Bhubaneswar, June 6: A 17-year-old tribal boy from the state will represent the country in the Malala Day United Nations Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on July 12.

The teenager, Laxman Hembram, who hails from a poor Santhal family in Mayurbhanj district, had earlier presented a paper on climate change as a part of the United Nations Environment Program in Seoul in South Korea.

“I will highlight educational backwardness among tribals and will focus on the efforts that can be initiated in making the tribal children join the mainstream society,” said Laxman, who received the invitation to attend the meet from the office of the president of the UN General Assembly last week. He will leave for New York on July 10.

The Malala Day United Nations Youth Assembly coincides with the 16th birthday of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani child activist and an advocate of universal education and girls’ rights. Hailing from restive Swat Valley of Pakistan, Malala drew flak of the Taliban hardliners for attending school and supporting girls’ education.

On October 9 last year, Taliban gunmen shot Malala in the head and neck in an assassination attempt, while she was returning home on a school bus. She was seriously injured in the attack. But, she recovered after a prolonged treatment in England.

Malala will attend the Youth Assembly and deliver her first public speech since the shooting, which will be dedicated to the importance of universal education.

The programme will have a series of events hosted by the president of the UN General Assembly and the UN Special Envoy for Global Education.

In support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative, international youth leaders will convene at the United Nations and in cities around the world in support of reaching the goal of having all children, especially girls, in school by 2015.

Laxman is the only youth leader representative from India selected for the event.

Besides his regular studies, the ambitious boy has also taken part in the English access program and the youth leadership program of US Department of State.

“It is a matter of great pride for the state to have a tribal student to represent the country at this prestigious international meet,” said A. Samanta, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences where Laxman studied.