The 102nd meeting of BRAC’s governing body took place over the weekend of December 9-11, 2005. During the three-day long event, BRAC’s esteemed board members from Bangladesh – Mr. Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, Ms. Tahrunnesa Abdullah, Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Mr. Abdul-Muyeed Chowdhury, Mr. Kazi Aminul Huque, Mr. Syed Humayun Kabir, Dr. Ainun Nishat, Mr. Latifur Rahman and Ms. Rokia Afzal Rahman - were joined by two of their international colleagues, Dr. Timothy Evans from Canada and Ms. Shabana Azmi from India.

During the opening session of the meeting on December 9th, the board reviewed presentations from various departments of BRAC at the BRAC Centre. Mr. Shabbir Ahmed Chowdhury, Director, BDP, presented on BRAC’s Microfinance Programmes, Ms. Rabeya Yasmin, TUP Programme Coordinator, presented on the Ultra Poor Programme, Ms. Farisa Kabir, Senior Regional Manager, presented on the Human Rights and Legal Education programme, Mr. M. A. Saleque, Programme Coordinator, Programme Support Enterprise, presented on the Agriculture Programme and Ms. Farheen Khurrum, Aarong’s Marketing Manager, presented on Aarong. After a short tea break, Dr. Shafiqul Islam, Programme Head, Education, presented on the Education programme, Dr. Golam Samdani Fakir, Director, BTD, presented on Training initiatives, Ms. Sheepa Hafiza, Director, Human Resources, presented on Human Resources. A presentation on BRAC University (BU) given by Dr. Saleh Uddin Ahmed, Pro Vice Chancellor of BU, followed by a presentation on BRAC Bank by Mr. Ehsanul Huq, the CEO and Managing Director, ended the first round of presentations for the meeting.

The members spent the second day of the meeting, 10th December, touring BRAC field operations – Mr. Aminul Alam, Deputy Executive Director, BRAC, Dr. Faruque Ahmed, Director, BHP and Ms. Pushpita Alam, Communications Officer, BRAC Public Affairs and Communications, accompanied board members Dr. Evans, Dr. Nishat and Ms. Afzal Rahman to Manikganj, where they visited a microfinance group (Dabi), various Income Generating Activities (IGA), a BRAC primary school, a health forum and Ante-Natal Care (ANC), an ongoing IGVGD training session on cow rearing, a tempo repair shop funded by Progoti loans, an HRLE class, an Unnoti village organization and several Unnoti member IGA’s. In each site, the governing body members engaged the local BRAC members in lively discussions about the activities being undertaken by BRAC and changes that can be made. After lunch at the Manikganj Regional Office, the team toured the adjacent Ayesha Abed Foundation as well as an Ata Fortification project, a BRAC nursery and a Sanitary Napkin Production Facility on the way back to Dhaka.

At the same time, Dr. AMR Chowdhury, DED, BRAC accompanied board member Ms. Azmi to Gazipur, where they visited a Dabi microfinance group, several IGAs as well as a BRAC primary school, observed a health forum and HRLE class, toured a Seed Processing Centre, Poultry Feed Mill and Horticulture Nursery and the BRAC Dairy and Food Project as well as the Agricultural Research and Development Centre.

Board members Mr. Syed Humayun Kabir, Ms. Tahrunnesa Abdullah and Mr. Latifur Rahman visited an urban field site in Ranabhola, Uttara, accompanied by Mr. Shabbir Ahmed Chowdhury, Director, Micro Finance, BRAC, Mr. Safiqul Islam, Programme Head, Education, BRAC and Ms. Tasfiyah Jalil, Communications Officer, BRAC Public Affairs and Communications.

While they visited a microfinance group, health forum and ANC, water purification project and BRAC primary school under the urban programme, the most interesting part of the team’s visit was an SME project – a tailoring business set up by a woman who, at the time of taking the BRAC loan, was near destitution. Her once well-to-do family slowly fell into impoverishment while providing cancer treatment for her mother-in-law, whose subsequent death shattered her husband. He stopped working, and she had to take her children out of school because they could no longer afford tuition. At this time, the woman applied for a BRAC loan to start a tailoring business. Even though she fell below the eligibility criteria for an SME loan, because of her training in fashion design, the local BRAC staff felt that with BRAC’s help she would be able establish a successful enterprise. They took a risk extending a loan of BDT 50,000 to her, and were soon proved right in their assumption. The board members were satisfied to note that the woman currently runs a thriving tailoring operation, which often supplies its merchandise to Aarong.

After the day’s activities on the field, the members of the board were invited to BRAC Centre for an introductory dinner hosted by BRAC Founder and Chairperson, Mr. Fazle Hasan Abed. Senior BRAC officials as well as members of Bangladeshi civil society and the donor community were also present.

The meeting concluded with a final round of presentations – Dr. Faruque Ahmed, Director, BHP, gave a presentation on the Health Programme, followed by a presentation by Dr. Imran Matin, Director, RED, on Research and Evaluation and lastly, Senior Regional Manager – Unnoti, Mr. Murtoza Reza’s presentation on International Programmes. After a short tea break, the closed session of the Board Meeting took place. During this session, major decisions were taken, including the approval of a budget of USD 333.12 million for 2006, 72% of which is to be self-financed by BRAC.

© 2005 BRAC Bangladesh
75 Mohakhali
Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh