dedication has earned her the Fakhr-e-Pakistan Award, and she has been nominated multiple times for the International Children's Peace Prize.

Taqwa believes that every challenge holds the seed of an opportunity, and she continues to inspire young people across Pakistan to speak up, show up, and shape the future they deserve.

Zunaira is a UNICEF Pakistan Youth Advocate for Climate Action and Girls' Empowerment, from Hub, Balochistan. The first girl in her family to receive an education, she turned personal experience into purpose after the devastating 2022 floods disrupted lives and schooling in her hometown.

At just 12 years old, Zunaira published research on how climate-induced floods were pushing girls out of secondary education in Hub, a region already facing low school enrollment. Her study, based on interviews and questionnaires with girls from flood-affected areas, called for disaster-resilient school infrastructure and integrated strategies linking climate resilience with gender equity. The research went on to win UNICEF's Policy Research Challenge in 2023.

Since then, Zunaira has represented Pakistan at some of the highest levels of global advocacy, including COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and the UNICEF Youth Advocates Mobilization Lab 2025 in New York, where she was among just 12 young people selected from around the world. At the UN General Assembly 2025, she spoke at various panel discussions and side events, amplifying young voices from across Pakistan. She also participated in the South Asia regional Youth Advocacy Guide conference in 2024, returning home to train fellow adolescents on advocacy, policy engagement, and research.

At home, Zunaira leads Youth in Action, a youth-led initiative, introduced a no-plastic policy in her school, and teaches English at a local academy. She envisions a climate-resilient future where every child is protected, educated, and empowered to shape a better world.