Usman Ali, 14, who attends Crossley Heath School, Halifax, and is a member of the Calderdale Youth Council, will travel to Geneva in Switzerland, as part of a delegation to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The delegates will represent children and young people from the UK as the UN committee checks what the UK Government is doing to make sure young people's human rights are being respected.

Usman said he was delighted to have been selected to attend the event.

"I can't wait," he said. "I think everyone should have basic human rights, no matter where they live. Children do not often have strong rights.

"In the UK, we do not have as many problems with this issue as in other countries, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

"Geneva will be a good opportunity for me to represent the views of children and young people from across the country."

Usman was selected as a delegate for the two-day visit when he entered a competition run by the Children's Rights Alliance for England.

"I wrote a newspaper article on the importance of Article 12 of the UN's Convention on The Rights of the Child and how it was important to me," he said.

Article 12 says that children have the right to say what they think when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account.

The 12 young people in the delegation will join a working group which will help UN examiners gain an insight into the issues which are important to UK children and teenagers.

Crossley Heath head teacher Helen Gaunt, said: "I am delighted Usman has been rewarded for his effort by being given an opportunity to give a voice to children and young people from across the UK."