The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation on Monday, Aug. 31, named three individuals from Singapore, Bangladesh, and Myanmar as its 2026 awardees, recognizing their work in international diplomacy, essential services for remote communities, and the fight for political prisoners’ rights.

The awardees are Singaporean statesman and diplomat Tommy Koh, Bangladeshi social development leader Runa Khan, and Myanmar human rights advocate Bo Kyi.

The announcement coincided with the 119th birth anniversary of former president Magsaysay, after whom the prestigious award was named.

“Our long line of Ramon Magsaysay awardees includes diplomats, statesmen, and public servants who have helped nations find common ground, strengthened international cooperation, and advanced the principles of international law,” the foundation said.

Koh was recognized for a career spanning more than six decades in diplomacy, international law, education, and institution-building.

He played a role in negotiations for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and helped countries with competing interests reach common ground.

His work in Singapore also extended to arts, culture, and heritage. He helped establish the Institute of Policy Studies, the Center for International Law, and Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore.

“Building a nation is not only about building institutions. It is also about shaping the people and ideas that give a country its character,” the foundation said.

Koh has also mentored generations of students, diplomats, scholars, public servants, and artists.

“At the heart of his work is a vocation that has remained constant through the many roles he has taken on: that of a teacher,” the foundation said.

The foundation said his influence is reflected in the people he has taught and mentored.

“But perhaps the clearest measure of Tommy Koh's life is not the number of institutions he helped build or agreements he helped shape. It is the people who came away from knowing a little more, thinking a little differently, or believing they could do a little more themselves,” it said.

“Tommy Koh embodies the Ramon Magsaysay ideal of greatness of spirit,” the foundation said.

Khan was recognized for bringing healthcare and other essential services to communities in Bangladesh that are difficult to reach because of their location.

Her work began with a floating hospital that brought healthcare directly to communities along the country’s rivers.

It later grew into Friendship, the organization she founded, which expanded into education, livelihoods, and climate resilience.

“The challenge was not simply providing services. It was finding a way to bring them within reach of people who could not easily reach them,” the foundation said.

Khan eventually saw that the needs of these communities extended beyond healthcare.

“Healthcare was tied to education. Livelihoods were tied to resilience and communities facing a changing climate needed more than a single intervention,” the foundation said.

From the floating hospital grew Friendship’s broader work with communities.

“What began in the bodies of water became something much larger: a way of working that starts by listening, stays close to the people it serves and recognizes that every community has the knowledge and capacity to shape its own future,” the foundation said.

The foundation said Khan’s approach recognizes that communities themselves have the knowledge and capacity to shape their future.

“It means to reach someone not simply to bring a service closer to make sure that distance never takes away their dignity,” it said.

Bo Kyi was recognized for decades of documenting political imprisonment in Myanmar and supporting political prisoners and their families.

A student activist during Myanmar’s 1988 democracy movement, he was imprisoned for his political beliefs. After his release, he continued working for those who remained behind bars.

In 2000, he helped establish the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which documented political imprisonment and supported the families of political prisoners.

“When he was released, he chose not to leave behind those who were still inside,” the foundation said.

For years, Bo Kyi has documented the experiences of political prisoners and kept their stories before the public.

“His words reminds us that imprisonment doesn't end with the person inside the cell. It reaches everyone waiting outside, and sometimes, what people need most is simply to know that someone remembers,” the foundation said.

“Bo Kyi has spent his life being that person,” it added.

The foundation said his work reflects the importance of keeping hope alive for people whose freedom has been taken away.

“And perhaps that is where freedom begins. Not when the locks turn, but when we refuse to accept that the locked door is the end of someone's story,” it said.