DHAKA: Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice  & Human Rights, is scheduled to arrive here on June 28 to join the opening of Social Business Day as Keynote Speaker.

Kerry, a lawyer by training, hails from the famous Kennedy family as her father Bobby Kennedy was Attorney General in his brother President JF Kennedy's cabinet.

The Kennedy family has a long history of support for the people of Bangladesh. 

In 1971, Kerry’s uncle, Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy, became a close friend to Bangladesh when he spoke out in support of the independence for the people of Bangladesh. 

He also visited refugee camps in India where the Bangladeshis had fled under the attack of Pakistani army and advocated for the struggle for Bangladesh's independence, and was one of the earliest visitors to Bangladesh after the liberation war.

To uphold her family's tradition of fighting for democracy and Justice, Kerry Kennedy established the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights in 1988 and led over 50 human rights delegations across the globe.

Kennedy founded RFK Speak Truth to Power, a multi-faceted global initiative that uses the experiences of courageous defenders around the world, to educate students and others about human rights and urges them to take action when a problem is identified. 

The curriculum, which includes 17 teacher-developed lesson plans for students in grades 6-12, is based on Kerry Kennedy’s book, Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who are Changing the World. 

The program is designed to build on students’ enthusiasm to become human rights defenders by stopping child labour and fighting other human rights abuses around the world.

Professor Yunus's work with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and setting up microfinance and social business programs are a part of the ‘Speak Truth to Power’ program. 

She has since, that time, become a good friend of Professor Yunus and is also a strong advocate of microcredit for the poor.

In December 2013, Professor Yunus was honoured with the Ripple of Hope award at the RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights where he was named as “the father of microfinance, microcredit, and social business, a pariah to the powers that be, and banker to the poor”.

BDST: 0915 HRS, JUN 26, 2014