Ramon Magsaysay Award 2026 Winners: Full List, Contributions and Awardees of India

Why in News?

• The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) has announced the three recipients of the 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Award Tommy Koh , Bo Kyi  and Runa Khan. 
• The awardees were announced on 31 August 2026. They will formally receive the award on 15 November 2026 at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila, Philippines. The award includes a medallion, an inscribed certificate and a cash prize.

Key Facts

2026 Winners at a Glance

About the Ramon Magsaysay Award

• The Ramon Magsaysay Award is one of Asia's most prestigious honours for public service and is widely described as “Asia's Nobel Prize.”
• It recognises individuals and organisations that demonstrate “greatness of spirit” through selfless service to the peoples of Asia.
• Ramon Magsaysay, after whom the award is named, was President of the Philippines from 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957.

Who are the 2026 Ramon Magsaysay Award Winners?

Tommy Koh (Singapore)

• • Tommy Koh, 88, is a prominent Singaporean diplomat, lawyer and legal scholar. The Foundation has recognised him for decades of work advancing international cooperation, dialogue, justice and peaceful resolution of disputes. 
  • He served as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations during two periods (1968-1971 and 1974-1984). 
  • He served as President of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and played an important role in bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion. The convention was adopted in 1982. 
  • Koh also chaired negotiations connected with the 1992 UN Earth Summit, chaired the High-Level Task Force that drafted the ASEAN Charter in 2007 and contributed extensively to academia, public policy and international law.

Bo Kyi (Myanmar)

• • Bo Kyi, 61, is a Myanmar human-rights activist, former political prisoner and prominent campaigner for democracy.
  • The Foundation has recognised his sustained work for truth, accountability, justice, political prisoners and human dignity in Myanmar.
  • In 2000, Bo Kyi and other former political prisoners established the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). The organisation works to document political imprisonment and human-rights violations, support political prisoners and their families, record abuses under military rule and bring international attention to political detainees in Myanmar. 
  • Bo Kyi has also advocated for the release of political prisoners, including former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Runa Khan (Bangladesh)

• • Runa Khan, 67, is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and humanitarian.
  • She has been recognised for her work among some of Bangladesh's poorest and most geographically isolated communities, particularly those affected by river erosion, poverty, disasters and climate change.
  • Khan founded Friendship in 2002 to support remote and underserved communities. Its early work involved using a hospital ship to deliver healthcare to people living on remote sandbar islands, locally known as chars, along the Jamuna River.

India and the Ramon Magsaysay Award

• The Ramon Magsaysay Award has a strong connection with India because several prominent Indians and Indian organisations have received the honour over the decades. Well-known Indian recipients include figures such as Vinoba Bhave, Mother Teresa, Satyajit Ray, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Verghese Kurien, Arvind Kejriwal, Sandeep Pandey, Bezwada Wilson, Ravish Kumar and Sonam Wangchuk, among others.
• In 2025, the Indian non-profit Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Educate Girls) was among the Ramon Magsaysay Award recipients.

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