Ramon Magsaysay Awards honour Tommy Koh, Bo Kyi and Runa Khan

Manila,UPDATED: Aug 31, 2026 17:44 IST

Singaporean lawyer and diplomat Tommy Koh, Myanmar activist Bo Kyi and Bangladeshi social worker Runa Khan have been named winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as Asia’s version of the Nobel Prize. The awards honour “greatness of spirit” through selfless service to people across Asia.

The awards, first given in 1958 and named after former Philippine president Ramon Magsaysay, will be presented at the Metropolitan Theatre in Manila on November 15. Each winner will receive a medallion, an inscribed certificate and an undisclosed cash prize.

Koh, 88, was recognised for promoting international dialogue and the rule of law. He is best known for presiding over a UN conference of more than 150 countries that adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1982. The awards body said that, “Of enormous significance to maritime countries, this ‘constitution for the oceans’ defined territorial waters and the economic rights of countries to their coastal waters and provides mechanisms for settling disputes.”

The convention later became the main basis for a 2016 ruling by an arbitration panel in The Hague that invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. Beijing refused to take part in the arbitration, which was initiated by the Philippines in 2013, and has continued to reject the ruling. China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have for decades remained locked in territorial disputes in the waters. The awards body said, “Through his steadfast faith in dialogue, the rule of law and international cooperation, he has helped make peaceful coexistence possible in a world of unequal power.”

Bo Kyi, 61, was honoured for his long record of defending democracy and resisting human rights violations by Myanmar’s military. He has been arrested twice and spent seven years in prison. The awards body said he has called for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar, including former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and has helped raise funds for detainees and their families.

In March 2000, Bo Kyi and other former political prisoners set up the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The awards body said the group has “devoted itself to documenting political imprisonment, supporting detainees and their families and ensuring the continued visibility of the junta’s political prisoners in Myanmar and around the world”.

Runa Khan, 67, was recognised for “her profound empathy for the poorest of the poor in her country”. Coming from an affluent family, she first worked as a teacher for poor children in 1979. In 2002, she founded Friendship Bangladesh, which, according to the awards body, has helped the most destitute “deal with climate change, educate their children, empower women, create livelihood opportunities and bring social justice to the excluded”.

The awards body said Khan’s organisation now employs more than 7,500 people and runs seven hospital ships, two land-based hospitals and 550 mobile clinics. It added, “In her hands, privilege became not an entitlement, but a responsibility; not a family legacy to protect, but a gift to be shared so that others, too, might have the chance to live with hope, opportunity and dignity.”

This year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards therefore recognise three very different paths of public service: Koh’s work in international law, Bo Kyi’s defence of political prisoners and democracy in Myanmar, and Khan’s efforts to support poor and excluded communities in Bangladesh.

With PTI Inputs

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