BBC names Bangladesh’s Rikta Akter Banu among 100 women
NN Online:
Bangladeshi Nurse Rikta Akter Banu has been recognised as one of the 100 inspiring and influential women worldwide for 2024, a list published by the BBC on Tuesday. She was honoured for her efforts in positively influencing the community’s perception of disability.
The women were selected in five categories- Climate Pioneers, Culture and Education, Entertainment and Sport, Politics and Advocacy and Science, Health and Tech.
RiktaAkter Banu was selected under 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 the 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 Gisele 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.