Skip to main content
News

News (826)

31 October 2011, London. Channel S viewers and studio guests donated generously to Vision Bangladesh during a live eight hour telethon organised by BRAC UK in October.

Highly respected leaders from the British Bangladesh business communities – including famous celebrity chefs and award winning restaurateurs – turned up in force to support the goal of eradicating avoidable blindness in Sylhet by 2013 and in Bangladesh by 2020.

Barrister, Anwar Babul, was the host for the evening and welcomed guests many of whom are participating in Vision Bangladesh’s £1 on the Bill restaurant campaign.

Monchab Ali, Vision Bangladesh’s Regional Representative for the North-West and former Chairman of the Greater Sylhet Council was joined by other Regional Representatives, Dobir Miah (Rochdale), Shabbir Ahmed Chawdhury (Oxford), Shah F. Athar (East Sussex), Rokib Ali (Kent), and Raja Ali (Portsmouth) to discuss their role in the fundraising efforts.

Rois Ali, celebrity chef, endorsed the campaign and his involvement as Coventry Regional Representative. Azizur Rahman, in his capacity as senior advisor to £1 on the Bill campaign, encouraged more restaurants to sign up and take part.

BRAC UK was particularly honoured to have the Chairman of Channel S himself, Ahmed US Samad Choudhury JP, appear in the studio and support the fundraising effort.
Alsaz Kabiri, proprietor of Greenwich Linen, supplying restaurants across the UK, Mujib Islam, Managing Director of Media Link, and Nazmul Islam, Chairman of Oldham Bangladesh Association also pledged their continued support to the campaign.

Nilopar Uddin, a lawyer and former volunteer of BRAC came to discuss her first hand experience of BRAC in Bangladesh, and Ryo Osaki, an eye surgeon, explained the simplicity of the cataract operation.

BRAC UK was represented by trustees Robert Evans and Murad Qureshi AM and Vision Bangladesh Project Manager, Tanha Habib.

Abdul Khan, Programme Officer, and Gihan Chowdhury and Shamina Banu, Global Youth Workers, for BRAC UK’s Beyond Boundaries programme also motivated more young British-Bangladeshis to get involved.
 

 

Now Available: Buy The Book from amazon


27 October 2011, Dhaka. At the prestigious International Union against TB and Lung Disease’s annual conference in Lille, France, BRAC formally launched its new book “Making Tuberculosis History: Community-based Solutions for Millions”.  As part of a vibrant public-private partnership led by the National Tuberculosis Program, BRAC treats close to 100,000 patients annually in Bangladesh.  BRAC’s efforts to scale-up internationally offer exciting evidence that their community-based program is widely adaptable, by other stakeholders and even for other health conditions.  As Victoria Treland of RESULTS USA remarked at the event, “this book is so important is that it really shows what is possible”.   In an era of increasing technology and tools marred political and financial commitments mar the social development sector worldwide, and so  telling of the vast achievements Bangladesh has made in TB has never been timelier.  Indeed, the conference’s theme, “Partnerships for scaling up and care” emphasized a growing global appetite for examples of effective programs and tools to help them impact their communities.

Faruque Ahmed, Director of BRAC Health Programme, initiated the ceremony by walking the audience through the book’s contents, describing BRAC’s evolution from a Liberation War rehabilitation organization in 1972 into a comprehensive, anti-poverty organization focused on empowering the poor.  Its program combating tuberculosis began over twenty-five years ago and was part of a movement that revolutionized how TB control was conceived globally. “Can we apply our knowledge from the TB program to better prevent post-partum hemorrhage and death during childbirth?” Mr. Ahmed speculated, “Where else can these lessons be applied?”

Several global experts offered prepared reflections on Making Tuberculosis History.  Diana Weil, Coordinator of Policy, Strategy and Innovations in the Stop TB Department, World Health Organization described her excitement when observing BRAC’s program first-hand. “So often, peer-reviewed papers only describe what has been done.  Here you learn what’s going on between the lines and the complexities of what it takes to do this kind of work”.  Bertie Squire, President of the Union and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine said he was most struck by how accessible the community health volunteer model made not just tuberculosis treatment, but the equally important steps of screening and diagnosis.  “BRAC was determined to take the services to the community […], an enormous step to make sure that accessing health care didn’t further impoverish patients, as is so often the case.”

Representing two of BRAC’s longest-running partners, Asique Hussain of the National Tuberculosis Programme of Bangladesh, and Isao Osada, of the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association, served as panelists.  Dr. Hussain shared the government’s ongoing efforts to establish 13,500 community clinics, which will further improve access to TB treatment nationwide.  He, along with other speakers, emphasized the role of this book as an advocacy tool to sustain political commitment and a resource for learning.  “I’m very glad that they’ve published the book to help share the knowledge and lessons around the world.” Osada noted examples of BRAC’s innovation in community-based programming and the depth of the institutions’ three-decade relationship.  “We are very proud to have been a collaborative partner for this great achievement”, he concluded.

Additional launch events will take place in other cities in the coming  months. Making Tuberculosis History is available for purchase from  University Press Limited and Amazon.com. For information on obtaining copies of the book in the US, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


Buy The Book from amazon

BRAC formally launched its new book Making Tuberculosis History: Community-based Solutions for Millions at the annual conference of the prestigious International Union against Tuberculosis (TB) and Lung Disease on October 27, 2011. As part of a vibrant public-private partnership led by the National Tuberculosis Program, BRAC treats close to 100,000 patients annually in Bangladesh. BRAC’s efforts to scale internationally offer exciting evidence that their community-based program can be adapted globally.

Bertie Squire, President of the International Union Against Tuberculosis & Lung Disease, said, “BRAC was determined to take the services to the community, and this was an enormous step to make sure that accessing health care didn’t further impoverish patients, as is so often the case.”

Victoria Treland, Director of Program Development of RESULTS USA, said, “This book is so important is that it really shows what is possible.”

In an era of increasing technologies and tools marred by concerning wanes in political and financial commitment worldwide, telling Bangladesh’s story of huge achievements in TB has never been timelier. Indeed, the conference’s theme, “Partnerships for scaling up and care,” emphasized a growing global appetite for examples of effective programs and tools to help them achieve impact in their own communities.

Faruque Ahmed, Director of BRAC’s Health Program, initiated the book launch ceremony by describing BRAC’s evolution from a Liberation War rehabilitation organization in 1972 into a comprehensive, anti-poverty organization focused on empowering the poor. Its program combating tuberculosis, a disease closely linked with poverty, began over 25 years ago and was part of a movement that revolutionized how TB control was conceived globally.

“Can we apply our knowledge from the TB program to better prevent post-partum hemorrhage and death during childbirth?” Mr. Ahmed speculated. “Where else can these lessons be applied?”

Nils Billo, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, commended BRAC’s honesty in describing challenges of past and present. “Even building on experiences in Bangladesh, where there were certainly big challenges, Afghanistan must be even harder and yet the program is going to scale. Making TB History shows that this is not easy, and goes through the many steps it took to get TB services to the community.

Additional launch events will take place in other cities in the coming months. Making Tuberculosis History is available for purchase from University Press Limited and Amazon.com. For information on obtaining copies of the book in the US, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About BRAC

BRAC is a global development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor to bring about change in their own lives. BRAC’s holistic approach aims to achieve large scale, positive changes through economic and social programs that enable women and men to realize their potential. BRAC was launched in Bangladesh in 1972 and today reaches more than 138 million people in Africa and Asia through its programs that address poverty by providing micro-loans, self-employment opportunities, health services, education and legal and human rights services. Learn more at http://www.bracusa.org.

26 October 2011, Dhaka. "Radio Pollikontho", a community radio network initiated by BRAC, has started its test transmission in the area of Chandnighat union of Moulovibazar district. It will cover a radius of 17 km around the station at Moulovibazar Sadar.

Mr. Md. Mostafizur Rahman - District Commissioner of Moulovibazar, Md. Ashraful Alam Khan - UNO Upazila Moulovibazar, Anna Minj - Director, BRAC Community Empowerment Programme, A.H.M. Bazlur Rahman - Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh NGO's Network for Radio and Communication were present to attend the inauguration of test transmission.

Members of the press, BRAC officials and members of the executive committee of "Radio Pollikontho" were also present in the ceremony.

"Radio Pollikontho" aims to be established a sustainable media and promote local people’s access to information. The programmes will focus issues on women and children’s development, ensure people's participation in rural development and promote local culture and heritage. News and entertainment activities will aired in the local dialect.

With assistance of the BRAC Community Empowerment Programme and members of the community, the network is expected to become a popular and effective tool to increase community awareness.

"Radio Pollikontho" is expected to start its full fledged transmission soon.

Chairperson's Remarks at the South Asia Economic Summit Conference

22 October 2011.
Fourth South Asia Economic Summit,
Current Phase of the Recovery and Implications for South Asia,
Speech delivered by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Guest of Honour.

"It seems that South Asia weathered the fall outs of the global economic and financial crisis relatively well, though the impact of the recent euro crisis on exports and growth in South Asia is still uncertain. These aggregate level perspectives of the macroeconomic adjustments however do not fully reveal the new set of risks that are emerging along with the traditional structural problems and the prevalent widespread poverty and vulnerability. It is these human dimensions of the crisis that I want to focus on in my brief remarks.

The poor are hit the hardest by any economic downturn. The poor take much longer to recover, as recovery in real wages and employment take much longer than recovery in GDP. Poorer people are affected more than others because they have fewer buffers, and because the range and effectiveness of their buffers are inadequate. The poor lack assets and predominantly possess unskilled-labour and engage in the informal sector. This restricts their ability to cope by switching jobs, and expose them to unregulated labour markets. In addition, economic downturns push poor households into a vicious cycle of poverty. They are often forced to respond with measures that keep them poor: reducing the number and quality of meals, postponing health-related expenditure and withdrawing children from school. These actions lead to lower future income-earning potential for current and future generations, resulting in a trap of persistent poverty.  And the women and children bear the greatest brunt of these damaging fluctuations and adjustments.

The immediate and the longer term, perhaps even inter generational impact of the global food crisis, fallout of the economic and financial crisis, has been dire and the term ‘recovery’ is perhaps too premature to be used in describing its current phase. Let’s put the trend in some perspective. In 2007 alone, the prices of principle food staples—rice, corn, soybeans and wheat, effectively doubled throughout the world. This was an unprecedented rise and it revered the more than 50 years of declining prices. We know the results which were immediate and devastating. By the most conservative estimates, globally, the number of hungry or chronically malnourished rose by at least 100 million, to nearly one billion people—that is almost one seventh of the world’s population.  Though the grain prices have declined substantially since 2008, experts agree that they are poised to rise again.

Recent evidence from developing country settings confirms that increases in food prices cause maternal and child under nutrition levels to rise rapidly.  And the negative impact starts with the unborn child in the womb—it is quality and not just the quantity of the diet during pregnancy that is important for successful birth outcomes. The consumption of more expensive micronutrient rich food (milk, green leafy vegetables and fruits) during pregnancy is found to be positively associated with the size of the infant at birth. Rapidly increasing food prices are also likely to cause nutritional insults very early in pregnancy, which will influence later fetal and infant growth. The full human cost of the food crisis may thus well be intergenerational and very expensive for the society and the economy.

The crisis has a number of drivers which include the diversion of grains in North America and Western Europe to bio fuel production; higher energy costs which translate into more expensive chemical fertilizers; and financial speculation over staple crops, which cause price fluctuations. The situation is further aggravated by underlying trends such as rapid population growth. Climate change is also threatening to lower crop yields at precisely the time when staple foods urgently need to be produced.

What needs to be done? Issues of both production and distribution are important here and should be approach in an integrated way. In my view, we should focus on two strategic priorities that lie at the centre of both the production and distribution aspects of the problem—getting elimination of hunger and malnutrition at the centre of our politics and reenergizing the women’s economic empowerment agenda.

We know that food, hunger and politics are inextricably linked. When governments have been committed, progress has been very rapid, as the examples of China, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and most brilliantly Brazil have demonstrated conclusively over the last three decades. In contrast,  the prevalence of underweight children in the South Asian countries barring the shining example of Sri Lanka, is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity and economic growth. Unless governments are made to care for its citizens going hungry and are fully committed to reducing the number of hungry and chronically malnourished people, no solutions will have the political teeth to make the real dent.

We need to turn this agenda as a central part of our political process and one of the non negotiable KPIs of any regime. Concrete targets and action plan in reducing the number of citizens who are hungry and are chronically malnourished should be a critical part of every electoral manifesto and this has to be made a popular topic of public debates. The targets have to be broken down by local constituencies to reflect regional differences and also to decentralize and amplify citizen monitoring and voice. A compact between the different development actors will be forged at every political constituency to deliver on the local target plan. In the final analysis, food security is an issue of citizenship and a matter of fundamental citizenship rights. We need to centre our politics around this fundamental element of the social contract between a citizen and her state.

Let me now turn to the other strategic priority— eliminating the gender gap. There are two very influential global reports—the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report and Gender Gap Report (GGR). IFPRI researchers examined the relationship between these two indices and found gender inequality and hunger go hand in hand--- an important step to ending world hunger is thus empowering women and eradicating gender disparities in education, health, economic participation, and political opportunities.

What type of gender gap matters more for hunger? Is it different in different parts of the world? The Gender Gap Index is divided into four sub components—economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. The researchers find that while in Sub Saharan Africa, the gender gap in educational attainment is the primary driver, in case of South Asia; it is the gender inequality in the health and survival domain, i.e. the inequality between men and women in healthy life expectancy and sex ratio at child birth, which is the main driver of hunger. Here's a statistic to digest - 49 percent of children under five in South Asia are underweight. In sub-Saharan Africa, a region many associate with images of starving children, the figure is 28 percent. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan together account for half the world's underweight children. This is directly related to women’s status in south Asia.

To address this, it is important that we invest in women’s and girls’ nutrition over the life cycle and build support for women’s empowerment in communities. I would like to underline the focus on taking a ‘life cycle’ approach to nutrition and the importance of empowering the women beyond the household—in public life and in her community. Ultimately, the structural cause of the gender gap is the inequality that exists in economic and political participation—narrowing this gap is fundamental to sustaining any progress that is made in addressing the gender gaps in the more practical needs domain. Working at the policy and advocacy level to strengthen women’s property rights and creating pressure from below by improving women’s legal awareness are keys to addressing the structural constraints.

As citizens of a part of the world that is successfully tackling the complex challenges of economic management and delivering on solid growth in an uncertain world, we cannot accept the political irresponsibility of our governments failing to ensure that no one suffers the indignity of going hungry and the denial of an opportunity to realize the full potential of our children because of being malnourished. This is doable-- one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century was to make famine which seemed inevitable, a rarity. Today, famine is almost invariably the product of evil governments or no governments. So with right politics as global humanity we have been able to consign to the museums the hunger that kills. The 21st century challenge is to do that for the hunger that stunt and wastes our potential. "

 

22 October 2011, Dhaka. “Poribesh Poricchonno Rakhi, Shobai Mile Shustho Thaki” (Clean neighbourhood, Feeling good) with this slogan, the Slum Poverty Alleviation Committee of Mohammadpur Johuri Moholla Slum arranged a cleanliness day on 22 October, 2011. With the presence of community leaders, Ward Commission representatives and area police representatives, the programme begins with cleaning the slum neighbourhood, roads and households, along with creating awareness among the slum dwellers to keep their surroundings clean and hygienic.

BRAC’s Ultra poor programme’s urban initiative organised the discussion, followed by a rally in the neighbourhood and providing the ultra poor members with waste baskets to continue maintaining their locale clean. Many children from the slum participated and learned about this issue. In addition to that, it worked on strengthening the linkage with local government, affiliates and Dhaka City Corporation with the ultra poor community in Mohammadpur Slum. The programme was implemented in the light of creating an overall culture of healthy living, and setting the best possible personal and environmental hygiene based standards for the urban slum dwellers.

According to the local slum dwellers, the programme left a lasting impact on their community. Many visitors expressed interest in setting up a similar programme in their own locality.

 

12 October 2011, Dhaka. As part of BRAC Advocacy month-long activities on the observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2011, Dhaka University Debating Society (DUDS), in cooperation with Advocacy for Social Change, BRAC and Youth Forum for Poverty Alleviation and Development (YFPAD), has organised a debate competition titled BRAC Advocacy 1st Inter Hall Female Debate Championship 2011 in the University of Dhaka on Ultra Poverty issue at TSC, Dhaka University on October 2-3, 2011.

Advocacy for Social Change, BRAC seeks to mobilise and raise awareness among youth towards the issue of extreme poverty. We organise quiz, seminar and debate from grassroots to national level to address the issue. We have already reached 2.17 million school, college and university level students. Now we have taken a step forward in engaging the youth of urban areas.

The topic of the final debate was “We are Poor because we are Poor.”  Samsun Nahar Hall, became the champion and Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitree Hall, was the runner-up.

Dr. A.A.M.S Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University was present as the Chief Guest of the event. Special guests were Professor Dr. Mahbuba Nasrin - Professor of mass communication & journalism department, Moderator of DUDS; Professor Mahfuza Khanam; General Secretary of Asiatic Society, Bangladesh; Khushi Kabir - Coordinator of Nijera Kori and Sheepa Hafiza - Director of BRAC Gender Justice & Diversity and Advocacy. Provosts of female halls and Alamgir Hossain - Director of TSC were also present.

We strongly believe that engaging the youth in such national issues will bring about positive changes in the future.

12 October 2011, This Wednesday evening, BRAC UK will be running a LIVE  telethon appeal on Channel S to raise much needed funds for Vision Bangladesh.

From 7 pm onwards, studio guests representing Vision Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi catering community across the UK will be appearing to discuss their involvement in Vision Bangladesh's new £1 on the Bill campaign. It would be fantastic if BRAC esteemed colleagues could encourage their friends and families to ring in on the night and make a personal donation.

Vision Bangladesh is a partnership between BRAC and Sightsavers and the aim is to eliminate avoidable blindness across Bangladesh by the year 2020 starting with the Sylhet region by 2013.

80% of blindness in the country is from easily treatable cataracts – occurring in both young adults and children, not just the elderly. Every year, 150,000 more cases are added to the backlog of nearly one million poor people who are denied the simple procedure that could save their sight – and their future.

Cataract surgery is one of the most cost effective health interventions (£20 for an operation). The real tragedy of blindness in Bangladesh is that the majority of the cases are unnecessary – having cataracts should not inevitably lead to blindness.

Vision Bangladesh is the biggest campaign of its type and has already implemented over 21,000 successful cataract operations since January 2011. The campaign needs your help to reach the whole of the Sylhet region by 2013.

So please watch Channel S (Sky channel 814) and ring in to donate and support Vision Bangladesh.

For viewers outside of UK, the details of the new transponder are as follows:
Satellite:  Eurobird 1
Orbital Location:  28.5º East
Transponder:  F1 Upper
Uplink Frequency / Polarity: 14 059.67 Vertical (Y)
Downlink Frequency / Polarity:  12 559.67 Horizontal (X)
Symbol Rate: 27.5 Msys/s
FEC: 2/3

STUDIO HOTLINE: 44 208 523 411

DONATION HOTLINE: 44 208 523 1666

“It is the poorest people who are most at risk of blindness and low vision as they are more likely to go blind for a lack of simple treatment and stay blind for a lack of simple surgery.” - Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

12 October 2011, Dhaka. Youth Forum for Poverty Alleviation & Development (YFPAD) and Asian University of Bangladesh jointly organised a Dialogue on Youth Engagement in Poverty Alleviation: Scopes & Beyond in collaboration with Advocacy for Social Change, BRAC in Asian University of Bangladesh campus, Uttara on October 11, 2011. Prof. Abulhasan M. Sadeq, Ph.D; Vice Chancellor, Asian University of Bangladesh graced as the chief guest, while Dr. AKM Salahuddin, Proctor, Asian University of Bangladesh attended as the special guest. Md. A. Halim Miah and Md. Mashiur Rahman, BRAC were in the panel discussion. YFPAD President Raquibul Islam chaired and Secretary General Galib Ibn Anwarul Azim moderated the event.

Direct participation and valuable opinion of the representatives of a number of organisations, to develop a national youth strategy in ultra poverty alleviation, made the programme a successful and lively one where about 200 participants were present.

Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP); Aparajeyo Bangladesh; Manush; Debate for Humanity; Initiative for Peace; Centre for Leadership Assistance & Promotion; Community Action; One Degree Initiative; Future StartUp; Share; Voluntary Services Organisation (VSO) and Faculty members of Dept. of Economics, Asian University of Bangladesh were among the participants.

 BRAC Uganda Country Rep Ariful Islam accepts award from Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda

28 September 2011 - With global recognition that microfinance institutions should be placing emphasis on social as well as financial goals, the Association of Microfinance Institutions of Uganda (AMFIU) gathered representatives from microfinance institutions across the country for the first Social Performance Management Awards on September 27, 2011. This aimed to create awareness and promote social performance management across Uganda’s microfinance industry and to identify whether microfinance service providers are meeting their individual goals of poverty reduction and empowerment.

A number of microfinance institutions were recognized for their efforts in integrating social performance management into their operations. After the bronze and silver awards were distributed, Khondoker Ariful Islam, Country Representative of BRAC Uganda was called to accept the only Gold Award for “Outstanding Recognition in Implementing Social Performance Management”. While through its partnership with the MasterCard Foundation, BRAC has emerged as the largest and fastest-growing microfinance providers in Uganda, this Award reinforces BRAC's commitment towards maintaining its focus on social performance and poverty alleviation.

The audience warmly received his heartfelt speech that touched upon the successes and challenges that BRAC Uganda has experienced in Social Performance Management, and stressed that above all, BRAC’s achievements are based upon our role as a learning organization, that through its coordinated system of program management, monitoring, auditing and research departments strives to learn everything about our microfinance programs - including what works, as well as what doesn’t. Only this way, he said, can we be confident that as an organization we are meeting our target clients of poor rural and urban women, as well as being aware of and responsive to the needs of our over 100,000 borrowers across the country.

The speech was particularly poignant, considering the Mr. Islam would be soon departing Uganda to take over as the Country Representative of BRAC Afghanistan. As the Country Representative, Mr.Islam had played an instrumental role in launching BRAC Uganda - growing it to become one of the largest microfinance institutions in the country. In a span of four years, BRAC Uganda has disbursed more than $71 million in loans through its network of 94 branch offices. It has also scaled up Health, Agriculture, Adolescent Development and Education programs. Under his visionary leadership, BRAC has emerged as the largest non-profit organization in the country, employing more than 1,800 people and touching the lives of 1.8 million poor people in Uganda.

AMFIU, the Commissioner of Microfinance, and representatives of other MFI’s thanked him for the huge contributions that BRAC has made in Uganda under his leadership over the past six years, changing the microfinance landscape in scale, poverty outreach, and reputation. Although secretly hoping that he would take up one of the many offers he has had for Ugandan citizenship, the team at BRAC Uganda are immensely proud of him and wish him the best as he takes his many strengths of leadership, honesty and dedication to Afghanistan.

Join the world’s biggest family

sign-up

Subscribe

STAY INFORMED. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Top