Trinidad nationals receive Queens Young Leaders Awards

Two Trinidad and Tobago nationals are among a group of young people across the Commonwealth who will receive awards from Queen Elizabeth in London later this month.

Benedict Bryan and Jean-Claude Cournand were selected to receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award, according to a release.

The award recognizes the work that young people across the Commonwealth are doing to transform their lives in their community and beyond.

Bryan, 26, of Central Trinidad, the founder of the Humanitarian Association of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (HARTT) which focuses on providing humanitarian assistance to refugees, will receive the award for the work he is doing to improve social equality in his country, while Cournand, 28, of Tunapuna, will receive an award for the work he is doing to raise awareness of social issues through the 2cents Movement — which uses spoken-word poetry to encourage young people to address them.

The two men were selected following a competitive process involving thousands of applicants across the Commonwealth.

Together, they join a network of 240 powerful young leaders from 53 Commonwealth countries, who are striving to make the world a better place.

The 2018 Queen’s Young Leaders are finding solutions to global issues such as climate change, food scarcity, gender-based violence, mental health and access to education.