Four Indian women, including Bollywood actress Dia Mirza, made it to the BBC 100 Women List 2023.
BBC released the 11th edition of the list on November 21, 2023.
In addition to Mirza, captain of India’s national women’s cricket team Harmanpreet Kaur, National Geographic photographer Arati Kumar-Rao, and Tibetan Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo also featured on the list.
Palmo was born in England in the 1940s but became one the first Westerners to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monastic after travelling to India at the age of 20.
The list also featured Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, Gloria Steinem, America Ferrera, and Huda Kattan.
It also included names of 28 women “who have been working to help their communities tackle climate change and take action to adjust to its impacts”.
A Pakistani shepherdess from the remote mountainous Shimshal Valley and a midwife who provided life-saving care during record-breaking floods last year have also been featured on the list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2023.
BCC recognised Mirza’s contribution towards the environment and named her a Climate Pioneer.
Mirza is the goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Environment Programme.
She also founded a production house, One India Stories, to produce stories that “make you pause and think”.
She is also an ambassador for Save the Children, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and a board member of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation.
Mirza began her acting career in 2001 with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein alongside R Madhavan and Saif Ali Khan. She has featured in over 30 films and two web series in the past two decades.
The RHTDM star was the second runner-up at Miss India 2000, and Miss Asia Pacific later the same year.
