Rima Sultana Rimu (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: রিমা সুলতানা রিমু; born 2002) is a Bangladeshi women's rights activists and advocate for gender-responsive humanitarian action in

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; ; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and Cox's Bazar District, district headquarters in south-eastern Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar Beach, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh, is the longest uninterrupte ...

. She was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women for 2020.

Personal life

Rimu was born in 2002 in

Ramu The Ramu River is a major river in northern Papua New Guinea. The headwaters of the river are formed in the Kratke Range from where it then travels about northwest to the Bismarck Sea. Along the Ramu's course, it receives numerous tributaries ...

in the

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division (), officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to th ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, into a peasant farming family.

Activism

In 2018, Rimu joined Young Women Leaders for Peace within the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), established in collaboration with the local non-governmental organisation Jago Nari Unnayon Sangsta (JNUS) and supported by

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...

. As part of this role, she first visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar whilst taking part in JNUS' literacy and numeracy initiative. She subsequently helped devise formal literary and numeracy training courses to deliver to

Rohingya The Rohingya people (; ; ) are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who predominantly follow Islam from Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Ro ...

children living in the Balukhali camp following finds that 50% of Rohingya children under the age of 12 were receiving no formal education. In addition to her work with refugees, Rimu has also advocated for mediation and restoration work between refugees and the local population in Cox's Bazar, where tensions were high due to high levels of poverty in the district prior to the arrival of the refugees. Rimu's initiatives on literary and numeracy education, as well as spreading awareness of issues including

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

dowries A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

, and domestic abuse, are done among women in Cox's Bazar, regardless if they are Bangladeshi nationals or refugees. Rimu has also used radio broadcasts and plays to spread awareness of these issues. Rimu has cited Bangladeshi prime minister

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

as amongst her inspirations.

Recognition

In 2020, Rimu was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women; one of two Bangladeshi women recognised that year, alongside Rina Akter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimu, Rima Sultana Living people Bangladeshi women's rights activists Bangladeshi human rights activists Bangladeshi educators People from Cox's Bazar District 2002 births 21st-century Bangladeshi women