Nasreen Pervin Huq (1958–2006) was a feminist, activist, and development leader whose vision and work transformed approaches to women’s rights in Bangladesh. Her activism and organizational leadership were deeply connected, each strengthening the other in a relentless fight for equality, dignity, and justice.
She began her activism in the late 1970s, challenging social norms that confined women to the private sphere. Over the years, she became involved with organizations such as Naripokkho and BRAC, and later served as the Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh. In every space she entered, she worked to center the voices of women, especially those from marginalized communities, within policy, development, and movement-building.
Under her leadership at ActionAid, Nasreen championed women’s land rights, political participation, and the elimination of gender-based violence. She was deeply committed to connecting local struggles with global advocacy, ensuring that Bangladeshi women’s issues were heard in international forums. Her feminism was intersectional in practice, linking gender justice to poverty reduction, education, environmental justice, and human rights.
Nasreen also mentored countless young activists, building feminist leadership across generations. Colleagues remember her as strategic yet compassionate, outspoken yet deeply rooted in community relationships. She was known for her ability to bring together grassroots women, policymakers, and international allies in the same conversation.
Her life was tragically cut short in 2006 by an accident, but her impact continues to be felt in the movements she helped build, the policies she influenced, and the people she inspired.
To remember Nasreen Pervin Huq is to remember that feminist work is both local and global, personal and political, and that lasting change is made by those who refuse to leave anyone behind.
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Bangladesh Feminist Archives 