PROFILE: A BALOCH TEEN WITH BIG DREAMS |
Zunaira Qayyum, who will turn 15 in July next year, is currently reading Crime and Punishment, arguably the most well-known work of Russian master Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
A voracious reader, the ninth-grade student races and, at times, slogs through the daunting tome, balancing it with her studies and extracurricular activities. “I should be able to finish the book in the next few days,” she tells Eos in a phone interview.
Finishing Dostoyesky’s psychological masterpiece is just a stepping stone for the young woman from Balochistan’s impoverished Hub district. Zunaira aspires to become the secretary-general of the United Nations (UN). “There is yet to be a female secretary-general of the UN and I want to change that,” she says with confidence.
PUTTING IN THE HARD HOURS
Zunaira has already racked up a string of achievements that belie her age. Her research on the impacts of climate change-induced floods on girls’ secondary education in Hub was among the winners of a competition, organised via the collaboration between a host of UN agencies and the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme in 2023.
Zunaira Qayyum was the youngest delegate at COP 29 in Baku last year and has been appointed as a youth advocate by Unicef. But the teen climate champion from impoverished Balochistan’s Hub district has her sights set on a much bigger goal…
The competition, called Policy Research Challenge, focused on enhancing research capabilities and promoting the active involvement of adolescents and the youth to create lasting impacts for 2030 and beyond.
“My research found that climate change in Balochistan disproportionately affects women and girls, limiting their access to education, health and livelihood opportunities,” she tells Eos.........