PM Hasina to receive global women’s leadership award Friday

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be honoured with the Global Women’s Leadership Award for her outstanding leadership in advancing women education and women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, Asia and the Asia-pacific region. The award, a lifetime honour, will be conferred on Sheikh Hasina by US-based NGO Global Summit of Women in Sydney during the 2018 Global Summit of Women to be held on April 26-28 in Sydney, Australia. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said this on Tuesday while briefing media about prime minister’s Australia visit at the invitation of her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull. The prime minister will receive the award on Friday in presence of leaders representing governments, private sector and the business community. She will deliver speech highlighting women empowerment, equal rights, bringing women in the mainstream of development, steps taken by the government and achievements made so far, said the foreign minister. The Global Summit of Women was conceived as the nexus at which all sectors - public, private and nonprofit. It is a business summit, the ‘business’ focus of which is on women’s advancement in the global economy. For over 27 years, the Summit has been connecting women worldwide. Hasina will leave here for Sydney on Thursday on a three-day visit at the invitation of her counterpart Malcolm Turnbull. She will hold a bilateral meeting with her Australian counterpart on Saturday at the Commonwealth House in Sydney. Bilateral and multilateral issues, including the Rohingya crisis, are expected to be discussed at the meeting, sources at the Foreign Ministry said.