Who We Are : Evolution

1972
- The Organisation then known as Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee
- (BRAC) begins relief and rehabilitation operations in Sulla, Sylhet, following the end of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation.

1973
- Activities transform from relief and rehabilitation to long term community development
- BRAC is renamed Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee

1974
- Relief work is started among famine and flood victims of Roumari, Kurigram
- BRAC begins microfinance activities

1975
- BRAC’s Research and Evaluation Division is established to support its core activitie
- The Jamalpur Women's Project commences

1976
- The Manikganj Integrated Project is initiated
- BRAC’s Agriculture and Fisheries Programmes are established

1977
- Targeted Development Approach commences through the formation of Village Organisations
- BRAC’s Community Empowerment (CEP) Programme is launched

1978
- Emphasis is placed on staff training and the first Learning Centre (BLC) is established in Savar
- The Sericulture Programme is started to generate employment for poor women in Manikganj and a handicraft marketing outlet, Aarong, is set up

1979
- The Rural Outreach Programme is initiated
- The Rural Credit and Training Programme is launched

1980
- The Oral Therapy Extension Programme is launched to combat diarrhoea

1983
- The Poultry Vaccination Programme is initiated

1985
- BRAC's Non Formal Primary Education Programme (NFPE) is started
- The Livestock Programme is initiated
- The Rural Enterprise Project is launched
- The Income Generation for Vulnerable Group Development (IGVGD) programme is launched

1986
- The Rural Development Programme is formed by merging the Rural Credit and Training Programme and the Outreach Programme
- The Child Survival Programme commences
- The Human Rights and Legal Aid Services programme is introduced

1988
- BRAC's Monitoring department is set up

1990
- Phase II of the Rural Development Programme commences
- The Sustainable Rural Credit Programme is initiated
- A Management Development Programme is set up

1991
- The Women's Health Development Programme commences
- A Women's Advisory Committee is set up

1992
- A Centre for Development Management (CDM) is established

1993
- Phase 3 of the Rural Development Programme commences.
- Adolescent Reading Centres are opened

1994
- BRAC’s Non Formal Primary Education Programme is replicated in Africa

1995
- BRAC Adult Literacy Centres are opened
- A Gender Quality Action Learning (GQAL) and a Gender Resource Centre (GRC) are set up
- The Continuing Education (CE) programme is started.
- BRAC Health Centres (Shushasthyas) are established

1996
- Phase IV of the Rural Development Programme commences
- The Micro Enterprise Lending and Assistance (MELA) programme is launched

1997
- Development programme started in urban areas
- BRAC’s Gender Policy is launched.

1998
- BRAC Legal Aid Clinics are established
- The BRAC Dairy and Food Project is commissioned
- BRAC's Chittagong Hill Tracts Development programme is started

1999
- The BRAC Information Technology Institute is launched
- The Adolescent Peer Organised Network (APON) courses are created

2000
- BRAC's Limb and Brace Fitting Centre is established

2001
- BRAC University is established
- BRAC Bank Ltd. is launched
- The Post Primary Basic Education (PBEn) programme is set up
- The Adolescent Development Programme (ADP) is initiated

2002
- The Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty ReductionTargeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR-TUP) programme is launched
- BRAC commences development work in Afghanistan
- BRAC Advocacy and Human Rights Unit is set up

2003
- BRAC Tea Estates is established
- The Continuing Education and Post Primary Basic Education programmes are integrated into a single programme called the Post Primary Basic and Continuing Education (PACE) programme
- The Employment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) programme is launched
- BRAC's TB programme coverage is expanded nationally

2004
- An Office of the Ombudsperson is established
- A microfinance programme for commercial sex workers is initiated
- BRAC University establishes the James P. Grant School of Public Health and the Institute of Educational Development

2005
- The Centre for Governance Studies is established by BRAC University
- BRAC commences programmes in Sri Lanka following the Asian Tsunami
- Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) programme launched in Nilphamari

2006
- Development programmes in Tanzania and Uganda commence
- BRAC establishes BRAC UK and BRAC USA as resource mobilisationorganisations
- Phase I of the Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) programme is completed
- Replication of TUP programme in Haiti and India is started
- The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme is launched
- A pilot project to distribute reading glasses is started
- The Leadership for Advancing Development (LeAD) programme is launched

2007
- BRAC registers in Pakistan as an NGO and begins programmes.
- BRAC started providing technical assistance to an NGO in Indonesia for post-Tsunami rehabilitation and microfinance.

2008
- BRAC Education Programme initiates pilot programme for capacity building of Government and registered non-government primary schools in 20 sub-districts
- BRAC registers in Sierra Leone and Liberia
- BRAC Africa Loan Fund is created to provide local currency debt financing to BRAC’s microfinance programmes in Tanzania, Uganda and Southern Sudan

2009
- BRAC continue supporting the long-term rehabilitation of the cyclone Aila victims.
- A foundation called Stichting BRAC International formed at the Hague, the Netherlands.
- BRAC launched a groundbreaking credit scheme for sharecroppers.
- BRAC developed Alive and Thrive programme to increase exclusive breastfeeding.

2010
- BRAC Chairperson knighted at Buckingham Palace in London
- BRAC sets up community radio station in Bangladesh
- Exploring further opportunities to contribute to rehabilitation and development work in Haiti
- Completed a rebranding process
- Established an in house legal counsel
- BRAC launches new website