Sukla Dey

It’s remarkable enough that Marjina Begum, born in a rural village and married at 13, now employs 560 women in a business she built herself, but she also found a way to keep them safe and Covid-free—with help from The Asia Foundation.

Since the 1980s, Bangladesh’s readymade garments (RMG) industry has become the most significant catalyst for the country’s economic development, now generating more than 80 percent of the country’s export income and employing more than four million, a majority of whom are women, in more than 4,000 garment factories. Unfortunately, lack of understan… Read more

Forced child marriages continue to plague young women throughout the world, depriving them of their most basic rights, including access to education. According to UNICEF, child marriages (under 18 years old) are most common in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with Bangladesh ranking one of the highest at 65 percent. Rukhsana Zaman Shanu, from Ban… Read more

Dhaka University has one of the oldest and most respected law programs in Bangladesh; its graduates go on to become champions of justice and equality in a country where both are in short supply. As Bangladesh’s largest public university, its students arrive from all corners of the country – from thatched houses in rural villages to the bustling apa… Read more