Dr Hameeda Hossain gets lifetime award
Dr Hameeda Hossain has been announced the recipient of the Bangladesh Development Initiative's (BDI) Lifetime Achievement Award-2021, said a BDI press release.
BDI is a non-partisan research and advocacy group of independent scholars based in the US. Established in 2012, the award is designed to honour outstanding individuals or organisations who have contributed to understanding the challenges and the ideals that have led to Bangladesh's development.
Dr Hossain studied literature and history as an undergraduate at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA. She received her doctorate in history from Oxford University in the UK.
She began her professional life as an editor with Oxford University Press in Karachi. She helped co-found the English language political monthly magazine, Forum, in the then East Pakistan in 1967.
Forum played a critical role in raising awareness of the systemic inequities and discrimination suffered by the people of East Pakistan. Between 1968 and March 1971, she served as the magazine's editor.
After Bangladesh's independence, she joined the University Press Limited in Dhaka as an editor. Following the 1971 Liberation War, Dr Hossain became actively involved in the rehabilitation of the women survivors of wartime sexual violence.
Her efforts to develop and market local artisanal crafts led to the formation, in November 1974, of Karika -- Bangladesh Hastashilpa Samabaya Federation Ltd.
She has also published widely on a variety of topics, including women's experiences of the war, arts and crafts, the ready-made garment industry, women workers and human rights.
The award will be formally presented at BDI's next international conference (date TBA).
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