Kurigram's Rikta Akter Banu on BBC 100 Women 2024 list

The BBC has revealed its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2024. Among the 100 is only one Bangladeshi woman- nurse and school founder Rikta Akter Banu from Chilmari of Kurigram. 

In the remote area of northern Bangladesh where nurse Rikta Akter Banu lives, having an autistic or disabled child is seen as a curse.

When her own daughter, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, was refused admission to their local primary school, she sold her land and built her own school instead.

The Rikta Akhter Banu Learning Disability School in Kurigram's Chilmari upazila now enrols 300 students and has made a positive impact on the community’s views around disability.

While the school was initially built for children who are autistic or have a learning disability, it now caters for young students with a variety of intellectual and physical disabilities.

The list

Among the other women in BBC's list are stranded astronaut Sunita Williams, rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot, actress Sharon Stone, Olympic athletes Rebeca Andrade and Allyson Felix, singer Raye, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, visual artist Tracey Emin, climate campaigner Adenike Oladosu and writer Cristina Rivera Garza.

From facing deadly conflicts and humanitarian crises in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan, to witnessing the polarisation in societies that followed a record number of elections around the world, women have had to dig deep and find new levels of resilience.

BBC 100 Women acknowledges the toll this year has taken on women by celebrating those who – through their resilience – are pushing for change, as the world changes around them. The list also remains committed to exploring the impact of the climate emergency, highlighting climate pioneers who work to help their communities tackle its impacts.

How were the 100 Women chosen?

The BBC 100 Women team drew up a shortlist based on names gathered through research and suggested by the BBC's network of 41 World Service Languages teams, as well as BBC Media Action.

They were looking for candidates who had made headlines or influenced important stories over the past 12 months, as well as those who have inspiring stories to tell or have achieved something significant and influenced their societies in ways that wouldn't necessarily make the news.

A pool of names was also assessed against this year's theme of resilience. The team wanted to acknowledge the toll this year has taken on women around the globe by selecting those who – through their resilience – are pushing for change and improving lives at the community or global level. They also assessed the names of women working in the field of climate change, from which a group of climate pioneers and other environmental leaders were selected.

The list represents voices from across the political spectrum and from all areas of society and explores names around topics that split opinion. The list was also measured for regional representation and due impartiality before the final names were chosen. 

All women have given their consent to be on the list.