Three young Ghanaians are set to be awarded by Queen Elizabeth following their immense contributions to social development in Ghana.
Derrick Omari, 22; Alimatu Bawah, 28; and Shadrack Osei Frimpong, 26; will join their colleagues from other Commonwealth countries to receive the Young Leaders Awards at the Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.
The Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional people aged between 18 and 29 from across the Commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives.
Persons within the said age group are selected and awarded for their exceptional contributions to communities in their respective countries. Those who emerge winners of the Queen’s Young Leaders Award are personally handed their awards by the Queen.
In addition, winners are given a unique package of training, mentoring and networking, as well as a one-week residential programme in the United Kingdom.
“It is an incredible opportunity to be honoured at this stage by the Queen of England,” one of the Ghanaian nominees, Derrick Omari, told Accra-based Citi FM.
He was selected for the prestigious award after his exploits with, Tech Era, a non-governmental organization that runs an IT literacy program and exposes persons with disability and less privileged persons to technology in order to give them hope and potential to transform their community and not only themselves.
Alimatu Bawah, who is also a nominee and the co-founder of CowTribe, said she never expected to be nominated despite her exceptional works. CowTribe is a mobile technology platform that helps to link farmers with veterinary services more quickly and easily, via a simple booking app.
The main aim of the service is to reduce livestock mortality and to increase productivity and income for rural farmers and livestock keepers.
“It is something that I never had expected. Even though I know that what I am doing is an exceptional thing because it’s never been done. It is a form of endorsement that animal health is as important as human health and this award is a challenge to do more. The award is not giving any financial support to any organization but it is giving a tailor-made training that helps the projects,“ she said.
“It is a good thing being recognized for doing something good but we shouldn’t be working for awards.”
Shadrack Osei Frimpong, a social entrepreneur and founder of Cocoa360, which runs a free girls’ school and medical clinic in his community, is the third Ghanaian selected for the Queen‘s Young Leaders Award.
Last year, three Ghanaians, Elijah Amoo Addo, Winnifred Selby and Efua Asibon were selected among 60 others from other Commonwealth nations who were awarded by the Queen.