In Bangladesh, calling someone “Apa”, elder sister, is a mark of deep communal trust and respect. That Rahima Sultana Kazal is known everywhere as “Kazal Apa” says everything about how her community sees her. In the late 1990s, frustrated by organizations that treated women’s rights as secondary, she took a bold step: she co-founded AVAS (Association of Voluntary Actions for Society) with four other women, including her mother. With no external funding in the first year, her team worked on pure “voluntary spirit.” Today, AVAS coordinates two major national platforms and has reached thousands of women leaders across Bangladesh’s most disaster-affected communities — all built on the simple belief that women must be the architects of their own progress.

Read Rahima’s Story in Voices from the Frontline A Journey of Grit and Leadership: The Story of Rahima Sultana Kazal