Maryam from Year 9 has won Campaigning Journalist of the Year at the Global Young Journalist Awards for her article on period poverty.

Among the judging panel were actor and comedian Tina Fey, as well as TV broadcaster Ayo Akinwolere, the BBC’s gender and identity correspondent Megha Mohan, the Financial Times top data journalism developer Ændra Rininsland, and Guardian columnist Afua Hirsch.

Created by daily online newspaper The Day, the Global Young Journalist Awards aim to inspire future generations of journalists to build a better world through storytelling.

Maryam’s entry was selected out of 500 entries from around the world. The judging panel said that she did an excellent job of communicating the prevalent issue of period poverty in the UK, and her writing was clear, concise, and compelling.

It was noted that Maryam’s piece was particularly powerful because she offered both a nuanced, evidence-based analysis of the problem, but also highlighted examples of how communities are successfully tackling this challenge.

Tina Fey said:

“There has never been a more important time to get young people involved in truth-seeking. It is vital for our future that the journalists investigate without fear or favour and this competition is an excellent way of inspiring children to get involved.”

Congratulations Maryam for this excellent achievement!