The first-ever QS World Merit Awards celebrated the incredible work of our community and councils throughout 2022. Following the QS Reimagine Education Conference, the awards placed the spotlight on the projects and campaigns of young leaders in our community, impacting 83,000+ people in over 15 countries.
The theme for the QS World Merit 2022 Awards was “A Generation of Action” – Young people are the ones shifting the needle on some of the world’s most complex issues. During this event, we inspired, recognised, and rewarded young people doing tangible work that makes the planet a more regenerative place.
17 esteemed speakers from 9 countries shared their inspiring stories and knowledge on topics such as regeneration, youth mobilization, tree plantation, and climate literacy, among others. Our community members learned a lot from the informative keynote presentations, panels, and firechats.
“People should join QS World Merit because the organization offers a robust program and platform for tackling the SDGs and recognises people for their efforts and accomplishments.”
Illustrious Amaewhule Ewhorlu, panelist
One of the event highlights was is a musical performance by Ghana-based Nativ Afrik Band, who performed their original songs, including “Leave No One Behind”, a song about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We are highly honored to be part of this great initiative…indeed we’re leaving no one behind!”
Nativ Afrik Band
For this year’s awards, we recognised 4 young leaders who have done incredible work in their local communities:
Muhammad Zakir Shaikh, Overall Biggest Impact and QS World Merit Pakistan, Most Impactful Council
Zakir is an engineer, PhD scholar, lecturer, and motivational speaker. During his spare time, he does volunteer and charity work, such as organizing free lectures for students. He is also the President of QS World Merit Pakistan, which won the Most Impactful Council for 2022. “I consider it a great honor that our council triumphed. It inspires me and my team to work harder on the next sustainable initiatives and improve our planet.” Under his leadership, the council has done numerous projects, including SDG learning sessions, tree plantation drives, fruit distribution, climate change workshops, and medical camps, among others. Overall, the council has worked on more than 50 projects in 2022!
Aisha Baloch, Most Impactful Community Member and SDG 13: Climate Action Impact Award
Growing up in an underdeveloped area, Aisha wanted to make a difference in her community. “Through [QS World Merit], I proved that girls have more power if someone gives them an opportunity. Girls can do a lot and can be great changemakers in our society.” She worked tirelessly to create an impact in her community, from conducting SDG awareness sessions, to tree plantation and food drives.
“I am so much happy because I won two awards. It motivated me and other young people who are creating an impact. This is a successful moment for my team too.”
Aisha Baloch, Most Impactful Community Member 2022
Zohaib Ahmad, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being and SDG 4: Quality Education Impact Awards
Zohaib worked on impact projects related to health and education, including blood donation drives, career counseling sessions, and skill-building workshops. He shares the impact of donating blood: “15 minutes and 450ml of your blood won’t take away much from your life, but for those 3 lives in need, it can mean another lifetime.”
Bukola Olalere, Most Valuable Alumni
We recognised the work of an excellent leader and former President of QS World Merit Nigeria, Bukola, who tragically passed in 2022. She had valuable contributions towards the SDGs, with a specific focus on maternal health, poverty alleviation, hunger reduction, and girls in technology.
Congratulations to our 2022 winners, and thank you for making the world a better place!
Thank you to our incredible speakers who shared their time and knowledge with the community, our generous event sponsors ChangeLight and CulturaGo, our community partners Global Tree Initiative, People of Impact, SIMA, and AIESEC UK, and our community members for making this event possible.
I am really impressed with the actions put forth by the above team to make a breakthrough as far as climate change , poverty alleviation and Education is concern. These also falls within my areas of intervention especially among local communities in Cameroon.