Member, CPD Board of Trustees; Chairperson, TIB Board of Trustees; Former Executive Director, Ain o Salish Kendra and Former Advisor to the Caretaker Government

Sultana Kamal is a Lawyer and Human Rights Activist. She was appointed as an Advisor to the Caretaker Government in October 2006 from which she resigned with 3 other colleagues in December the same year. From September 2001 to March 2016 she lead one of the Country’s front line human rights organizations Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) as the Executive Director. She is the Founder President of manabadhikar shongskriti foundation (msf) founded in 2017.

Sultana Kamal was born to a family that was engaged in progressive movements of the sub-continent since the days before partition. She got involved in the women’s as well as human rights movement almost automatically. Father Kamaluddin Ahmad Khan and mother Sufia Kamal both were in the forefront of the movements for intellectual freedom, freedom of thought and conscience since their early age.

Sultana, since her adolescence has been active in various social movements including the country’s struggles for cultural autonomy, movement for universal secular education, the mass upheaval of 1969 leading to the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. She joined the liberation war and was one of the founders of the Field Hospital in Agartala where she engaged herself as a volunteer nurse. Sultana and her sister Saeeda Kamal were two of the four women to receive the CNC’s Special Commendation for their role in the Liberation War.

She did Masters in English Literature in 1971 from Dhaka University. During her work with the women in post war Bangladesh, she felt the need to study law and became a lawyer with the intention to provide legal assistance to the disenfranchised, especially women. In 1981 she did Masters in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies, the Hague in Holland specializing in Women and Development.

Starting her career as a teacher, she worked with Bangladesh Tobacco Company in the legal department for a short period. Her next job was in an international voluntary organization working with rural women from 1976-1980. She briefly worked for the Vietnamese Boat People in Hong Kong as the Legal Consultant with UNHCR in 1989-90. She received Ananya Top Ten award in 1995 and the John Humphrey Freedom Award of Canada in 1996 for her involvement in the human rights and women’s rights activism. In 2017 she was awarded the life time achievement award by Begum Zebunnessa and Kazi Mahboobullah Memorial Trust. She is also a recipient of C.R. Das gold medal (2012) and Mother Teresa gold medal (2011). Sultana was a founder member of the famous drama group “Nagorik Natya Samproday” and has acted in leading roles in its earlier productions. She is now the Chairperson of the We Can End Violence Against Women Campaign ( We Can), Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and The Blue Planet Initiative (BPI). She is a Co-chair of the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission. She was the Chairperson of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA). She is a Trustee Board Member of Protichi Bangladesh- a trust founded by Amartya Sen. She served as a Regional Council Member of Asia Pacific Forum for Women Law and Development (Regional Network), is a Founding member of Women Living Under Muslim Laws (International Network). She also served as the Chsirperson of The South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR).

She is a member of the Advisory Committee of Chayannaut and also a Member of National Rabindra Sangeet Sammilon Parishad (Both National Cultural Organizations) . She is the Chair of the National Chapter of the international campaign We Can End Violence Against Women. She is leading the movement of the National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans and Rukhe Darao Bangladesh, a civil Society Campaign to resist violation of rights of the religious and ethnic minorities. She is a Trustee Board member of CPD. She also acted as a Commissioner for the Rana Plaza Compensation Committee formed by ILO and the Government of Bangladesh.

She is married with one daughter. Her husband, two brothers and two sisters are also well known in their own professional fields and for social activism.