Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister, Bangladesh, 1991 - 1996, 2001 - 2006

Begum Khaleda Zia was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and then again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first woman Prime Minister of her country. Begum Khaleda is the widow of assassinated President Ziaur Rahman. Since his death, she leads her late husband’s old party, The Bangladesh Nationalist Party. In 2006 she was ranked by Forbes as the 33th most powerful woman in the world. The government of Khaleda Zia made tangible progress in empowering huge rural womenfolk in the countryside, as well as major reforms in education, including introduction of free and compulsory primary education, tuition-free education for girls up to ten, stipend for female students and the Food for Education.