- The Prince’s Trust International Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award is sponsored by Charlotte Tilbury.
- The award recognises the inspirational and impactful work of young women who have succeeded against the odds to make a difference in their communities.
An inspirational young woman from Pakistan, Tanzila Khan, has received the first-ever Prince’s Trust International Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award, sponsored by Charlotte Tilbury. Miss Khan received the award at a ceremony held in London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Part of The Prince’s Trust Awards, the ceremony will be broadcast to audiences across the UK for the first time on ITV 26th May at 20:30.
Founded by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and building on four decades of experience through The Prince’s Trust in the UK, Prince’s Trust International supports young people into work across 17 countries through employment, education and enterprise programmes. The charity is working in partnership with Amal Clooney to highlight the global work of young women who have succeeded against the odds and made a lasting difference to those around them.
Having grown up in Pakistan with a disability, Tanzila became an author at 16 and is now an entrepreneur helping to break down barriers towards health and menstrual products.
According to the World Bank, an estimated 500 million lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management. To help address this, Tanzila and her team founded a mobile application and website, Girlythings.pk.
“I was travelling across the world, writing books and a lot of good things were happening,” Tanzila said. “Despite this, I still didn’t have access to menstrual healthcare and, I thought, this has to be worked on. I decided to work on the solution myself”.
Girlythings works to give better access to menstrual, reproductive health and maternity products to women anonymously helping to ignite conversation on a sensitive topic. Looking to the future, Tanzila hopes to continue challenging stigmas and supporting menstruators across the world.
On Tuesday 24th May, Tanzila attended a star-studded ceremony at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane to receive her award and meet with guests including His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
During the ceremony, Amal Clooney said:
“It’s an honour to have been invited to present an award by Prince’s Trust International. And a particular pleasure to be able to champion young women making a difference in their communities.
“Our awardee took every stereotype and debunked it; each barrier she faced, and broke it. She refuses to accept the status quo – and fights to change it not just for herself but for all girls and all those living with disabilities.
“Her advocacy brings light to the darkest places – and I hope that after receiving this award, she will be able to shine even more brightly”.
Commenting on the win, Tanzila Khan added:
“It is a real honour to receive this award and get recognition for Girlythings.pk that is a start-up about menstrual healthcare. I have deep respect for the courage that Amal Clooney has to speak up and work for women and human rights and I’m hopeful about the opportunities that this award will open up.
“I fundamentally believe that all menstruators should have the right to access menstrual products and that these conversations should be happening openly and without prejudice.
“My organisation, Girlthings, aims to make menstrual healthcare an integral part of our conversation about lifestyle and not a stigmatized secret. We offer a support system for other menstruators to connect, share knowledge and empower each other”.
