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#iwill ambassador human rights defender

1309. Katrina Lambert

Katrina Lambert, aged 19, from Edinburgh, is an #iwill ambassador and leading young human rights defender.

Katrina has worked with charities including ‘Youth For Change’ to ensure FGM is a mandatory part of the UK’s relationships and sex education curriculum. In 2019, she also became the youngest person to speak at the UN’s Committee Against Torture in Geneva.

In a personal letter to Katrina, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

I know you do this with no thought of praise or reward, but allow me to offer my own recognition of how you advocate for young women, particularly campaigning for education about FGM.”

Dr Rania Marandos, CEO of ‘Step Up To Serve’, which coordinates the #iwill campaign, said:

“At the #iwill campaign we know that young people have the energy, ideas and drive to create positive change in their communities and to tackle many of society’s tougher challenges. We are so pleased to see the Prime Minister recognising the astounding achievements that Katrina has made through her activism for women’s and young people’s rights, and hope this inspires Katrina and other young people to continue their fantastic work.”

Katrina said:

“I am absolutely honoured to receive the Points of Light Award today. The voices of young people, especially young women, are often the ones that society leaves behind. I will continue to work to ensure that they are always heard loud and clear, and that we are included in decisions that affect our lives. I am so glad that the PM is recognising the contributions of young people to society – I am just one of thousands of young people across the UK speaking out and changing the world around them and I look forward to more young people like me gaining this recognition in the future.”

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The daily Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers - people who are making a change in their community.

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