The 33RD Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BRAC was held on August 27, 2005 at BRAC Centre. Present were members of the BRAC governing body and BRAC general body. Governing Body members present at the meeting included Mr. Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman, BRAC, Mr. Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Executive Director, BRAC, Syed Humayun Kabir, Chairman, Renata Ltd., Ms. Taherunnessa Abdullah, Social Scientist and Gender Specialist, Mr. Debapriya Battachariya, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Ms. Rokia Afzal Rahman, Industrialist and Mr. Ainun Nishat, Country Representative, IUCN, Bangladesh. Among the important issues discussed and decisions taken at the AGM were:
· BRAC’s Annual Budget for the year 2006
· Expansion of the board with the inclusion of foreign experts and
· New pilot projects to be initiated in four African countries.

A proposed Annual Budget of Taka 1914 crores (equivalent to US$ 294 million) for BRAC for the year 2006 was approved by the board. S F Ahmed & Co. and Ernst and Young, Malaysia were selected as Auditors for the year.

The decision was also made to invite five foreign nationals to join the board of BRAC to further enrich BRAC’s strategic thinking and governance direction. Chosen eminent persons include:

1. Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Economist and Development Thinker, an American,
2. Dr. Timothy G. Evans, Assistant Director-General, WHO, a Canadian,
3. Sir Richard Branson, Entrepreneur, Virgin Group of Companies, a Briton,
4. Dr. Mamphela Aletta Ramphele, Vice Chancellor, Cape Town University, Former Managing Director, The World Bank, a South African and
5. Ms. Shabana Azmi, Former member of the Rajyashava, Social Activist and Film Actress, an Indian.

Eminent Bangladeshis elected as members of the Governing Board included Mr. Syed Humayun Kabir, Chairman, Renata Ltd., Kazi Aminul Huque, Partner, Rahman Rahman Huq & Co., Chartered Accountant, Ms. Taherunnesa Abdullah, Social Scientist, Gender Specialist, Ms. Rokia Afzal Rahman, Industrialist, Professor Ainun Nishat, Country Representative, IUCN, Bangladesh, Mr. Latifur Rahman, Industrialist and Dr. Debapriya Bhattachariya, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

The proposed Foreign Expert Board Members of BRAC will be required to attend at least one Governing Body meeting per year. In this connection they will be likely to stay four to five days in Bangladesh, reserving one day for visiting BRAC programmes in Bangladesh and attending a presentation on overall BRAC programmes, and another day to attending the BRAC Governing Body Meeting.

The board also approved that small pilot projects in the fields of micro finance, health, water and sanitation and primary education be initiated in four countries in Africa – Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan beginning October, 2005. The total budget for the programme was decided at Euro 2,343,600.

© 2005 BRAC Bangladesh
75 Mohakhali
Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh