Fifteen women volunteers and women-led initiatives were awarded the "Inspiring Women Volunteer Award 2021" Tuesday in the capital for their critical role amid the Covid-19 pandemic. UNV, VSO, Plan International, and ActionAid jointly organised the award campaign. The top five winners are Faridpur's Taheatul Jannat from; Dhaka's Kamrun Nahar Koly, Tashnuva Anan, Rangpur's Arifa Jahan Bithi, and Noakhali's Ayesha Akter. The top five winners received prize money of Tk1 lakh to Tk10,000. The women volunteers were selected based on their contributions towards Covid-19 response in health, awareness-raising, food distribution, innovation, working against gender-based violence, child protection, education, WASH, environment, and mental health. Women take on 57 per cent of volunteering globally; volunteering strengthens their participation, which helps reduce inequality, speakers at the award-giving ceremony said. Read: Some Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in Diverse Sectors