Runa Khan, founder and executive director of Bangladeshi social development organisation Friendship, has been named a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2026 for her decades-long efforts to improve the lives of people living in remote, river-eroded and climate-vulnerable communities across Bangladesh.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) announced the 2026 recipients in Manila on August 31. Alongside Runa Khan, Singaporean diplomat and international law expert Tommy Koh and Myanmar activist Bo Kyi have been selected for this year’s award.
The awards will be formally presented at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila on November 15.
According to the foundation, Runa Khan is being honoured for her deep empathy for some of Bangladesh’s poorest communities and for her courage, vision and determination in establishing and leading Friendship.
“In her hands, privilege became not an entitlement, but a responsibility; not a family legacy to protect, but a gift to be shared so that others, too, might have the chance to live with hope, opportunity, and dignity,” the foundation said.
Expressing her gratitude, Runa Khan said she accepted the award with “great happiness and profound humility,” dedicating the recognition to the communities Friendship serves and to the organisation’s staff and volunteers.
