Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2005:

From despair to hope, Rafiza has travelled far. She now wants to devote her time to making that journey easier for other women.

Rafiza Begum

Thana Federation
Narikuli Women's Group

From a timid wife whose husband abandoned her to a Union Parishad leader, Rafiza Begum (born around 1965) has travelled a long, bumpy road. When she contacted the NGO Proshika and its women's micro-credit group, she could hardly imagine that one day she would be looking well beyond her own life and towards improving the lot of all women in her village. Nor did she think that she would inspire scores of village women to break social, religious, and cultural barriers and move towards empowerment.