A Bangladeshi lawyer has won the prestigious IBA Pro Bono Award for the first time in the country’s history.
Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist Ishrat Hasan received the award from the International Bar Association at a conference in London on Monday night.
She received the award for her outstanding contribution to the protection of the rights of the people of Bangladesh, especially the poor, disadvantaged and marginalized, and for the protection of the legal rights of women and children.
She is the first Bangladeshi lawyer to achieve this rare feat.
Ishrat persuaded the court to issue a rule for setting up breastfeeding rooms in various crowded places including railway stations, bus stops, shopping malls and court areas in the country, according to the International Bar Association.
As a result, separate working rooms have been set up for the children of working mothers in several parts of Bangladesh. In the writ petition, the lawyer named her 9-month-old baby Umair-bin-Saadi as the plaintiff.
Expressing her feelings after receiving the honor, Ishrat Hasan said: “It is good to think that I was picked from among lawyers of so many countries. It is a great honor for me and for my country.“
Dedicating the achievement to the women and children of Bangladesh, she said: “This award is not for me alone, but for all the women and children of the country. This recognition will give me even more impetus to work for the protection of human rights.”
80,000 lawyers from around the world and 190 members of the Bar Association and the Law Society are members of the International Bar Association. Founded in 1948, the organization is headquartered in London and has regional offices in the United States, South Korea and Brazil.
