KABUL - Aisha Khurram has been selected as Afghanistan’s Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2019, joining a group of other young people from across the globe to act as representatives for a new generation seeking to make their voices heard at the world body.

As part of her new responsibilities, Khurram is tasked with engaging other young Afghans on social media and elsewhere to hear their ideas about how to play an effective role in promoting peace, security and positive change in Afghanistan. Her responsibilities also involve representing her peers at international events, including engagements at the Security Council, to call attention to the many challenges Afghan youth face and the many opportunities they can rally together to leverage.

In the upcoming weeks, Khurram, a student at Kabul University, will travel to Germany to meet the German Youth Representative, government officials and civil society. Germany, currently a member of the Security Council, is sponsoring the Youth Representative programme.

The selection of Khurram as Afghanistan’s second Youth Representative to the UN follows a multi-stage process involving video and in-person interviews, as well as a debate that took place 7 October 2019 in Kabul. The judges included Peter Prugel, Germany’s Ambassador to Afghanistan; Idrees Zaman, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sofia Ramyar, Executive Director of Afghans for Progressive Thinking; and Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.