The ceremony will be held to honor the Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Right Honorable Begum Khaleda Zia with the Mother of Democracy Award, a categorical award under the confines of CHRIO’s Trillium Award. This award will be granted in recognition of Ms. Zia, a 73-year-old Bangladeshi politician who has served three terms as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991–96, 1996 and 2001–06. During her time in office she governed her people with dignity, rectitude and with the clear goal of implementing democracy.

She governed through natural disasters, economic distress, and civil unrest, yet this never deterred Ms. Zia from fulfilling her duty to the best of her capabilities. As such, Ms. Zia has worked extremely hard for the past 35 years to bring peace and stability to Bangladesh a country who unfortunately has continued to be emerged in a state of conflict and undemocratic practices. This however, has only further motivated Ms. Zia to continue to fight for the implementation and protection of democracy, civil liberties and human rights.

Thus, in recognition of this plight and personal sacrifice CHRIO as a human rights organization wants to celebrate a woman who has fought tooth and nail to implement and restore democratic norms to her native land, a dream she is currently paying for in prison. As such, this award ceremony will not only serve to illustrate our support for Ms. Zia but of democracy for Bangladesh as a whole