Asmani Foundation
Asmani Foundation is a youth-led, independent, registered non-political, non-governmental, and non-profit social development organization. Its current executive director and a group of like-minded energetic youth activists founded it.. The organization’s motto is “We ensure development for all women.” AF has been operating since 2016 in Shimulbari, Jaldhaka, Nilphamari District in Bangladesh.
- "We ensure development for all women”
- None Government Organization
Shirin Akther Asa
👩💼 Shirin Akter Asa – A Trailblazing Woman Entrepreneur
🚫 Stopped Her Own Child Marriage – Took a stand in sixth grade to continue her education.
🎓 Self-Funded Education – Overcame challenges to achieve a master’s degree.
🏭 Founded “Asmani Sanitary Napkin and Local Handicrafts” (Since 2016) – Started with 36 underprivileged women.
👩👩👧👧 Grew into the Asmani Foundation – Now empowering 350 women entrepreneurs.
🧵 Diverse Production – Produces sanitary napkins, Nakshi Kantha, sarees, and jute items.
📈 Expansion Plans – Aims to open a sales center in Rangpur by 2026.
🌍 A Vision for 3,000 Women Entrepreneurs – Creating opportunities for underprivileged youth and women.
🤝 Join the Mission – Support Shirin’s initiative for an inclusive and empowered economy!
Success Rate
87%
Who We Are
We ensure development for all women youth-led, independent, registered non-political
Asmani Foundation is a youth-led, independent, registered non-political, non-governmental, and non-profit social development organization. Its current executive director and a group of like-minded energetic youth activists founded it. The organization’s motto is “We ensure development for all women.” AF has been operating since 2016 in Shimulbari, Jaldhaka, Nilphamari District in Bangladesh. Its goal is to achieve sustainable socio-economic development in the country by empowering youths, with special attention given to adolescents, girls, women, and people with special needs. The aim is to promote community participation in development. Since its establishment, AF has expanded to six upazilas of Nilphamari and has reached a significant number of beneficiaries. It has directly reached 10,000 beneficiaries, with 8,500 of them being female.
Asmani Foundation is a youth-led, independent, registered non-political, non-governmental, and non-profit social development organization. Its current executive director and a group of like-minded energetic youth activists founded it. The organization’s motto is “We ensure development for all women.” AF has been operating since 2016 in Shimulbari, Jaldhaka, Nilphamari District in Bangladesh. Its goal is to achieve sustainable socio-economic development in the country by empowering youths, with special attention given to adolescents, girls, women, and people with special needs. The aim is to promote community participation in development. Since its establishment, AF has expanded to six upazilas of Nilphamari and has reached a significant number of beneficiaries. It has directly reached 10,000 beneficiaries, with 8,500 of them being female.
These beneficiaries have been reached through various projects and programs. The head office of AF is located in Jaldhaka upazila in Nilphamari, which is in the northern part of Bangladesh. While Jaldhaka, Nilphamari is the main working area of Asmani Foundation, it is also able to carry out programs outside of this area if needed. The organization has been implementing development projects/programs with effective partnerships and linkages with government departments, private sectors, company agencies, local and international NGOs, and different donors related to sustainable livelihood, community development, education programs, student scholarships, awareness on puberty period, adolescent health, menstrual hygiene, mental health, capacity building of women, women empowerment, youth development and employment creation, gender inclusiveness, establishing agricultural rights of women farmers, different social issues, awareness and advocacy, democracy practice, strengthening local government institutions, improving livelihood practices, food security, health nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention among the young generation, environment and community sanitation, promotion of agricultural technology including livestock and fisheries, safety net and social protection, youth inclusiveness in the IT sector, on-farm and off-farm technology, climate change and adaptation, access to safe drinking water, social infrastructure development, sub-sector wise value chain development, and forward and backward service market development and financial inclusion at different levels of services.
We are different in the sense that we are not limited to awareness raising only; rather, we build the capacity of women and help them establish themselves as women entrepreneurs through training, workshops, and work engagement. We have focused on addressing the root causes of problems and have made efforts to eliminate those. Considering the high cost and unavailability of sanitary napkins in rural areas, we have established our own sanitary napkin production factory in the community, although it was not an easy task. Currently, at least 36 like-minded young girls and women are making a living by working in the factory. They came together with the objective of improving and uplifting communities. In our factory, we do not use plastic or chemicals. We aim to make girls interested in and aware of using domestic, healthy products. This is a challenge for us because we believe that access to affordable menstruation products is a right, not a privilege. Additionally, we have also started producing face masks in the factory and selling those at a lower price in the community and to various government and non-governmental organizations to help keep people safe from viruses
Asmani Foundation is a youth-led, independent, registered non-political, non-governmental, and non-profit social development organization. Its current executive director and a group of like-minded energetic youth activists founded it. The organization’s motto is “We ensure development for all women.” AF has been operating since 2016 in Shimulbari, Jaldhaka, Nilphamari District in Bangladesh. Its goal is to achieve sustainable socio-economic development in the country by empowering youths, with special attention given to adolescents, girls, women, and people with special needs. The aim is to promote community participation in development. Since its establishment, AF has expanded to six upazilas of Nilphamari and has reached a significant number of beneficiaries. It has directly reached 10,000 beneficiaries, with 8,500 of them being female.
Shirin Akter Asa is a woman entrepreneur from the Jaldhaka Upazila of Nilphamari district, Bangladesh. She bravely stopped her own child marriage in the sixth grade and, despite facing numerous challenges, funded her education to pursue a master’s degree. Since 2026, she has been actively working on her initiative called “Asmani Sanitary Napkin and Local Handicrafts,” which started with a small factory employing 36 underprivileged women. Today, her Asmani Foundation comprises 350 women entrepreneurs.The foundation not only produces Asmani sanitary napkins but also manufactures local products such as Nakshi Kantha, sarees, and jute items. Shirin aims to expand her initiative beyond the Nilphamari district, aspiring to establish a sales center in the Rangpur division by 2026, which will allow women entrepreneurs to market their products both offline and online.With plans to unite 3,000 women entrepreneurs on a single platform, Shirin envisions creating an environment where underprivileged youth, especially women, can work with dignity and contribute to the economy alongside men. She invites everyone to support her initiative in achieving this significant goal.
Success Story
2+
Project Complete
To take a trivial example, which of us every undertakes laborious physical
360+
Woman entrepreneur
We are different in the sense that we are not limited to awareness raising only
1+
Awards Winning
Achievements in the past nine years, Asmani Foundation has documented
