Professor Chowdhury received Ekushe Padak in 2008. She also held the UGC Rokeya Chair in 2007-09. She served in the Caretaker Government of 1996 as a member of the council of Advisors and held the portfolios of the Ministries of Women and Children Affairs. Social Welfare, and Labour and Manpower. Alongside her professional career, she was also involved in advocacy aiming at gender equality. She served as president of Women for Women, and advocacy group that highlights women’s issues through research, publication and lobbying. She was chair of the largest coalition of NGOs in Bangladesh that carried out extensive country-wide mobilization in preparation for the Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995.