Few inspire us like those who refuse to quit whatever the odds, like the man who lost his eyesight in childhood but went on to become an internationally recognised advocate for the disabled.
Monsur Ahmed Chowdhury, who managed to educate himself by overcoming darkness and barriers, now inspires and encourages others with his light. His involvement with various organisations reveals his extremely active life, his papers presented at many national and international meetings show his immense intellectual contribution particularly in the disability sector.
At the age of seven, a ball hit his left eye when he was a student of Banglabazar Kindergarten. His father, who was the magistrate in Dhaka, immediately took him to the doctor. Monsur, not blaming the doctors, said: “At least one eye could be saved. But as one eye was completely damaged in the accident, the other one was subsequently affected due to sympathetic opthalmia.”
Monsur continued his education using Braille textbooks as the first blind student of the former Rotary School for the Blind in Dhaka in 1957. He passed his SSC exams from Rajshahi Board with first division in 1966 and HSC from Dhaka College with first division in 1968.
Monsur was admitted to Dhaka University in 1968 as a resident of Salimullah Muslim Hall and obtained a BA degree with honours in Political Science and an MA degree in Public Administration in 1972 and 1974, respectively.
He received higher training from the universities of Oslo, Little Rock and Sussex. By profession, he is a development practitioner and has held several key positions including managing director, Jatiya Pratibandhi Unnayan Foundation, founder director, Impact Foundation Bangladesh, technical adviser, Helen Keller International Bangladesh and has served as a short-term consultant with the World Bank and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Monsur is the third son of his late parents, Moziruddin Chowdhury and Asia Khatun Chowdhury, of Vaddeshwar, Sylhet. He was born on November 15, 1949 in Habiganj where his father worked for the government.
As a government delegate, he attended the final negotiations (the 8th session of the Ad Hoc Committee of the UNCRPD) of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held at the United Nations headquarters in New York in 2006.
Monsur was nominated by the government of Bangladesh and subsequently elected a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for a term of four years at the first conference of States Parties at the UN in New York in 2008.
Currently he is engaged as a member of the executive board, Disability Council International, founder trustee, Impact Foundation Bangladesh, secretary of the board of trustees, Sir John Wilson School, executive board member, ActionAid International Bangladesh and trustee, Bishwa Shahityo Kendra.
Monsur was named a Senior Ashoka Fellow in 2005 and was a Lifetime Achievement Award winner at the Singer – Channel i Legendary Bravery Awards, 2011.
Monsur, by means of his merit and determination has struggled throughout his life to stand on his own feet with dignity and equality.
Having achieved this in full measure, he has spent his life working at the national and international level for the promotion of opportunities, services and the protection of human rights of people with disabilities.