Queen Elizabeth II of Britain has awarded South Sudanese designer Akuja de Garang with the Member of the Order of British Empire (MBE), which was established in 1917 to recognise contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service.

According to Mott MacDonald, a global engineering, management, and development consultancy firm, Akuja was awarded the MBE by the queen for her promotion of girls’ education and social development in South Sudan.
The award is in recognition of Akuja’s work in leading the Girls’ Education South Sudan (GESS) program, an intervention initiative sponsored by the U.K. Agency for International Development.

Responding to the news, de Garang said,“This is wonderful. More so for the GESS program and the people of South Sudan.”