by lwang | Apr 6, 2012 | BRAC, Fazle Abed, Poverty Reduction
In its Poverty Matters blog, The Guardian recently focused on extreme poverty in Bangladesh and on the extraordinary impact of our 2007 Kravis Prize winner Sir Fazle Abed in reducing poverty and empowering the poor. Through BRAC, Sir Abed has been tirelessly working to help the bottom 10 percent of Bangladesh’s poorest – or the “ultra poor,” as they are often referred to. A 30-year-old Bangladeshi woman Maleka Begum was among the ultra poor when she first heard about BRAC. “I have been doing manual labour, digging holes,” said Maleka. But with the help of BRAC’s asset-transfer program, she was provided with livestock and a monthly payment for two years, as well as visits from a BRAC program organizer every five days to check on her livestock, teach her about basic hygiene and give her family planning advice. Now, thanks to BRAC, Maleka is helping her family escape extreme poverty through food security, asset ownership and better education. Today, BRAC, which celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year, has expanded its poverty-reduction model to other poor countries, serving more than 110 million people per year. To find out more about 2007 Kravis Prize winner and BRAC Founder Sir Fazle Abed, go to our...
by lwang | Jan 26, 2012 | BRAC, Escuela Nueva, FAWE, Fazle Abed, Landesa, Pratham, Roy Prosterman
The Global Journal just released their January/February 2012 issue, which for the first time ranked the top 100 best nongovernmental organizations in the world. We’re delighted to announce that FIVE Kravis Prize winners were ranked among the top 50 NGOs! BRAC even made it into the top five and has a nice feature on the website, which also mentions 2007 Kravis Prize winner Sir Fazle Abed. “Established by former Shell Oil executive Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC was part of an influential wave of organizations – alongside the Grameen Bank and ASA – that went on to revolutionize development strategies not only in their home countries, but across the world. Unlike its counterparts, however, which focused on refining and expanding their pioneering micro-credit and micro-finance models, BRAC also added a range of social programs to the mix and has continued to diversify and leverage its unique ability to achieve economies of scale over time.” Check out what else they had to say about BRAC here and the other Kravis Prize winners that are part of this year’s list, including Escuela Nueva (Founder Vicky Colbert, 2011), Pratham (2010), FAWE (2008) and Landesa (Founder Roy Prosterman,...
by lwang | Nov 2, 2011 | Award Ceremony, BRAC, Fazle Abed
Here at the Kravis Prize, we love to see our previous winners inspire the world through their leadership, which is why we were thrilled to hear that Sir Fazle Abed, the 2007 Kravis Prize winner and founder of BRAC, is the recipient of the inaugural WISE Prize for Education! On November 1, Abed was honored with a specially designed gold medal, bearing the word “education” in over 50 languages, in Doha, Qatar, by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Abed received the medal and recognition for his commitment to education before 1,300 delegates at the opening session of the third World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). He’s accumulating quite a collection for his trophy cabinet! To learn more about Sir Fazle Abed’s work, click here. “Bangladesh activist receives Qatar education prize” [Associated Press, November 2, 2011] “Inaugural WISE Prize for Education Goes to Bangladeshi Fazle Hasan Abed” [PR Newswire, November 1,...
by lwang | Jun 27, 2011 | BRAC, BRAC UK, BRAC USA, Escuela Nueva, Fazle Abed, Kravis Prize, Vicky Colbert
Congratulations to Vicky Colbert from Escuela Nueva Foundation! We are so happy that Vicky is being honored with this tremendous award. It is a well-deserved and hard-earned recognition. This year’s award announcement brought back memories of my own experience in 2007. When I was awarded the second annual Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, the news brought a whirlwind of excitement, gratitude, inspiration and exhilaration for all of us at the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The Prize’s financial award had an immediate impact as it helped BRAC establish offices in the United States and United Kingdom. These offices have helped to support and grow BRAC’s programs beyond Bangladesh. Since 2002, BRAC has expanded to nine other countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Southern Sudan, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Uganda and recently Haiti. The Prize helped not only to begin our work in the U.S. through BRAC USA, but also to give our new institution credibility in the U.S. Though BRAC began in 1972 and is today one of the biggest development organizations in the world, not many people living in the U.S. had ever heard of it and even fewer were aware of its remarkable history and successful track record. The recognition we received from the Kravis Prize allowed us to establish BRAC USA and begin telling our story to a new audience in America and the U.K. Throughout 2010, BRAC USA has been working to tell the story of our organization’s successful approach to development. Members of the BRAC USA team have attended and participated in several conferences and panels in the last year. We also have...
