Year 11 student stepping up to empower and give a voice to her community
As the lives of Australian students were thrown upside down by the pandemic, 15-year-old Anhaar Kareem saw that the views of young people weren’t being heard and wanted to make sure that their concerns were a part of the national conversation.
Representing the interests of young people, the Al Noori Muslim School student took to the media to discuss the frustration of young people during lockdown, as well as advocating to improve adolescents’ understanding of vaccination to support their involvement in decision-making. She also worked with NSW Health and the state's Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant to help answer some of the most popular questions from young people about COVID-19 and vaccination.
We’re proud to award Anhaar with an Edstart Achievement Award in the social impact category for her strong advocacy work in her community.
Passionate about social justice
As a young child, Anhaar was inspired by her grandmother’s efforts to help Muslim women from all backgrounds to come together and support each other including founding the Islamic Women’s Welfare Association (IWWA).
Coming from an Egyptian and Muslim background, she saw first-hand how inclusivity and diversity of representation in the media were important to our society in Australia. As early as Year 5, she was using her talents in public speaking and writing to raise awareness about the struggles of refugees, women, and other minorities.
Driven by her strong passion for social justice and fighting inequality she’s gotten involved in a range of volunteering and charitable initiatives over the last few years including providing free tuition for kids in need and becoming a commissioner for the Wellbeing Health & Youth Centre for Research Excellence.
Shining a spotlight on important issues
Anhaar has continued to step up and be a voice for her community and others by bringing attention to important issues in the media including writing another article for The Guardian and an appearance on ABC's Q&A. Both she and her Grandmother were also recently featured on the ABC for their work supporting young Muslim women.
She was awarded the NSW Young Volunteer of the Year Award for the Mid-Western Sydney Region and the overall Volunteer of the Year Award in 2021.
Starting up the IWWA Youth
To help give young Muslim women in Western Sydney a sense of belonging and identity, Anhaar has launched the IWWAYouth to help organise activities and events which cater to their needs. These activities include trivia nights, movie nights, cooking classes, pamper days and inspirational speeches by a range of female role models on topics such as well-being, mental health, and social justice.
Winning the Edstart Achievement Award and the $1,500 award grant is helping Anhaar to continue to run these important events and initiatives with the IWWAYouth.
In the long term, she wants to pursue a career in politics and journalism, where she hopes her voice can help shape a better future for minorities and other underrepresented groups.
About Edstart
Edstart is a leading technology and financial services company providing funding and payment services for education. We offer fee management solutions to schools and flexible payment plans to parents to help make school fees easier to manage.
To see how we can help you, visit our main website.
Find out more
Edstart is a leading technology and financial services company providing funding and payment services for education. We offer fee management solutions to schools and flexible payment plans to parents to help make school fees easier to manage.
To see how we can help you, visit our main website.
Find out more