Daily Times

KABUL: Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was announced as UNICEF Afghanistan’s National Ambassador on Sunday. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement that the 20-year-old Khan will help UNICEF to promote girls’ education, tackle malnutrition, eradicate polio and improve child immunisation rates. “It is an honour to be named as UNICEF Afghanistan’s National Ambassador,” said Khan. “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.” 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. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Rashid Khan to the UNICEF family today,” said UNICEF Afghanistan Representative Adele Khodr. “Rashid’s already demonstrated 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 human kind 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.” Rashid Khan is one of the leading spinners in international cricket and has become a mainstay in every major T20 league around the world. In January 2018, he was awarded the Associate Cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and in February he became the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in One Day Internationals (ODIs). The leg-spinner is currently on No. 3 in the ODI rankings but tops the list in T20Is.