Sheikh Hasina Wazed is a Bangladeshi politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2009. She is the daughter of the first President of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the current President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, is her cousin.
Sheikh Hasina was born on September 28, 1947, in Tungipara, a small town in the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. She is the eldest of five children and grew up in a politically active family. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was a leading figure in the Bangladesh Liberation War and was instrumental in the formation of the independent state of Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina completed her schooling at the Presentation Convent High School in Dhaka and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bengali literature from the University of Dhaka. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in the same subject from the same university.
Sheikh Hasina’s political career began in the early 1980s when she became involved in the Awami League, the political party founded by her father. In 1981, she was elected as the President of the party’s women’s wing, the Mahila Awami League. She was subsequently elected to the Bangladesh Parliament in 1986 and served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990.
In 1996, Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the first time, serving until 2001. During her tenure, she implemented a number of reforms aimed at improving the country’s economy and infrastructure and also played a key role in negotiating a peace agreement with a separatist group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region.
After losing power in 2001, Sheikh Hasina served as the Leader of the Opposition until 2008, when her party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections. She was subsequently sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the second time, a position she has held since then.
During her current tenure, Sheikh Hasina has continued to implement a number of development initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the people of Bangladesh. Some of her notable achievements include a significant reduction in poverty levels, an increase in access to education and healthcare, and a greater focus on renewable energy sources.
In recognition of her contributions to Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina has received a number of national and international awards, including the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, the UNESCO Peace Tree Award, and the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award.
