Inside the 67th Ramon Magsaysay Awards Presentation Ceremonies, where the 'greatness of spirit' shines

In an act of defiance and sheer bravery, Villanueva surprised audiences of the ceremonies by unscrolling a list of families affected and continues to be victimised by extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, particularly the bloody “War on Drugs” waged by former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“This honour was never about me, but about the many lives and hands that gave it meaning: the homeless man and woman who asked not for food but for dignity, the mother who searched for her son taken by violence, and the volunteers who show up each day with open hearts. This honour belongs to them,” he says.

The Foundation to Educate Girls Globally (Educate Girls), founded by Safeena Husain, became the first Indian non-governmental organisation (NGO) to receive this prestigious award. Its mission is to close the profound gender gap in education across India’s most rural and underserved regions, such as Rajasthan. The organisation employs a pioneering, community-based model, mobilising local volunteers known as Team Balika to go door-to-door, identifying and enrolling out-of-school girls. What began as a pilot in 50 village schools has dramatically expanded to over 30,000 villages, successfully bringing over two million girls into the classroom with a remarkable retention rate exceeding 90 per cent.

It also pioneered the world‘s first Development Impact Bond (DIB) in education, linking funding directly to measurable outcomes, and runs the Pragati open-schooling programme for young women aged 15 to 29 to complete their education and access better employment opportunities.

Husain shared the credit for the movement‘s success, dedicating the win to her team members and 55,000 volunteers. She shared their rallying call: “Mera Gaon, Meri Samasya, aur Main hi Samadhan,” which translates to ‘my village, my problem, and I am the solution’.

Read more: What it takes to keep India’s daughters in school—and the volunteers leading the fight

Shaahina Ali, a diver, photojournalist, and Maldivian environmental advocate, was recognised for her unwavering commitment to protecting the nation’s fragile marine ecosystem and tackling plastic pollution. As the executive director of Parley Maldives, she leads the comprehensive campaign to “Avoid, Intercept and Redesign” plastic use. Her work has ignited a grassroots movement, encompassing over 700 coastal cleanups and establishing plastic interception sites in more than 70 schools and island communities.

Ali emphasises that for the low-lying archipelago, protecting nature is not merely environmental, but existential. Her work is framed by the reality that the Maldives, with 80 per cent of its land area sitting less than one metre above sea level, is arguably “the poster for vulnerability” to climate change. She uses science, education, and community resolve to ensure the vital coral reefs and island communities are safeguarded against the immediate threats of plastic waste and the long-term impacts of climate change.

For the first Maldivian laureate of RMAF, the urgency of conservation is paramount. In her acceptance speech, she recalls how working with marine biologists made her understand the vulnerability of tiny organisms that build the powerful and beautiful coral reefs, making them victims of climate change. She stated, “This award reminds me that every small effort matters. My hope is to inspire more people to connect more deeply with nature... and give other life forms an equal chance to exist”.

The presentation was punctuated by a congratulatory message from former laureate Ananda Galappatti (2008 Awardee for Emergent Leadership), who noted that the 2025 awardees are responding to the “greatest challenges” of violence, persecution, systemic exclusion and damage to shared ecosystems.

Read more: Is the Maldives sinking? Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation highlights Shaahina Ali’s fight for conservation

The medallions and certificates were presented by RMAF Chair Chua and Francisco Magsaysay, the grandson of the late President Ramon Magsaysay, in a symbolic moment linking generations of selfless service.

The ceremony concluded with the powerful understanding that the awardees stood not as “solo heroes, but as voices for the many”—the volunteers, the girls, the divers and the forgotten poor—who keep hope alive in Asia.

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