Being an archipelago in the heart of the Coral Triangle, the global center of marine diversity, it is not surprising that the Philippines is one of the top fish-producing countries in the world. Yet, the tragic irony is that fishermen—particularly municipal fishermen, who constitute 85% of over 1.6 million people employed in the fisheries sector—are among the poorest labor groups in the country. Traditionally unorganized, small-scale, with meager assets and access to outside assistance, they have suffered over past decades as their life-sustaining resource, the marine environment, is severely degraded.

One 53-year old fisherman has broken the mold by leading his community in preserving the coastal environment that has been the life-source for generations of fishing families. He is ROBERTO BALLON (fondly called “Ka Dodoy”). His Visayan parents migrated to the village of Concepcion in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay province in Mindanao, when he was in his teens. KA DODOY knew the realities of diminishing fish harvests in once rich fishing grounds; how his father, like other village fishermen, would spend long hours at sea and come home earning barely enough to buy rice for the family. Poverty prevented KA DODOY from going to college; so he knew he would have to “go back to the sea.” Having started his own family, he had to take command of the situation he was in.

In 1986, DODOY and thirty other fishermen started Kapunungan sa Gagmay’ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion (KGMC), or Association of Small Fisherfolk of Concepcion. Seeing how rampant fishpond conversion was, and how the abandonment of these fishponds when the business collapsed had destroyed the mangrove forests, KGMC decided to focus on mangrove reforestation. With little help and meager returns (since the benefits of reforestation are not felt quickly), the association saw its members dwindle to just three but KA DODOY, the association chairman, persisted.

Their perseverance attracted government support, reaching a milestone in early 2000, when the fishermen were granted tenurial rights to the reforested land under a government forestry co-management program. The fifty hectares they replanted by 1994 had expanded to five-hundred hectares of mangrove forests in 2015. What was once a desert of abandoned fishponds is now an expanse of healthy mangrove forests rich with marine and terrestrial life. Fish catch has improved dramatically from 1.5 kg per fishing trip of eight hours to as much as    7.0 kg in three-to-five hours of fishing. The improvement in the fisherfolk’s quality of life has been evident in their ability to buy a boat engine or simple household appliances and send their children to school.

From a handful members in the 1980s, KGMC now has a membership of 320 households. The group’s success led to other projects. In partnership with the municipal government, KGMC members were deputized to conduct the local Bantay Dagat or Sea Patrol volunteer program, aimed at protecting municipal waters from illegal fishing and mangrove logging. They have also attracted partnerships with development institutions in livelihood and social enterprise projects like oyster production, shell and crab culture, and seaweed farming. KGMC’s initiatives have been replicated in other towns in Zamboanga Sibugay and even beyond. These and other changes have given new life to Kabasalan, now regarded as the seafood capital of the province and an ecotourism destination.

The key mover in this transformation is DODOY BALLON. His exceptional dedication to serving others and self-sacrificing leadership that puts the group’s interest before his own have transformed his community. When KA DODOY and his fellow fishermen were starting out and it seemed like there was no one to help them but themselves, he said: “Our families depend on the sea for our survival, not on politicians or other people, so it is only right that we make its protection our priority.”

In electing ROBERTO BALLON to receive the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his inspiring determination in leading his fellow fisherfolk to revive a dying fishing industry by creating a sustainable marine environment for this generation and generations to come, and his shining example of how everyday acts of heroism can truly be extraordinary and transformative.

“Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start.” These words from Pope Francis in his encyclical letter – Laudato Si exemplify the choices I made and continue to make, as an ordinary fisherman – to dauntlessly see riches from ridges to reef and thereby choose to rise, to choose what is good, and to choose to make a new start. By God’s grace, standing before you at this moment, remind me of these humble choices that yielded fruits and even earned international recognition.

I am profoundly honored and pleased to be chosen as one of the Awardees of the most prestigious award in Asia, in honor of the legacy of the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I will be counted among the array of great community leaders to be recognized by the Foundation.

As a simple fisherman, I only have one desire for the community that makes me do what I have been doing: to offer myself to help provide a better environment, sustainable livelihood, and an empowered community to realize our vision and mission in life – that is, to have 3,8…agahan, tanghalian at hapunan, tatlong kainan in English, breakfast, lunch, dinner, so 3 eat.  If we have 3 eat, 3 meals in a day, I believe we would be content.

But more than this, I see a hunger that not even three full meals could satisfy.  Day after day, I see the need to strive for progress, to live a harmonious life propelled by a sustainable and equitable co-existence in the coastal vicinities of Zamboanga Sibugay. This has always been our aspiration as municipal fisherfolks together with our government and other stakeholders in preparation for a better and productive environment for the next generations.

Because of this Award, I am exceedingly grateful and hopeful that this platform could be a great mechanism to help our poor fisherfolk sector attain more leverage to sustainably manage our coastal resources. Through this stage, I am advocating my fellow fisherfolk in the entire archipelago that this initiative will not stop with this award but will serve as a vehicle to sail smoothly and navigate towards sustaining our natural wealth.

What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up? Asks Pope Francis using the lenses of the same encyclical. Today and in the years to come, we respond to the daunting task of making the earth truly a home. To my fellow fisherfolks, let us help our government by keeping our coastal habitat protected and sustainably utilized.

1. Let us support our fishery program while being faithful to the laws and local policies that augment coastal measures in our pursuit for better production and environmental preservation.
2. Let us take heed of the environmental cries that continue to haunt us because of sheer apathy and personal interest resulting in environmental abuses which badly affects the poor.
3. Let us take the step of empathy because progress entails sacrifices and unity. If our government fails, we also fail. If our government succeeds we also succeed. However, let us also be vigilant to the developments that are offered…we don’t just exist and be lavished with what the world can render us but take the proactive step instead and see for ourselves what we can render to those who need us most.
4. Let us not hook our destiny with the ways and means that our government has for us. We are capable of shaping our own. We break the silence of each dawn with a noble purpose. Ours is not a passive waiting for whatever the government can do for us. Ours is the call to be proactive and thus help our government achieve its goal for the common good.

My fellow fisherfolk, it is not our government leaders who brave the waves and the storms to earn a good catch from the seas. While others just stand at the stretches of the coast, we find ourselves delving into the deep because we are confronted with much deeper and greater responsibilities.

This is where we earn a living. But beyond quenching this human need is the vocation to give life to our natural resources, to see life from ridges to reefs, and eventually bring life to our common home.

To our family in the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, I am deeply thankful that you have recognized, if I may say, the collaborative efforts that empowered poor fisher folks like us, and thus take our initiatives in a larger arena which now garners greater consciousness for the protection and conservation of our coastal environment. Thank you for making us realize that even the smallest efforts that we exert for such advocacies are not futile and never stupid. Convinced that we shall reap more bountiful harvests, we are able to see that all these are appropriate actions – most valid and ethical contributions that we can offer to our future generations.

Let me take this chance to render my sincerest appreciation to our community development workers on the ground who have always been my company even when the sail goes rough and perilous.

1. To the Local Government Unit of Kabasalan who has given support since 2001 in the protection of our municipal waters until now. The Office of the Municipal Agriculture despite having the least fund allocation never ceased to stir collaborative efforts with our fisherfolk organization and for cementing strong policy support in the Integrated Coastal Resource Management.
2. To the Provincial Government of Sibugay, national government agencies like the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the DA – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Department of Science and Technology, the Philippine National Police, and the Coast Guard for pushing us to reach our potentials and for supporting us in one way or another.
3. To all our able partners who have been my constant support, foremost to the Xavier Agriculture Extension Service Foundation of Ipil that honed my skill and talent in community development and coastal resource management.
4. To the various   Non-Government Organizations namely, the Forest Foundation Philippines formerly PTFCF, Condura, the Peace and Equity Foundation, AADC, AsiaDHRRA, RARE Philippines, PAKISAMA, HEED Foundation that funded our mangrove reforestation projects, strengthened our association, developed our leaders, and provided us functional technical knowledge and skills.
5. To the various academic institutions, the Ateneo de Zamboanga -School of Medicine, Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan, MSU – Naawan, UP Manila for providing us scientific results as basis for our local legislation and ongoing programs.
6. To my immediate community of Balungis, Concepcion, Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay, the KGMC and COMFAS for always believing in me, for tirelessly supporting me.
7. To our  Local  Church in the Diocese of Ipil for raising in me profound consciousness to be faithful despite our very poor condition, for molding my values since my youth to be a grateful and responsible steward of God’s creation.
8. Lastly and most importantly, I would like to thank my family — my parents and my siblings who raised me and taught to me fulfill my responsibilities as a leader; to my wife, Rebecca, and my eleven children, who are my source of joy and who give me strength and give light to the path I take every day.

Let me say it again, no matter how simple we are, we are capable of rising above our weaknesses, capable of choosing what is good, and ever capable of making a new start. May this crusade continue until we can achieve our goal of becoming successful and progressive Filipinos in the entire nation and to the whole of Asia and the world.

MABUHAY ANG MANGINGISDANG PILIPINO! DAMO GUID NGA SALAMAT SA INYO NGA TANAN!

The rise of digital media carried with it the promise of democratization in the ways in which knowledge is produced, distributed, and consumed, and the ways in which the people themselves can directly and actively participate in media’s making. Digital media is not an unmixed blessing, as shown in today’s extreme fragmentation in the field, the distressing realities of digitally-aided manipulation, “false news,” and censorship. Still, it remains full of possibilities for widening democratic space.

In Indonesia, there is excitement and hope in the media venture called WATCHDOC MEDIA MANDIRI or WATCHDOC (from “watchdog” + “documentary”), that combines the tools of investigative journalism, documentary filmmaking, and digital technology. WATCHDOC’s advocacy is to create public awareness of such issues as human rights, social justice, and the environment. The private audiovisual production company was incorporated in 2011 by two remarkable individuals, Dandhy Laksono and Andhy Panca Kurniawan, both with journalism backgrounds and a passion for social causes. Disenchanted with mainstream broadcast TV—the concentration of media ownership, the premium on ratings, advertising, and revenues, the merchandising of entertainment and news—Laksono and Kurniawan yearned for an independent, people-based, and socially responsible media.

Strongly embedded in civil society, WATCHDOC draws its material and themes from issues of public concern that have not been treated adequately in mainstream media or presented from a people’s perspective. With a lean permanent staff of fifteen, WATCHDOC sees itself as a movement and not just a content creator. To work independently and reach the greatest number of people, it taps non-traditional and emerging platforms and is not fixated on just a single distribution strategy. Using its   independently-produced advocacy films, WATCHDOC builds a robust audience through offline distribution, social media, and other alternative channels including partnerships with non-government organizations to screen films in remote, indigenous communities. WATCHDOC also cultivates logistical and funding support through collaborations and cross-subsidies with similarly-minded groups and institutions.

In less than a decade of existence, through its two YouTube channels and other platforms, WATCHDOC has produced and distributed over 150 film titles that average two hundred thousand viewers per video. Eight of its documentaries have each attracted more than one million views. One of them, called Sexy Killers, a documentary on the coal mining industry’s links with Indonesia’s political establishment, is a viral hit, getting thirty six million views as of July 2021.

The group’s adventurous spirit is exemplified by a major project in 2015 called Expedisi Indonesia Biru (Blue Indonesia Expedition), in which Laksono and co-filmmaker Suparta Arz went on a motorbike journey across Indonesia for a year, studying and recording what was happening to ordinary citizens like farmers, fishermen, and indigenous peoples. The journey eventually resulted in a twelve-part documentary film series, exposing such problems as the impact on the environment of the palm oil industry, the fight of locals against the construction of a cement factory in Central Java, and other issues that received a lot of attention from government and the public.

A great part of WATCHDOC’s influence is the credibility it enjoys because of its reputation for journalistic integrity; they have refused bribes or partnerships with known violators of human rights and environmental laws. It sticks to basics, doing strongly-researched, fact-based, quality work. It builds a constituency by staying close to its audience, holding pre-screenings and group discussions with non-government organizations and local communities. WATCHDOC is a young organization and knows societies are not changed overnight. As Laksono says, “We realize the goal is still very far away. Even though the macro-policy has not changed, if these small things become a movement, gradually it will be strong.”

In electing WATCHDOC MEDIA MANDIRI to receive the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership, the board of trustees recognizes its highly principled crusade for an independent media organization, its energetic use of investigative journalism, documentary filmmaking, and digital technology in its effort to transform Indonesia’s media landscape, and its commitment to a vision of the people themselves as makers of media and shapers of their own world.

Represented by Watchdoc Founder, Andhy Panca Kurniawan

First of all, on behalf of my colleagues from WATCHDOC MEDIA MANDIRI, let me express my deepest gratitude for this Award, appreciation, and recognition. It is like a new social contract between WATCHDOC and the broader community across state borders.

For your information, WATCHDOC is a production house that has released more than 400 documentaries and 1,000 television features. This includes various films such as “Sexy Killers”, “The EndGame”, “Kinipan”, “The Mahuzes”, “Asimetris”, and hundreds of other works that are mostly accessible online. We at WATCHDOC also manage an inclusive video production training unit for all.

To be recognized and acknowledged as a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership is a great honor and a great pleasure for us.  We are motivated and our spirits are boosted to make more documentary films and to promote human rights louder and clearer through them.

Twelve years ago, we pioneered the production house WATCHDOC.  Ten years ago, we formalized it into a private production house.  We imagined it to be an integral part of a social movement―making documentaries as a communication tool for us to learn from each other, to strengthen each other, and to become a platform for the struggles of civil society.

To realize the social movement we imagined, our productions focus on themes concerning public interest and the function of the media in influencing and shaping society.  WATCHDOC combines this with an inclusive distribution strategy easily accessible by a wide audience.  And as the media chooses to form private companies as a method of achieving sustainability, this Award has also become a pivotal moment when we are committing to continue what we have pioneered and started.

This Award is a reminder that we must all increasingly and systematically strive to present realities in society. Because these awards are given to organizations or institutions, not specific individuals or films. We would like to dedicate this Award to all the Watchdoc Communities, those who have been working with us, all our viewers, Asian people and all of you.

Thank you to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, to our predecessors who have received this Award, and to the peoples of Asia. You are all a source of inspiration and positive energy for the civil society movement today and in the future.

People displaced by war, natural disasters, and extreme privation is one of the great tragedies of our time. It is an urgent challenge governments and international bodies must address; it must be faced as well on the ground with the victims of such displacement.

This is the lifework of one person and the organization he founded. STEVEN MUNCY, a sixty-four-year-old American, was raised in a humble family grounded in the principles of Christian love for others. In 1980, he enlisted in a Baptist journeyman social ministry program that brought him as a volunteer to the Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Morong, Bataan, a transit center for Indochinese refugees of the just-ended Vietnam War. Seeing the dire lack of psychosocial services in the camp, he formed a non-governmental organization (NGO), Community Mental Health Services, to address this need with support from the Norwegian government and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1989-1993, the NGO was also tasked by UNHCR to do similar work in the Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong.

Renamed Community and Family Services International (CFSI) in 1989, it defined itself as a humanitarian organization committed to “the lives, wellbeing and dignity of people uprooted by persecution, armed conflict, disasters, and other exceptionally difficult circumstances.” Based in the Philippines, it would soon serve for varying lengths of time in ten Asian countries, with its longest involvement in the Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Over the years, CFSI has assisted refugees from forty-eight countries and territories.  In the Philippines, it has provided relief to thousands of families in natural disasters. Today, it is responding to the humanitarian disaster of the Battle of Marawi in 2017. With the Australian government’s support, it is implementing the Marawi Recovery Project, aimed at providing livelihood and other assistance to some 40,000 persons. With the United Nations Children’s Fund, CFSI helped with the transition of some nine hundred former child soldiers, assisting their families to get them back to school and lead peaceful, productive lives. In Myanmar’s Rakhine State, CFSI helped hundreds of thousands by providing literacy and reproductive health training for women and girls and working with communities to build water and sanitation facilities. CFSI also initiated a program that has enabled more than three hundred individuals from the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia to get advanced university degrees in social work.

A major CFSI engagement is its role in the Reconstruction and Development Projects of the Mindanao Trust Fund (MTF), a multi-donor effort administered by World Bank to aid in the socioeconomic recovery of Mindanao, carried out in 2005-2021 in the context of negotiations for a comprehensive peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. As project manager, CFSI implemented a large portfolio of sub-projects, ranging from water systems and health centers to alternative education, reaching at least 727,000 beneficiaries in nineteen provinces. Part of its work was capacitating local partners, work critical to a new regional government coming out of a history of conflict. In this engagement, CFSI demonstrated most clearly the links of the various aspects of its mission, from relief and recovery to reconstruction and development, to the building of peace.

From a few workers in 1981, CFSI has a current staff of nearly four hundred in three countries. What it has achieved is the effort of many. Yet, it is also the creation of its founder and leader. STEVEN MUNCY has been on this mission for more than forty years, living outside his own country, working in a difficult environment, with no thought of material rewards for himself. Asked about his career, MUNCY self-effacingly said: “I am so grateful for the opportunities that have allowed me to help a little; grateful for the people who have been involved in this organization; grateful for the blessings I have received from the community.”

In electing STEVEN MUNCY to receive the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes his unshakable belief in the goodness of man that inspires in others the desire to serve; his life-long dedication to humanitarian work, refugee assistance, and peace building; and his unstinting pursuit of dignity, peace, and harmony for people in exceptionally difficult circumstances in Asia.

Each year, Community and Family Services International (CFSI) formulates a Plan of Action reflecting the theme for the year. The theme for 2021 is “Exceed Expectations.” Being named a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee during this, our 40th Anniversary Year, was a wonderful surprise, far exceeding even our wildest dreams. We still worry someone is going to pinch us and say wake up. Please don’t!

This award is for we, not just me. The rest of the ‘we’ is almost entirely Asian, younger, and far more attractive—which is good news for all! The existence of CFSI is a response to man’s inhumanity to humankind. And I do mean man, as it is rarely women who deliberately bring about such harm to others. Discrimination, violence, and persecution continue to force people to flee their countries, resulting in refugees in various parts of the world, including within Asia and from Asia. In addition, injustice, armed conflict, and disasters lead to lost lives, physical and psychological suffering, and persons displaced within their own countries, sheltering in forests, evacuation centers, transitory facilities, anywhere but where they truly want to be—home.

Most of the people served by CFSI have been forcibly displaced, some repeatedly, within their homelands or across national borders. Some have been denied citizenship, becoming stateless, in the land that has always been their home as well as the home of their ancestors.

While refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are resilient and have many strengths, let us be clear: forced displacement is harmful and painful. We believe such vicious assaults on the lives, well-being, and dignity of children, women, and men must come to an end, now. Although our roles may differ, we believe it is the responsibility of all to address human suffering wherever it is found, to protect our brothers and sisters from harm, and to promote respect for the universality of human rights. We also believe it is our collective responsibility to invest in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation to prevent forced displacement.

The people of CFSI come from diverse backgrounds, including different races, ethnic groups, religions, sexual orientations, experiences, and stations in life. We are, like you, part of the family that is humanity.

Numbering in the thousands over the past forty years, with most locally recruited, we have a common purpose—rebuilding lives. Specifically, protecting people from further harm; getting children into safe spaces and back into school; enabling crisis-affected communities to access basic services like food, water, shelter, and health care, including vaccinations. Rebuilding lives also means facilitating the resumption of livelihood activities and the development of new skills; the reconstruction of community infrastructure; fostering safe returns home; and promoting social justice. Our approach is needs-based, rights-oriented, empowering, and focused on solutions.

Our work has benefitted millions with operations in ten countries/territories over different periods of time. These include the Philippines, Myanmar, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. In addition, outreach efforts to many more countries. Our current top priorities are expanding ongoing humanitarian activity in Myanmar and the Philippines.

The work is challenging and sometimes dangerous, but we are inspired by the resiliency, courage, and efforts of the affected populations. Think about the Vietnamese boat people who, thirty years after resettlement in other parts of the world, raised half a million dollars for Filipinos displaced by Super Typhoon Haiyan. Grateful for help given in their time of need, they gave back without waiting to be asked to help.

Think about Timor-Leste, the new country that emerged from the ashes of violence just two decades ago, now working with its much larger neighbor — Indonesia — to create a shared future for the youth of both countries. Or those in Myanmar helping to protect and assist communities affected by persecution, violence, and the pandemic. Think about the brave souls throughout Asia, both near and far, who have stood up — are standing up — for the rights, wellbeing, and dignity of others, risking their own futures, indeed their very lives. And those working to build a just and lasting peace in war-torn Mindanao, helping children learn that arms are for hugging.

What now for CFSI? We are firmly committed to working in partnership, over the long haul, with a range of stakeholders, especially affected communities and local actors, to provide humanitarian and development assistance, help build peace, prevent disasters, and promote social justice throughout Asia. This includes capacity strengthening efforts, where necessary or advantageous.

We ask for your help to do much more, better. Concretely, to strengthen local capacity, we want to see at least another 500 persons in Southeast Asia obtain a master’s degree in social work and at least ten with a doctoral degree in the same field by the end of 2027. The aim is to ensure highly competent and committed social workers are prepared to help lead humanitarian, development, and peace-building efforts in the future, helping to bring an end to forced displacement. Let us, together, enable more ordinary people to have extraordinary impact.

On a personal level, I would like to express my profound gratitude to the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for recognizing my efforts and, more importantly, those of CFSI. In so doing, you have encouraged us and called us higher. I would also like to thank— as well as hug — my family, loved ones, colleagues, friends, and supporters. None of what I have achieved in life would have been possible without you, each playing a unique role that, combined, made all the difference.

In addition to my dear colleagues at CFSI, I would like to thank the Members of our Board of Trustees, both present and past, for your many years of voluntary service, as well as your guidance and support. Lastly, my thanks to our partners — the communities, those who serve with us in the humanitarian and development arenas, and those who provide us with the funds required to carry out our work. Your acceptance and support have been, and remain, crucial. More so as we, encouraged by this Award, move forward, together, in rebuilding lives.

A parting thought. Many have asked what has kept me going in this work for more than 40 years and counting. Quite frankly, I believe every person is a holy place. Meaning, there is something of the Divine in each of us. This, my brothers and sisters, is the basis for my firm conviction that we are indeed members of the same family: humanity.

In the current global pandemic, science has become a subject of public discourse to a degree perhaps unprecedented in recent decades. Emerging from the laboratory to the public square, science has been politicized, but mostly people have become more acutely aware of the vital role of science in improving the quality of life and preserving life itself. Let us then praise science and scientists.

Bangladeshi FIRDAUSI QADRI, seventy years old, was born to a middle-class family that encouraged women to pursue an education and a career. Early on, she decided to specialize in medical research, earning a degree in biochemistry, and culminating in a doctorate from Liverpool University in the United Kingdom. Set on working in her homeland, she taught in a local university and in 1988 joined the International Centre For Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), an international health research institute based in Dhaka. Here, Dr. QADRI focused on communicable diseases, immunology, vaccine development and clinical trials.

Her most challenging engagements came in the fight against cholera and typhoid, major diseases in Bangladesh and Asian and African countries with poor access to safe water, sanitation, education, and medical care. In this, she had a key role in the development of a more affordable oral cholera vaccine (OCV) and the typhoid conjugate vaccine (Vi-TCV) for adults, children, and even infants as young as nine months. Under the auspices of World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), she led a team of experts in the 2017-2020 OCV mass vaccination of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, thus preventing a mass cholera outbreak in what is the largest refugee camp in the world. In 2020, she helped facilitate the OCV vaccination of 1.2 million people in six high-risk districts of Dhaka. Not surprisingly, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. QADRI was involved in vaccine trials and Covid-19 testing and research in Bangladesh.

Beyond current health interventions, Dr. QADRI dreams of building in Bangladesh the human and technical infrastructure for research in health science. It is a role she is well positioned to fill, having participated in scientific networks and institutions both locally and globally. In 2012 she was awarded the Christophe Rodolfe Grand Prize from the Fondation Christophe et Rodolfe Mérieux. Two years later, she used her prize money to found the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi). Dr. QADRI leads ideSHi, which conducts biomedical research and runs training courses and a testing center. It has become a hub of scientific activity by local and visiting scientists in Bangladesh.

Dr. QADRI loves to train and mentor young scientists and inspire them by putting them in contact with well-known scientists in other countries. But building local capability is her greater goal. She is focused on upgrading laboratories so that Bangladeshi scientists will not have to go abroad (as she did early on) for lack of facilities available. Building local capability is demonstrated in her work on typhoid and cholera vaccines (already approved in Bangladesh and other countries), her current work on E. coli diarrhea vaccine, and interest in Covid-19 vaccine development.

Dedicated to science, she believes that finding answers to the health problems in her country will benefit other countries as well. She has worked in Bangladesh as a scientist for more than forty years but has no thought of retiring. Of her research niche, ideSHi, she says: “I want it to be bigger in the coming years and self-supporting in the future, less dependent on international funding. It should carry out research at the highest level and have a good number of scientists who will carry out this work. I am looking at that in the future.”

In electing FIRDAUSI QADRI to receive the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes her passion and life-long devotion to the scientific profession; her vision of building the human and physical infrastructure that will benefit the coming generation of Bangladeshi scientists, women scientists in particular, and her untiring contributions to vaccine development, advanced biotechnological therapeutics and critical research that has been saving millions of precious lives.

I am overwhelmed and extremely delighted but also humbled and thankful to the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for this great honor. I am grateful to the Foundation for selecting me, to those who have nominated me and supported my nomination. And, of course, I thank my husband and children and friends, people of Bangladesh, and my team at icddr,b and ideSHi for their continued support.

Dear friends, let me share with you my journey until this very day:

I was born in Bangladesh, in a middle-class family with many other girl siblings, in a family dominated by women. This matriarchal family was actually headed by my grandmother, Firdausi Bano, after whom I was named. She did not go to school herself but was self-taught and knew many languages. She believed in girls’ education and saw to it from our childhood that we sisters learn to have a purpose and determination in life. She saw us off to school with tasty tiffin boxes each day and would always be waiting for us with hot lunches. She cooked and stiched pretty dresses for us and made us feel like we were special. It was for her that I grew up with a determination to do something purposeful.

When I was around five years old, I already wanted to be in public health, and my first wish was to be “Florence Nightingale,” and from then onwards, I kept on changing my interests until I got into the University of Dhaka to study Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This was when I learned the details of the physiology, biochemistry, immunology, nutrition, and molecular biology of life and the working of the human body.

It was with great interest that I tried to assimilate all this information and my efforts were always aligned to better understanding all the health and nutritional problems of people in my country. After doing my PhD from Liverpool University, I returned to Dhaka within a week. I started teaching at the University of Dhaka and tried to carry out research. But it was difficult for me to do both research and teaching simultaneously. Within six years, I realized that I was born a researcher and a full academic profession somehow left me dissatisfied. Although fortunate to start my profession as a teacher in the best university in Bangladesh, I soon moved to icddr,b to become a full-time researcher.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do not know how much you know about Bangladesh.

In the beginning of my career, I had to learn a lot about the public health problems confronting our country. Infectious diseases in the 1980s were still a major killer in the country. Cholera and typhoid though these are ancient diseases were still causing so much suffering and misery to people every day. Our icddr,b hospitals were filled up with mostly needy people seeking free care suffering from dehydrating diarrheal disease, especially cholera. I involved and immersed myself in laboratory work to understand the immunological basis of the disease. I started exploring ways to connect clinical work in the early 1980’ with laboratory experiments to answer questions that still remained unaddressed. The role of vaccines to protect against these diseases appeared to me to be the most important solution in tackling these problems.

Indeed, I was inspired by the work that was being carried out for so long at icddr,b both in clinical care and vaccine development. Although I published a lot, I soon realized that if I do not reach out to communities and tried to help them, I would end up my career and not achieve anything. I then decided to focus on studies to reach out to people to protect them against cholera and typhoid using solutions offered by vaccines, which are the main public health tool/short term tools for eliminating diseases from high-risk populations with poor access to clean water, sanitation, good living conditions-basically diseases of poverty-stricken people.

In 33 years of my research career, I have attempted to learn about different aspects of public health which is needed for implementation science. I do not know how much I have been able to deliver and contribute. I am grateful for this award to Bangladesh, to icddr,b, the institution that has given me the environment and encouragement to carry out my work, and last but not least to my great team in Bangladesh and all over the world without whose support I could never have achieved anything. I thank my family for their support.

Ladies and gentlemen, I finish on a very tragic and sad note. My husband passed away just several hours after the official announcement of the Ramon Magsaysay Award on 31 August 2021. He could not hear this wonderful news. His encouragement and strong support in the 45 years of our marriage have made it possible for me to dedicate my life to science and balance family life with research. I remain indebted to him. I want to share a message he wrote to me 46 years ago:

“Wish you God Speed, May Allah grant you much glory in your search for knowledge”

He is not here today to join in this celebration but his wishes for me have come true. I feel his presence all the time, and he will always be with me.

After receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, I now feel that I need to deliver even more for Bangladesh, for the people living in low- and middle–income countries, and for people living in fragile settings. The award has made me feel more responsible, and I promise to dedicate the rest of my life to public health and contribute to saving lives.

Mass poverty is an intractable reality in Pakistan and much of the world. Poverty reduction programs are urgently needed and microfinance institutions are a real lifeline for the poor. Yet, though Pakistan is in a region that is a global center of the microfinance movement, about fifty million Pakistanis still live below the national poverty line. Clearly, much more work remains to be done.

One organization and its founder are breaking fresh ground in the fight against poverty. MUHAMMAD AMJAD SAQIB, sixty-four years old and highly educated, has worked as a consultant on social development for Pakistan’s government and international development organizations. In 2001, SAQIB invited a group of friends (all successful professionals and businessmen) to present to them his plan for a first-of-its-kind interest-free microfinance program, offering to design, organize, and implement it. Enthusiastic, his friends pledged their support, and funds were raised to capitalize the project. Two years later, Akhuwat was formed and its first branch opened in Lahore.

The most interesting aspect of Akhuwat is its concept and philosophy. Akhuwat (brotherhood or sisterhood) is an approach to poverty alleviation that SAQIB introduced based on the values of the Islamic tradition of Mawakhat that has for its core the Prophet Mohammed’s teaching: that if one has a loaf of bread, half of it rightly belongs to a person who has none. Related to this is the idea that charging interest (riba) on a loan is un-Islamic, hence the practice of the “benevolent loan” which, SAQIB reminds us, was already there in early human societies. “We just institutionalized it,” SAQIB says. Akhuwat uses places of worship for loan disbursements, saving on costs and instilling the sense of trust, responsibility and community that a mosque, church, or temple creates. It also promotes volunteerism among staff and clients; aims at transforming borrowers into donors; and fosters diversity and inclusion, serving all—irrespective of religion, caste, color, and gender.

All these have proved to be a winning formula. Today, Akhuwat is the largest microfinance institution in Pakistan, offering a package of loans for the poor. It has distributed 4.8 million interest-free loans amounting to the equivalent of USD900 million, helping three million families, with a remarkable 99.9% loan repayment rate.

Its phenomenal growth has fueled Akhuwat’s social support programs in fields like education, where, in partnerships with government and others, Akhuwat has “adopted” hundreds of neglected and non-functioning public schools and established four residential colleges (one of them for women), and soon a university, for poor and deserving students.   Akhuwat runs a health services program, helping hundreds of thousands of patients; a “clothes bank” that has distributed more than three million clothes for the needy; and a program of economic, health, and psycho-social services for the discriminated khwaja sira (transgender) community. In the Covid-19 pandemic, Akhuwat responded with emergency loans and grants, food relief, and other assistance in over a hundred cities in Pakistan.

People were skeptical about the sustainability of a no-interest, no-collateral loan program (one that only asks a borrower for a USD1.26 application fee and an optional mutual support contribution of 1.0% of the loan amount). SAQIB is not worried. The Prophet’s story of the loaf of bread, the call for empathy and solidarity, has inspired him and stirred many donors to help. SAQIB has succeeded not only because of his expertise in this field but because he embraced the work of helping the poor as a call to faith. Empathy and optimism in human goodness are central to his work. He says: “Akhuwat is a philosophy. It is now a mission of millions. Until a poverty-free society has been created, we won’t let go. As long as there is an element of good and empathy in society, Akhuwat will continue.”

In electing MUHAMMAD AMJAD SAQIB to receive the 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Award, the board of trustees recognizes the intelligence and compassion that enabled him to create the largest microfinance institution in Pakistan; his inspiring belief that human goodness and solidarity will find ways to eradicate poverty; and his determination to stay with a mission that has already helped millions of Pakistani families.

1963, Akhtar Hameed Khan. 1992, Sultan Shoaib Khan.  And now in 2021, I have joined my mentors and fellow countrymen in receiving Asia’s most prestigious award. I am truly humbled.

I am no more than a torchbearer of a flame ignited by them. Today, I take pride in walking along the path they have laid. There could be no greater honor. When an award is passed from teacher to student, it is no longer the recognition of an individual’s efforts but the validation of a concept and a legacy.

Awards like this have special significance. They are not what you receive for an uphill task of climbing to the pinnacle but instead, they are received for working on the ground and taking pride in the collective rise. This is an award that does not set you apart but unifies you with humankind. That for me is the epitome of Akhuwat, the brotherhood of mankind, my entire life’s work and passion.

I started my career in the civil service of Pakistan and later parted ways but in hindsight, it equipped me for the journey ahead. My work itself is neither new, nor innovative, and I learned from no other than the teacher of all Muslims, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He (PBUH) laid the foundation for the eradication of poverty through the message of Mawakhat or solidarity, whereby one household gives part of its possessions to one that has nothing, one neighborhood takes care of the financial hardships of another, and one community accepts the responsibility to build one that has fallen.

This is a simple yet profound formula for the equitable distribution of wealth. With this comes hand in hand the concept of small loans free from interest and service charges, in the tradition of the Prophet (PBUH) and in fact all religions. The world is now beginning to realize the grave reality of rising interest rates that are bringing the world economy to its knees and sending individuals and nations into spiraling debt. Economists have long tried to resolve the issue of world poverty. But let me remind you of one such solution that was given 1400 years ago. We at Akhuwat, have only reiterated the same methodology of Mawakhat and interest and collateral-free microfinance and with it the intrinsic belief in the goodness of humankind.

I am privileged to declare that Akhuwat has received the greatest support from the people of Pakistan. Equally, the Government of Pakistan has committed to the eradication of poverty and equitable growth for all. Our beneficiaries are our supporters, our successors, and our friends. They are the most trustworthy, and dedicated individuals who despite the impediments they face, remind us to stay resilient in the face of adversity.

I would like to express my humble gratitude to Akhuwat’s Board of Directors for their unwavering support and commitment towards our collective vision of creating a poverty-free world. I thank my friends, each and every one of our donors for taking Akhuwat to a global level and helping us to establish the world’s largest interest-free microfinance program.

Skeptics always said such programs are not sustainable. Yes, these are not sustainable but by the grace of God and the spirit of sacrifice & giving, programs like Akhuwat stood where economic wisdom ends as these programs don’t believe in “my share” or “cut-throat” competition. They believe in sharing and altruism. The spirit of giving is pervasive.

I would not be standing before you if it was not for the employees and volunteers of Akhuwat working selflessly in 400 cities across Pakistan. I wish to thank all of you for your dedication, your commitment, and above all your faith when many would ridicule the concept of interest-free microfinance. You believed when others doubted. Turning a fool’s dream into a pragmatic reality. I thank the Akhuwat family which never breached our trust and made possible an unbelievable 100% rate of return that to date puzzles the economic pundits.

When you take on a family as large as Akhuwat, you cannot help but at times sacrifice the moments you could be spending with your own family. My wife, Farrukh, and my children Junaid, and Farazeen – it has been your continuous love that has given me the strength that I needed to carry forward this mission. It was your support and fortitude that have given me the inner peace to take on the turmoil outside. Thank you for sharing the weight on my shoulders by always standing by my side.

My heartfelt gratitude to the trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. It is my pledge on behalf of Pakistan, that we will continue our struggle till we reach our goal of a peaceful and poverty-free world.

To conclude, I would like to remember the man in whose honor we all are gathered here, the incomparable Ramon Magsaysay who said that a country is like a pyramid, like a tower. It is made up of millions of stones and the foundation stone of this pyramid is the common man.

Ladies and gentlemen, today, with immense appreciation I accept this Award on behalf of every foundation stone, on behalf of the common man and woman whose commitment and faith in goodness, piety, and in a prosperous future remains unshaken. I am grateful to be a part of the Magsaysay community, creating new bonds of solidarity with friends from Asia.

I believe the solution for poverty will be achieved by working in solidarity with the poor. Poverty is pain. Poverty is poison. We all remain poor until every single person in this world is poor. Let’s rise. Together, we will instill hope and become a voice for the voiceless.