Bangladesh's Runa Khan wins the Ramon Magsaysay Award
Runa Khan, founder and executive director of the non-governmental organization Friendship. Photo: Collected from Friendship's website.
Another Bangladeshi name has been added to the list of recipients for the Ramon Magsaysay Award, widely regarded as Asia's Nobel Prize. Runa Khan, the founder and executive director of the Bangladeshi non-governmental organization Friendship, has been selected for the honor as the 14th recipient from the country.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced the names of the 2026 awardees on its official Facebook page today, Monday.
Alongside Runa Khan, two others received the award this year:
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said that the 2026 awardees are being recognized for work that embodies the enduring values associated with Magsaysay’s leadership. These values include dedicated service to others, creating opportunities for communities, and empowering people to shape their own futures.
Today's announcement marks the formal commencement of the 68th Ramon Magsaysay Award Festival. The awardees will be presented with their honors on November 15 at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.
Reacting to receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Runa Khan said, "It is with immense joy and deep humility that I accept the Ramon Magsaysay Award. This is a supreme honor for me. I accept this award on behalf of the underprivileged communities who allow us to walk beside them, as well as on behalf of my Friendship family, whose tireless dedication makes this work possible every day."
She further added, "I also express my gratitude to those who have trusted me for 25 long years and walked this nearly impossible path with me in faith."
Runa Khan founded Friendship in 2002. According to the organization's website, it is an international Social Purpose Organization (SPO) aimed at building a world where everyone—especially remote and marginalized communities—has equal opportunities to live with dignity and hope.
Ramon Magsaysay was the seventh President of the Philippines. He died in a plane crash on March 17, 1957. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation was established in the same year, and the award was instituted in his honor in 1958.
August 31 marks the birth anniversary of Ramon Magsaysay, celebrating his 119th birth anniversary this year. The award is announced annually from Manila on his birthday, August 31.
From 1958 to 2025, 356 individuals and organizations have received this prestigious award. Among them, the Philippines accounts for 66 recipients, India 60, Indonesia 30, Japan 28, Thailand 25, China 18, South Korea 20, Bangladesh and Pakistan 13 each, Malaysia 11, Sri Lanka and Taiwan 10 each, Cambodia 8, Myanmar 7, Vietnam and Hong Kong 6 each, Nepal 5, Laos 4, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, and Singapore 3 each, Bhutan, Maldives, and Tibet 1 each, along with 4 regional awards for Southeast Asia.
In 1978, Tahrunnesa Abdullah became the first Bangladeshi to win the award. Subsequent Bangladeshi laureates include Fazle Hasan Abed, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Dr. Zafrullah Chowdhury, Abdullah Abu Sayeed, Matiur Rahman, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and Firdausi Qadri. Prior to this, the most recent Bangladeshi recipient was Korvi Rakshand in 2023.
