Munni Begum/Guwahati

The 23-year-old Nahid Afrin of Assam wears many a hat: from being a child proidigy in the school to becoming a UNICEF advocate for rights of children, the success of this extraordinary woman from Assam, could be the envy of many veteran achievers.

She has been making Assam proud through various achievements since her school days. Nahid first shot to fame when she became the second runner-up in the 2015 edition of Indian Idol Junior.

In 2016, she made her debut as a playback singer in Bollywood in the movie Akira starring Sonakshi Sinha. Two years later, UNICEF India selected Nahid as the 'Child Rights Champion' for the North East. At that time, Nahid was a school student.

Nahid Afrin with Indian community in London celebrating Bihu

Today, Nahid is a student of Psychology at the prestigious Cotton University and also UNICEF India's Youth Advocate in helping India deal with child marriages.

Nahid, along with three other Youth Advocates, is working with Bollywood star actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, the National Ambassador for UNICEF. Besides child marriage, they work on critical issues such as climate action, mental health, innovation, and Girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).    

In 2018, UNICEF organized a program on child marriage in the Assam Assembly. The then Speaker of the Assembly presented a report on the negative impact of child marriage in society and discussed how it can be addressed. Nahid was actively involved in anti-child marriage activities and campaigns till 2020. 

Nahid Afrin with Union Minister Sarbanand Sonwal

In 2023, Nahid received a call from the UNICEF India Regional Office informing me that she had been nominated as their Youth Advocate. They had nominated Nahid and a very few other young people like her from different states of India for the said post. After that, Nahid had a year-long training workshop, and they gave me this responsibility for Assam.

As a Youth Advocate of UNICEF, Nahid now has the opportunity to work on this issue in an international forum or platform to solve problems like child marriage in Assam.

Nahid Afrin singing on the stage

“When we think of girl children, we usually think of education, health, and development. Now I am planning to work on child marriage as well as children's mental health. This is because nowadays it is often seen that most of the students or children are mentally disturbed and depressed. Children aged 13-19 are especially vulnerable to stress. This is because they face competition in their studies and other fields. They also suffer from parental pressure and social pressure, and they are so worried about their career that many of them eventually make extreme decisions like suicide. As a Youth Advocate of UNICEF India and student of Psychology, I am now focusing on how to explain and create awareness to make children free from stress,” Nahid Afrin told Awaz-The Voice.

According to Nahid, in rural areas, it is common for mothers to ignore the nutritional needs of the newborn child, as mothers don't have much knowledge. The villagers don't even know the importance of breastfeeding.

Nahid Afrin( Extreme right) and other UNICEF advocates with Kareena Kapoor Khan

As a youth advocate of UNICEF India, Nahid will be fully responsible for creating such awareness among parents.

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When asked how she would like to introduce herself in the future, Nahid says, “I will continue to pursue music, education, and social service. God or Allah has been so kind to shower many blessings on me. One thing I must assure is that whatever I become or whatever I do in the future must benefit society. I would like to be remembered as a human being who has contributed something to make this world a better place to live in.”