By: Sobia Ali
LONDON: Five young leaders from Pakistan have received the Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust (QECT) 100 Young Leaders Award. Two of them, Danish Sohail and Joshua Dilawar, met His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla at St James’s Palace, London. The occasion was the QECT 100 Young Leaders reception, held ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2026.
The QECT 100 Young Leaders Awards mark what would have been the 100th birthday of the late Queen Elizabeth II in April 2026. The awards recognise 100 young changemakers aged 18 to 35 from across the 56 Commonwealth countries. Each awardee founded, co-founded or leads a social impact initiative with measurable results in education, health, the environment, food and agriculture, or inclusion.
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Pakistan’s awardees include Danish Sohail, Joshua Dilawar, Hassan Ashraf and Farah Gul Rahuja, along with [fifth name].
Danish Sohail is co-founder of The Young Changemakers, a youth-led organisation of Pakistan with a chapter in the United Kingdom. It works on sexual and reproductive health and rights, the inclusion of marginalised communities, climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the organisation, Danish has worked to give young Pakistanis, especially those from marginalised communities, a platform to lead change in their own communities.
Joshua Dilawar is associated with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and is an alumnus of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. He has long worked on education and youth development. Hassan Ashraf is a member of the Prime Minister’s National Youth Council.
Danish and Joshua come from Nishat Colony, and their achievement has filled the community with pride. Celebrating the moment, community members recalled a biblical question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” They said that anyone asking the same of Nishat Colony today has a resounding answer: yes.
Sharing his experience, Joshua Dilawar said he had the profound honour of meeting the King and Queen. He was among dignitaries and changemakers from across the Commonwealth, and was proud to have his friend and brother Danish Sohail by his side. “I am still taking in the weight of this experience, representing Pakistan, our young people, colleagues, and the work we do together every single day for substantial change and development,” he said. “Grateful. Grounded. And more committed than ever.”
Rana Mashhood, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, earlier praised the Pakistani awardees and called their selection a “defining moment” for the country’s youth.
The international recognition of these young leaders sends a clear message. Pakistan’s youth, often from modest neighbourhoods, are leading real change and carrying the country’s name to the world with dignity.
