Bangladesh’s Rina Akter Banu on BBC’s 100 women list
Staff Correspondent
Bangladeshi nurse Rina Akter Banu has been included in the list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024 – published by the BBC on Tuesday – for her role in creating a positive impact on the community’s views around disability.
The women were selected in five categories- Climate Pioneers, Culture and Education, Entertainment and Sport, Politics and Advocacy and Science, Health and Tech.
Rina Akter Banu was selected under the Science, Health and Tech category.
Rikta lives in a remote area of northern Bangladesh where having an autistic or disabled child is seen as a curse, according to BBC.
When her own daughter, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, was refused admission to their local primary school, she sold her land and built her own school instead.
The Rikta Akhter Banu Learning Disability School now enrolls 300 students which made a positive impact on the community’s views about disability.
While the school was initially built for children who are autistic or have a learning disability, it now caters for young students with a variety of intellectual and physical disabilities.
Stranded astronaut Sunita Williams, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, actress Sharon Stone, Olympic athletes Rebeca Andrade and Allyson Felix, singer Raye, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, visual artist Tracey Emin, climate campaigner Adenike Oladosu and writer Cristina Rivera Garza are among the 100 women in the list.
From facing deadly conflicts and humanitarian crises in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan, to witnessing the polarisation in societies that followed a record number of elections around the world, women have had to dig deep and find new levels of resilience.
BBC 100 Women acknowledges the toll this year has taken on women by celebrating those who – through their resilience – are pushing for change, as the world changes around them. The list also remains committed to exploring the impact of the climate emergency, highlighting climate pioneers who work to help their communities tackle its impacts.
