Let us celebrate our success. It is a momentum of inspiration. It appears in a time when the nation is celebrating its independence.
At this moment, a new global recognition of the achievements of the daughter of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the people’s leader as well as the honourable prime minister of the country, is pleasing and encouraging for the nation.
Sheikh Hasina, honourable prime minister of Bangladesh, ranked 10th on a list of the world’s greatest leaders, compiled by the world-famous business magazine Fortune in its third such annual list, published on its website on Thursday, March 24 with a note: “In business, government, philanthropy and the arts, and all over the globe, these men and women are transforming the world and inspiring others to do the same.”
A picture of Sheikh Hasina, taken by Mike Segar of Reuters, is used in the magazine.
It shows the people’s leader of Bangladesh addresses a plenary meeting of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
According to the magazine, she, as the only female leader among the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation member states, has deftly navigated the competing demands of Islamic tradition and women’s rights.
The magazine also points out that “she has committed Bangladesh, the nation with the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, to securing legal protections for women and helping them attain more education, financial freedom, and political power.
About 30% of adult women in Bangladesh now have at least a secondary education, and the nation scores better on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index than any other South Asian country.”
It is not a surprise that Sheikh Hasina became 10th among top 50 global leaders as a distinguished social change-maker.
She strongly deserves it. She is a visionary leader and is now the prime minister of our country for the third time.
Moreover, she has won many outstanding global awards for her visionary leadership and governance ability. For instance, she received the “Champion of the Earth” 2015 Award, the UN’s highest environmental accolade, in the Policy Leadership category for her outstanding leadership on the front-lines of climate change.
She received this award in the time to set and adopt global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the next 15 years.
In the United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the SDGs or Post-2015 Development Agenda, the prime minister received the “ICT Sustainable Development Award” from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), for harnessing the potential of ICT for sustainable development.
She also received the “South-South Award” for her government’s achievement in alleviating poverty in Bangladesh, in September 2013.
She has also received many other notable global and regional awards.
And she devoted all of her awards to the people of Bangladesh.
The concern, however, is about the practical status of women’s rights.
Definitely, women here have made significant strides in literacy, health, economic, and development, but girls and women are still suffering from sexual violence and other social injustices.
As Sheikh Hasina is the prime minister who initiated the “National Women Development Policy” (2011), we hope her government enforces zero tolerance for human rights violations, and violence against girls and women in the country.
The inclusion in Fortune’s list, created by Geoff Colvin, gives the people’s leader of Bangladesh a further obligation in this regard.
