The Access Initiative is proud to congratulate TAI member Rizwana Hasan, activist and lawyer of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) as one of six reicipients of the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award. The award, generally considered the Nobel Prize of Asia, is the region’s highest honor.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recognizes Hasan for her “uncompromising courage and impassioned leadership in a campaign of judicial activism in Bangladesh that affirms the people’s right to a good environment as nothing less than their right to dignity and life.” The award is granted each year in honor of the third Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay for selfless service, integrity, and pragmatic idealism. Hasan was previously a recipient of the Environment Award of the Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2007, the international Goldman Award in 2009, and named by TIME Magazine as an ‘Environmental Hero’.

Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W9BrZgsMK8
Goldman Prize Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtKAa8PPvYQ