Samanzar Sayeed launches hygiene campaign ahead of Miss World Grand Finale

Days before leaving for Vietnam to represent Bangladesh at the 73rd Miss World Grand Finale, Miss World Bangladesh 2026 Samanzar Sayeed shifted the spotlight away from the competition and onto a cause she hopes will outlast it.

Speaking at a media conference in Dhaka on Thursday, she announced plans to recruit 10,000 volunteers for Hygiene for Health Bangladesh, her advocacy campaign.

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The initiative serves as Bangladesh's Beauty With a Purpose project for this year's Miss World, where contestants present a social cause they have been working on in their home country.

Calling the initiative a lifelong commitment, Samanzar said, "Representing Bangladesh at Miss World is the greatest honour of my life. Through Hygiene for Health Bangladesh, I hope to inspire a movement that empowers people with knowledge, prevents disease, and creates healthier communities. Whether or not I win the Miss World crown, this advocacy will remain my lifelong commitment."

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A graduate in biochemistry and biotechnology, Samanzar said her interest in preventive healthcare came from both her academic background and growing up in a family of doctors.

She argued that simple hygiene practices are often overlooked despite preventing countless illnesses. Rather than waiting for people to fall ill, she wants hygiene habits to become part of everyday life, something people practise naturally without being reminded.

Her campaign focuses on seven areas: personal hygiene, hand hygiene, food hygiene, safe drinking water, oral hygiene, menstrual hygiene, and environmental hygiene.

To ensure the success of the initiative, she has implemented a volunteer model that aims to create a chain effect, with each volunteer recruiting ten more and educating 100 people about these practices. Samanzar also announced the formation of the Hygiene for Health Bangladesh Foundation, which will oversee the campaign's long-term implementation.

Addressing the volunteers present at the event, she said, "I'm honoured, I'm grateful, and I'm humbled that you've understood the core concept of my initiative and have come here. Let us all come together and work towards this initiative."

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National Director of Miss World Bangladesh Azra Mahmood said the organisation is placing greater emphasis on contestants who bring meaningful social advocacy alongside the competition.

She noted that Samanzar had already been working on hygiene awareness for the past three years and said the organisation would continue supporting the initiative regardless of the pageant's outcome.

"Even if she loses her crown, we will support her cause," Mahmood said.

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Miss World Bangladesh 2019 Rafah Nanjeba Torsa urged people to look beyond appearances and recognise what the title demands.

She described Miss World as far more than a modelling contest, saying contestants represent their countries through both character and social work. Asking people to stand behind Bangladesh's representative, she said Samanzar deserves support as she carries both the national flag and a cause she has spent years building.