SINGAPOREAN statesman Tommy Koh, Bangladeshi development worker Runa Khan and Myanmar human rights advocate Bo Kyi were named the Ramon Magsaysay awardees for 2026.
Koh, Khan and Bo Kyi were recognized for their work in nation-building, bringing health care and education to poor communities, and seeking justice for political prisoners and their families.
Koh was recognized for his six-decade career as a diplomat, negotiator and teacher, including his work in international law and efforts to bring countries with competing interests toward common ground.
Khan was honored for bringing health care and other basic services to remote communities.
Her work began with a floating hospital that brought health care directly to communities along Bangladesh’s rivers. It later expanded to education, livelihoods and climate resilience after she saw that the needs of the communities were interconnected.
Khan said she received the award on behalf of the underserved communities she had worked with, her “friendship family," and those who had walked beside her throughout her journey.
Bo Kyi, meanwhile, was recognized for his decades-long work documenting political imprisonment, supporting the families of political prisoners and ensuring their stories are not forgotten.
Bo Kyi experienced political imprisonment as a student activist during Myanmar’s 1988 democracy movement. He later helped establish the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners in 2000.
He dedicated the award to the Burmese people fighting injustice, particularly political prisoners.
He said he hoped continued solidarity would help secure the release of political prisoners and build a better future for Myanmar.
Koh was unable to attend the announcement because it coincided with his last day as a diplomat with Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation President Susan Afan said.
The 68th Ramon Magsaysay Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held on Nov. 15, 2026. The award is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of Asia.
Afan said the three awardees may have different advocacies, but their work is connected by a shared commitment to helping others.
“All these three awardees bring solutions to certain problems,” she said in an interview.
“One is about nation-building. The other one has something to do with bringing health care and education to the poor. And of course, the other one is taking care of the political prisoners, bringing justice to them and to their families,” she said.
“But what strings them all together is what we call greatness of spirit,” Afan added.
She said the awardees have a moral compass that keeps them fighting not only for themselves but also for the good of others.
Afan said recognizing people who devoted their lives to service is important because their stories need to be amplified.
She said recognition also provides encouragement to people who have devoted themselves to difficult and sustained work.
“It’s not easy to be involved constantly in whether it’s mental health, it’s dealing with health care, with poor people, poverty, and helping lift them up into better lives,” Afan said.
“If this is all you do every single day, it gets daunting. And sometimes you just need somebody to say you are being heard,” she added.
Afan said the foundation hopes the awardees’ stories will encourage people to take action in their own communities.
“What we want to do is not just get inspired, but get interconnected,” she said.
