Australia Awards South and West Asia

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, according to World Bank reports. Australia Awards alumna Marzia Sultana from Bangladesh believes that the country needs more environmental experts in order to better understand the vulnerabilities and ensure sustainable development.

Marzia recently completed a Master of Environmental Management at Flinders University, with the aim of building awareness among her peers about environmental issues and, in turn, helping to address existing knowledge gaps in her country.

Marzia reflects on her Australia Awards experience with pride, saying she improved professionally and personally in many ways while in Australia: “My academic writing skill developed, and my self-confidence greatly increased after studying and living in Australia for two years. I had to manage education, family responsibilities and social commitments on time. This helped me become more punctual, efficient and confident.”

Marzia is enthusiastic about other aspects of life she experienced in Australia too: the natural beauty, people’s friendliness and the multiculturalism, noting, “People from different countries are practising their own cultures here without any restrictions.”

Marzia reflects on her Australia Awards experience with pride, saying she improved professionally and personally in many ways while in Australia.

Australia Awards alumna Marzia Sultana on campus at Flinders University

Before coming to Australia to study, Marzia served as an assistant chief in the Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the financial policies of the Government of Bangladesh and is responsible for socio-economic planning and statistics management.

Marzia has now returned to Bangladesh and will continue to work for the Government of Bangladesh where she will analyse and oversee Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for development projects. She hopes to raise the level of awareness of her peers around environmental issues and, in the longer term, bring together those with environmental awareness for joint projects—in order to “reduce the vulnerability of the country”.

Now that she is home in Bangladesh, Marzia hopes to increase awareness levels of environmental issues to help reduce the vulnerability of the country

Marzia’s choice of Australia Awards and her study program came from a desire to develop professionally as well as to help contribute to the development of her country. For other potential scholars, she has nothing but encouragement: “The education system of Australia is excellent. I think every student who wants to study in Australia needs to try to achieve this Scholarship. It’s a great opportunity!”