Daily Sun’s two journalists receive ERF-MRDI Fellowship 2026

Two senior reporters of the Daily Sun – Shakhawat Hossain Sumon and Rafikul Islam – have received the ERF-MRDI Fellowship 2026.

Rafikul received the fellowship in the macroeconomy category, while Shakhawat was awarded in the bank and insurance category. 

A total of 12 journalists from different newspapers, online portals, and television channels received the fellowship.

Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) Executive Director Hasibur Rahman handed over the certificates to the fellows at a ceremony held at the auditorium of the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) in the capital on Monday.

ERF President Doulot Akter Mala presided over the event, which was moderated by its General Secretary Abul Kashem.

In the macroeconomy category, alongside the Daily Sun’s Rafikul, other recipients included Rezaul Karim of The Financial Express and Jasmin Moli of bdnews24.com.

In the trade and investment category, the awardees were FM Abdur Rahman Masum of Dhaka Post, Ahsan Habib of The Daily Star, Salah Uddin Mahmud and Reyad Hossain of The Business Standard, and Imdadul Haque of Channel 24.

In the bank and insurance category, alongside the Daily Sun’s Shakhawat, the other recipients were Mohammad Jubair Hasan of The Financial Express, Mehedy Hasan Al Bakar of ETV, and Golam Mawla of Bangla Tribune.

The mentors of the fellows were Shawkat Hossain Masum of the Prothom Alo for macroeconomy, Zakir Hossain of the Samakal for bank and insurance, and Sohel Parvez of The Daily Star for the trade and investment categories. 

AKM Sanaul Haq, capacity building manager of MRDI, coordinated the fellowship aimed at improving the quality of journalism in Bangladesh.

At the event, the speakers emphasised promoting investigative journalism for the country’s economic development and building a new Bangladesh free from corruption and discrimination. 

They also stressed the need for courageous and unbiased journalism, hard work to gather accurate information, and publishing in-depth reports despite challenges.