Founder, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
Second Annual Recipient
February 20, 2007
Founding
Founded in 1972 by Fazle Abed as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, BRAC began in a remote area of northeastern Bangladesh to provide relief and assistance to refugees returning from India after Bangladesh's Liberation War. Over the last 30+ years, Mr. Abed has led BRAC's expansion across Bangladesh with a holistic and multifaceted approach to serving the poor. In addition to its work in Bangladesh, BRAC recently expanded operations into Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Southern Sudan. Under Mr. Abed's leadership, BRAC has grown into one of the largest development organizations in the world, serving more than 110 million people per year and achieving extraordinary impact in reducing poverty and empowering the poor.
Current Operations
BRAC operates major programs in microfinance and income generation, public health, education, and social development. BRAC's microfinance program currently assists over 7 million borrowers and has disbursed US .8 billion to date in loans, with a 98 percent repayment rate. Through enterprise development, this program has created approximately three million new jobs. BRAC's health program, serving more than 92 million people, provides a wide range of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health services. These range from basic health and nutrition assistance, to HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, malaria mitigation, early childhood development, and neonatal health. More than 1.5 million children, 65 percent of whom are girls, are currently enrolled in over 20,000 pre-primary and 30,000 non-formal primary schools operated by BRAC's education program. BRAC's social development program promotes greater awareness of social, political, and economic issues, providing human rights and legal services, legal aid clinics, and platforms to discuss social and political issues affecting poor women in rural areas.
Approach and Distinguishing Features
BRAC programs are unique in their quality and long-term sustainability. They empower BRAC participants to maintain improvements in economic wellbeing over the long-term. For example, the microfinance program allows borrowers to develop poultry- rearing enterprises that increase participants' incomes by 138 percent. Notably, BRAC generates nearly 80 percent of its annual budget (BRAC's total budget was over 0 million in 2007) from its own operations and enterprises, including interest fees on micro-enterprise loans and revenues from craft shops, printing press, dairy projects, and various other enterprises.
Fazle Abed's Background
Mr. Abed was born in Bangladesh and educated at Dhaka and Glasgow Universities. Prior to founding BRAC, he spent a number of years in the private sector as a Shell Oil executive in Chittagong. His background in management led him to instill numerous best practices from the private sector across the organization, especially in the areas of finance, research and development, program design, marketing, and human resources.
For more information about BRAC, please visit www.brac.net. |
