Bangladesh’s Runa Khan receives Ramon Magsaysay Award

Bangladesh’s Runa Khan has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, widely known as the 'Nobel Prize of Asia'. She is the founder and executive director of the non-governmental organisation Friendship.

Runa Khan founded Friendship in 2002. According to the organisation’s website, Friendship is an international Social Purpose Organisation guided by a vision of a world where people-especially the hard-to-reach and unaddressed-have equal opportunities to live with dignity and hope.

The organisation addresses social issues and always prioritises the interests of the communities it serves. Friendship's vision is almost unchanged for over 20 years and is more relevant than ever in a world facing increasing global challenges such as exclusion from vital services, environmental crisis, extreme poverty, inequality and injustice.

Two other individuals have received the award alongside Runa Khan this year. They are Singapore’s Tommy Koh and Myanmar’s Bo Kyi.

Tommy Koh is a Singaporean diplomat, lawyer, professor and author. Bo Kyi is a Myanmar human rights activist.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced the winners of the 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Award today, Monday, in the Philippine capital, Manila.

Ramon Magsaysay was the seventh president of the Philippines, and the award is named after him.

He died in a tragic plane crash on 17 March 1957. The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation was established later that year, and the awards were first presented in 1958.

31 August is Ramon Magsaysay’s birthday. This year marks his 119th birth anniversary. The award winners are announced in Manila every year on 31 August, his birthday.

This year’s announcement marks the formal opening of the 68th Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrations. At the concluding ceremony on 15 November, the winners will receive their awards at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.

According to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, the 2026 recipients were selected for work that reflects the enduring values associated with Magsaysay’s leadership. These include a commitment to serving others, creating opportunities for communities and helping people shape their own futures.

Until 2008, the prestigious award was presented each year in six categories: Government Service; Public Service; Community Leadership; Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts; Peace and International Understanding; and Emergent Leadership.

The Emergent Leadership category was introduced in 2000 with financial support from the Ford Foundation. Since 2009, the award has no longer been confined to specific categories, apart from the Emergent Leadership category.