Eight Young Pakistanis Honoured With 2026 Diana Award for Social Impact

Eight young Pakistanis have been named recipients of the 2026 Diana Award, joining 198 young people from around the world honoured for projects that tackle social challenges and improve lives in their communities. The awards recognise work in education, health and well-being, equality, and climate action, and the recipients were announced on November 4.

The Pakistani honourees are Ali Azan Ahmed Manj, Areeba Suleman, Mariam Rehman, Muhammad Ibrahim, Noor Abdul Ghani, Reya Yassir Khawaja, Sara Ali and Vishal Parkash. According to the organisers, the award celebrates young leaders whose initiatives create measurable change, and Prince William and Prince Harry each sent letters congratulating this year's cohort.

Several recipients were recognised for healthcare and education work. Manj, through the Humanity Initiative, has helped organise medical camps and nonprofit partnerships serving more than 10,000 patients in Karachi and rural Sindh, while Suleman founded SheRise Pakistan, a student-led organisation based in Dera Ghazi Khan that has reached over 6,000 students across South Punjab with leadership and education programmes.

Legal access and climate resilience also featured prominently. Rehman founded The Pro-Justice Project, a free legal assistance network supported by more than 250 volunteer lawyers that has handled over 1,000 cases nationwide, and has provided free debate coaching to more than 200 girls. Ibrahim applied digital mapping and geographic information systems to flood recovery, working with the Punjab government on damage assessments that informed compensation planning for nearly 300,000 families, and led a rainwater harvesting project that equipped around 4,000 families with rooftop collection systems.

Others were honoured for work in science and health awareness. Ghani founded WinSci Pakistan to encourage girls and women to pursue STEM fields, drawing on her background as a machine learning engineer and artificial intelligence graduate student to run educational sessions, school outreach and scholarship guidance. Khawaja founded SAFE, or Sanitation and Female Empowerment, in partnership with the KCS Foundation, promoting menstrual health awareness through hygiene kit distribution and educational sessions for girls in underserved communities.

In their letters, Prince William praised recipients' resilience and compassion, saying his late mother, Princess Diana, would have been proud of their achievements, while Prince Harry highlighted her belief in young people's ability to drive meaningful change and urged the honourees to continue their work. The recognition places the Pakistani recipients alongside a global group of young changemakers selected for sustained community impact.

The Diana Award, named after the late Princess of Wales, is presented to young people aged 9 to 25 who have demonstrated long-term commitment to social action. This year's global cohort reflects a broad spread of causes, from education and equality to environmental sustainability, with the Pakistani recipients representing a notable share of the honours.