Leading cricketer Rashid Khan has been on Wednesday, 20 March, announced as UNICEF Afghanistan’s National Ambassador.

In a statement, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has confirmed the leg-spinner’s association, saying the 20-year-old Afghan lad will help UNICEF to promote girls’ education, tackle malnutrition, eradicate polio and improve child immunization rates.

The statement reads, “The Leading cricketer, Rashid Khan, has today been announced as UNICEF Afghanistan's National Ambassador. In his role, 20-year-old Khan will help UNICEF to promote girls' education, tackle malnutrition, eradicate polio and improve child immunization rates.”

While the conflict and insurgency still affect a great number of Afghan children and pose threats to their life opportunities, Rashid feels grateful to get the opportunity to contribute towards the change for a better tomorrow, as the leg-spinner is looking forward to his association with the UNICEF.

Rashid stated, “It is an honor to be named as UNICEF Afghanistan’s National Ambassador. I have always wanted to be involved in improving children’s lives by contributing to issues pertaining to health, education, and nutrition; and UNICEF provides me a great platform to do so. I am eagerly looking forward to this association and hope we can make a change for a better tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the announcement was made on the day the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was marked - the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.

Adele Khodr, UNICEF Afghanistan Representative said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Rashid Khan to the UNICEF family today. Rashid’s already demonstrated a commitment to children will be a compelling and valuable asset to both UNICEF and the children of Afghanistan, who continue to dream and hope, without which humankind will be lost. At UNICEF, we believe that investing in the wellbeing, education, and protection of children today is key for a peaceful, stable and progressive Afghanistan.”

Noteworthy, near about 3.7 million Afghanistan children, including 2.2 million girls, are still out of school despite the significant progress in the past 17 years in the country.

(With Cricketnext Inputs)