{{short description|Bangladeshi human rights activist}} {{BLP sources|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Monira Rahman | image = Monira Rahman Interview 00122.jpg | caption = Rahman in 2013 | birth_date = 1965 | birth_place = Jessore, East Pakistan | notable_works = Reduction in acid and petrol attack on woman in Bangladesh }} '''Monira Rahman''' (born 1965 in Jessore, East Pakistan) is a Bangladeshi human rights activist. Due to her movement, acid and petrol attacks on women in Bangladesh have been reduced by 40 fold.<ref name=":0" /> Rahman won Amnesty International Human Rights Defender Award 2006 for her activism. She worked with the founder of Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), Dr John Morrison and subsequently worked as executive director from 2002 to 2013. Rahman was commended by the World's Children's Prize in 2011 for her courageous fight to put an end to acid and petrol violence in Bangladesh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://worldschildrensprize.org/monirarahman|title=Monira Rahman - World's Children's Prize|website=worldschildrensprize.org|access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> Rahman became Commonwealth Professional Fellow in 2012 and Ashoka Fellow in 2013.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://uk.linkedin.com/in/monira-rahman-3aa30421|title=Monira Rahman|website=Linkedin}}</ref>
== Early life == Rahman was the youngest of her six siblings. During the Bangladesh Liberation War (1971), her family had to flee and her father died, leaving her mother to raise six children.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} This devastating experience left a deep impression on Rahman and forced her to become very independent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ashoka.org/en-gb/fellow/monira-rahman|title=Monira Rahman|website=Ashoka {{!}} Everyone a Changemaker|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> Since childhood Rahman was involved in debate and cultural activities which led her to develop leadership and taught her to ask questions. She was elected Vice President of Samsunnahar Hall, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh during her university life. After graduation her family forced her to get a government job but instead she joined Concern Worldwide as a social worker.<ref name=":0" />
== Education == Rahman completed her SSC from Qumarunnessa Girls School in 1981 and HSC from Eden Girls College in 1983.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} Afterward, she went to the University of Dhaka and completed her Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts in Philosophy in 1987 and 1988 respectively.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}}
== Career == Rahman started her working life as a social worker in Concern Worldwide in 1992 and worked there until 1999.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} There, she worked to establish the rights of commercial sex workers, street children, and the homeless—especially mentally ill women living on the streets often arrested under the Vagrancy Act 1943.{{citation needed|date= October 2022}} Rahman's work led the government to review the Vagrancy Act as well as the juvenile justice system and to enter into a formal agreement that commits the ministry to develop a vigilance team within the vagrant's home.<ref name=":0" /> During that time she was shocked by the amount and the severity of acid attacks on women throughout the country. She started working for the women's rights organization Nari Pokkho and then joined the Acid Survivors Foundation in 1998, which she has been executive director of since 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.human-dignity-forum.org/2013/06/fighting-acid-attacks-in-bangladesh-monira-rahman-and-the-acid-survivors-foundation/|title=Fighting acid attacks in Bangladesh – Monira Rahman and the "Acid Survivors Foundation" {{!}} Berliner Menschenwürde Forum|website=www.human-dignity-forum.org|access-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> She is currently working as country lead in Mental Health First Aid Bangladesh and executive director of innovation for Wellbeing Bangladesh of which she is also the founder.<ref name=":1" />
== Honours and awards == {{BLP unreferenced section|date= October 2022}} * Human Rights Defender (March 2006) – Amnesty International * International Awards for Health and Dignity for women (October 2009) – Americans for UNFPA * World's Children's Prize Honorary Award (April 2011) – World's Children's Prize Foundation, Sweden * Commonwealth Professional Fellow (October 2012) – Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) * Ashoka Fellowship (February 2015) – Ashoka, Innovators for the Public
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.acidsurvivors.org Official website of Acid Survivors Foundation] * [http://www.bangladeshonline.de/news6.html German Human Rights Prize for Rahman]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Monira}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Bangladeshi human rights activists Category:University of Dhaka alumni Category:Eden Mohila College alumni Category:People from Jessore District Category:Social entrepreneurs