Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury | |
---|---|
শিরীন শারমিন চৌধুরী | |
12th Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad | |
Assumed office 30 April 2013 | |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Shawkat Ali (acting) |
Member of Parliament | |
Assumed office 29 January 2014 | |
Preceded by | Abul Kalam Azad |
Constituency | Rangpur-6 |
In office 25 January 2009 –24 January 2014 | |
Succeeded by | Waseqa Ayesha Khan |
Constituency | Reserved Women's Seat-31 |
Chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association | |
In office October 2014 –November 2017 | |
Preceded by | Alan Haselhurst |
Succeeded by | Emilia Monjowa Lifaka |
Minister of State for Women and Children Affairs | |
In office 6 January 2009 –30 April 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
Preceded by | Rasheda K Chowdhury |
Succeeded by | Meher Afroz Chumki |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Noakhali,East Pakistan,Pakistan | 6 October 1966
Nationality | Bangladeshi |
Political party | Bangladesh Awami League |
Spouse | Syed Ishtiaque Hossain |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | |
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (born 6 October 1966) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the first female speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad since April 2013. [2] At 46,she became the youngest to assume the office. [2] She was also the chairperson of the executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association between 2014 and 2017. She previously served as the state minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh. [3]
Chaudhury was born on 6 October 1966 in Chatkhil thana of Noakhali,Bangladesh. Her father,Rafiqullah Chaudhury,was a Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) officer and Secretary to the Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972. [3] Her mother,Naiyar Sultana,was a member of Bangladesh Public Service Commission and the principal of Dhaka College. [2]
Chaudhury passed her SSC and HSC exams respectively in 1983 and 1985 from Holy Cross Girls' School and College. To study law she joined University of Dhaka and earned her LLB and LLM degrees in 1989 and 1990. She received a Commonwealth scholarship to study in University of Essex in UK. In 2000 she earned her PhD degree in constitutional law and human rights. [3]
On 16 July 2014,Chaudhury received an honorary Ph.D. degree from the University of Essex. [4]
Chaudhury,the International Affairs Secretary of the Awami League,was elected MP from one of the parliamentary seats reserved for women on 24 March 2009 and was State Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (Bangladesh) until her nomination for speaker of Jatiya Sangsad in April 2013.
Chaudhury was awarded Asia Society's Humanitarian service Award on 9 June 2010 in recognition of her role as a leader in advocating the elimination of violence against women and mainstreaming women's empowerment and employment in Bangladesh. Chaudhury received this award from Ambassador Melanne Verveer,then US Ambassador-at-Large,Global Women Issues in a gala award ceremony at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington DC. [5]
On 28 January 2014,Chaudhury was elected MP from the Rangpur-6 constituency that had been vacated by the prime minister,Sheikh Hasina after the January 5 elections. Chaudhury was uncontested in the by-elections and was nominated for speaker by Awami League the very same day. She took oath as the speaker of the 10th Parliament on 29 January 2014,becoming the first person to remain speaker across two consecutive tenures. [6]
Chaudhury was elected chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) for the next three years in the CPA elections held in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde on 9 October 2014. She was the first Bangladeshi to hold this position,as well as any position in an international forum of this level. Bangladesh has been a member of the CPA Asia region,the biggest parliamentary forum of the world,since 1973. It competed for the post of CPA chairperson for the first time in 2014. [7]
In her role as CPA chairperson between 2014 and 2017,Chaudhury has both attended and presided over a number of landmark events. On 9 March 2015,she addressed an audience including Queen Elizabeth II,members of the royal family and British and Commonwealth dignitaries at an Observance for Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey in London,UK. [8] She also opened the 46th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Africa Region Conference held in Nairobi,Africa between 10 and 13 August 2015. Chaudhury participated as a panel speaker in the "Tackling inequality,empowering women and girls and leaving no one behind" interactive dialogue session at the Sustainable Development Goals Summit held in New York 25 September 2015. As speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament,she has participated in a number of successful bilaterals,most notably with Indian and Chinese officials,including the Indian prime minister,president and speaker,the Chinese president,vice president and chairman of the National People's Congress.
Chaudhury has also been honoured with a Women Leadership Achievement Award at the 2nd World Women Leadership Congress and Award (WWLCA) 2015. Addressing a seminar "Connecting Minds,Creating the Future",Dr Chaudhury called for integrating women in the mainstream of development. She said the women community and all others would have to work together to face the challenges on the way of establishing women leadership across the world. Along with the government,all non-government and corporate agencies would have to work together to establish gender parity in society.
Chaudhury was a practising advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court and was one of the members of the lawyers' panel to conduct the cases filed against Sheikh Hasina during the army-backed caretaker government in 2007–08. Her key areas of work include human rights,constitutional law,gender issues and judicial reviews by way of writs. She is a Resource Person for several institutions including University of Dhaka,BRAC University,Dhaka International University and Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs. [5]
Chaudhury is married to Syed Ishtiaque Hossain,a pharmaceutical consultant. [2] She has a daughter,Lamisa Shirin Hossain (29) and a son,Syed Ibtesham Rafiq Hossain (20).
Chaudhury served as editor of Bangladesh Legal Decisions (BLD),Law Report Series published every month by the Bangladesh Bar Council from 2003 to 2008. She developed several dialogue and concept papers with various relevant NGOs and human rights organizations on human rights issues. Her published articles include:
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA),previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association,is an organisation which works to support good governance,democracy and human rights.
Kamal Hossain is a founding leader,lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "father of the Bangladeshi constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Hossain currently heads his own law firm in Dhaka. He retired from political activities and from the post of president of Gano Forum in October 2023.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury,OF is a Bangladeshi politician and incumbent Member of Parliament of Dhaka-9 constituency since 2008. He was the President of Inter-Parliamentary Union from 2014 to 2017. He is a former president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. He received the Order of Friendship,Russia's highest state decoration.
Holy Cross College (HCC) is a Catholic higher-secondary school for girls,located at Tejgaon in Dhaka,Bangladesh. It serves students of class 11 and class 12. It was founded in 1950 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.
Salma Sobhan was a Bangladeshi lawyer,academic and human rights activist. She became the first woman barrister in Pakistan in 1959. A member of the law faculty of the University of Dhaka,she was a co-founder of Ain-O-Salish Kendra (ASK),a national human rights watchdog.
Sultana Kamal is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. She serves as the executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra,a civil rights organisation. In 2006,she served as adviser in the Caretaker government of Bangladesh led by President Iajuddin Ahmed during the 2006-2008 Bangladeshi political crisis. Kamal,along with three other advisers,resigned from the caretaker government Her mother Sufia Kamal was a participant of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh consisting the executive represented by the president,prime minister and cabinet. The legislature represented by the Jatiya Sangsad and the judiciary,represented by the Supreme Court. Bangladesh is a unitary state and the central government has the authority to govern over the entirety of the nation. The seat of the government is located in Dhaka,the capital of Bangladesh.
Nadia Sharmeen is a Bangladeshi journalist. In 2015,she won the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award.
The second Hasina cabinet was the Government of Bangladesh during the 9th legislative session of the Jatiya Sangsad following the 2008 general election,and serving from 6 January 2009 until 24 January 2014.
Sara Hossain is a Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a barrister in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST),a major legal aid provider. She has been at the forefront of advocating for women's rights in Bangladeshi courts and played a key role in drafting legal reforms to protect women. She was the plaintiff's lawyer in the landmark case of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLW) v. Bangladesh,in which the Supreme Court supported the judicial practice of referring to international human rights law in the absence of domestic legislation. She is known for her role in challenging fatwa violence when a fatwa is issued to mete out punishment to women and girls. She co-edited 'Honour':Crimes,Paradigms and Violence Against Women with Lynn Welchman.
Jaya Sengupta is a Bangladesh Awami League politician,doctor,and Member of Parliament of Bangladesh. Her husband was Suranjit Sengupta,a senior leader of Bangladesh Awami League and former Minister of Bangladesh Railway.
Jebunnesa Afroz is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and Member of Parliament in the 10th session of the parliament. She was elected from Barisal-5.
Syeda Saira Mohsin is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and former Member of Parliament in Bangladesh.
Selina Jahan Lita is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and Member of Parliament.
2018 (MMXVIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar,the 2018th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations,the 18th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century,and the 9th year of the 2010s decade.
Rangpur-6 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2014 by Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury of the Awami League.
The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust is one of the largest legal aid organization in Bangladesh. The trust provides legal aid,a mediation center,legal advocacy,and files public interest legislation. The organization's headquarter is in Dhaka with 19 field offices. Sara Hossain is the Executive Director of the Trust.
Mohammed Shahabuddin is a Bangladeshi jurist,civil servant,and politician who is the 16th and incumbent President of Bangladesh. He was elected unopposed in the 2023 presidential election in the nomination of the ruling Awami League. Prior to his presidency,he served as a district and sessions judge and a commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission from 2011 to 2016.
ZI Khan Panna is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist. He is the chairman of Ain O Salish Kendra,a legal aid organisation in Bangladesh. Panna is a Trustee of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust. He is the chairman of the legal aid committee of Bangladesh Bar Council.
The following is a list of scheduled and expected events for the year 2024 in Bangladesh. 2024 (MMXXIV) is the current year,and is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar,the 2024th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations,the 24th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century,and the 5th year of the 2020s decade.