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BRAC allocates BDT 3 crore for emergency relief to 52,000 families affected by flood
Calling everyone to come forward to deal with this humanitarian crisis
The non-governmental organisation BRAC has been working alongside local government since the beginning of the recent flood situation in the country. The organisation has allocated BDT 3 crore from its own funds for emergency flood relief. The money will be used to provide dry food, safe drinking water, oral saline, matches, candles, essential medicines and other services to people affected by flood. The money will also be used to rescue people trapped in the flood. Initially, the relief will provide support to around 52,000 families.
According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, the flood situation in northeastern Sylhet, Sunamganj and Netrokona could worsen in the next 24 hours. Meanwhile, about 80 percent of the areas in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts have been inundated.
According to official sources, floodwater has inundated seven upazilas of Sylhet district and five upazilas of Sunamganj.
For the relief effort, priority is being given to the women-led households, elderly, pregnant women and people with physical and mental disabilities. BRAC has also decided to temporarily suspend loan recovery from borrowers in the flood affected areas until further notice.
An estimated BDT 25 crore will be required for emergency support and rebuilding efforts. BRAC has launched a public appeal for humanitarian aid. Asif Saleh, executive director of the organisation, has called on all sections of the society to come forward and stand beside the vulnerable communities in the flood affected areas. Details of public donation are available on this website: 'Dakche Amar Desh': https://brac.net/dakcheamardesh/
BRAC's golden jubilee: 50 years of standing by people
For the last 50 years BRAC has been with the people, particularly with those left behind, and will remain so in future. The work it is doing to assist the underprivileged to become self-dependent not only in Bangladesh, but also in nine other countries, will be reinforced. As ever, BRAC will continue its future actions following the development philosophy of its founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed that “never lose sight of the mission to extend a hand to those who need it the most”.
BRAC leadership made this pledge at its golden jubilee celebration event today on Monday (21 March). An elaborate programme was organised to observe the occasion at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC). The whole programme was divided in two sessions, the first of which was attended by the present BRAC staff along with the former ones. The second part of the event in the evening was attended by distinguished guests – high officials from government and private organisations and eminent personalities from education, health, sports, entertainment and media sectors. Discussions, display of audio-visual materials on a host of BRAC programmes and cultural performances comprised the programme of the day. Besides Dhaka, the day was celebrated at BRAC’s divisional offices also.
At the programme, honourable foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen read out the message from the honourable prime minister sent on the occasion of the golden jubilee.
Every year the organisation observed its founding anniversary styled “BRAC Day”. The golden jubilee celebration, however, has been observed in a much more festive mood. As a part of the celebration, 16 members of BRAC staff have been honoured with Sir Fazle Hasan Abed Values Award for their outstanding contributions.
Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC Bangladesh, said while addressing the audience, “Our founder would say he had seen men to be defeated but never had he seen women to be beaten. That is why empowerment of women is one of the most important driving forces of social progress. BRAC has always remained focused on this.”
He further said, “An organisation sustains through proving its relevance. As such, BRAC will successfully tackle the challenge of proving its relevance at present and in future as it did in the past.”
One of the world’s largest non-governmental development organisation BRAC was founded in 1972 in Sulla, a remotest corner of Sunamganj, to assist the refugees repatriating from India to rebuild their life. Later on, BRAC extended its programmes for other marginalised communities elsewhere with a goal to assist them achieving self-dependence through socio-economic empowerment. Long-term programmes have been designed and implemented based on cottage industry, microloans, health, education, agriculture and food security, human rights, road safety, migration, and urban development.
The first NGO from the global south to have international operations, BRAC now operates in 10 countries in Asia and Africa, engaging with over 100 million people.
In the 1980s, BRAC’s massive army of field workers trained mothers literally in every household of Bangladesh in preparing oral saline with kitchen ingredients. Followed the government’s child vaccination campaign, under which BRAC covered nearly half of the country. These two campaigns contributed to the dramatic decrease in child mortality.
BRAC piloted its innovative school model for children deprived from education. The non-formal primary education model later scaled up across the country and beyond. Till now, in Bangladesh 140 million children graduated from these schools to continue their education. In 2001, BRAC Bank and BRAC University were founded.
Next year (2002) the famed Ultra Poor Graduation model was launched. BRAC International began its journey to spread this model worldwide.
Aligned with the changing needs of the nation, BRAC in Bangladesh now is focused more on urban poverty alleviation and skills development and employment of the underprivileged youths. Further, we partner with the Bangladesh government as the largest non-government service provider in the ground tackling the Rohingya crisis and Covid-19 pandemic. BRAC’s engagement with the Bangladesh government has deepened in the process of formulation of socio-economic policies and strategies.
All the programmes, activities and models of BRAC, the BRAC brand itself, have been built around the empowerment of women. Unrelenting, we pursue the goal of creating opportunities for women to realise their full potential.
BRAC will deeply engage with the marginalised people, government and other development partners to identify future issues and find solutions, and will continue to do so in future, said the organisers.
BRAC Turns 50: Igniting hope from Bangladesh to the world
BRAC was born to serve the people of the newly independent Bangladesh, assisting them in the struggle of their self-development. For the last 50 years the organisation has stood by the people, the marginal communities in particular, and will continue to do so in the future. It will continue designing and implementing programmes and solutions following the development philosophy of the organisation’s founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed that we have to reach them first who need it the most.
This was expressed by the members of the senior management of BRAC as they briefed on the organisation’s future path at a press meet organised on the occasion of its 50th founding anniversary.
The press event was organised today on Monday (14 March 2022) at the BRAC Centre at Mohakhali in the capital. Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, chairperson, BRAC Bangladesh Governing Body, Irene Khan, chair, BRAC International Supervisory Board, Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC Bangladesh, Tamara Hasan Abed, managing director, Enterprises, BRAC, and Shameran Abed, executive director, BRAC International, were present at the programme. Moutushi Kabir, director, Communications, Learning and Leadership Development, BRAC, moderated the media event.
At the first session of the programme, the senior management members briefed on the organisation’s activities and programmes, and shared experiences and future planning, while at the second session they answered questions from the press.
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, chairperson, BRAC Bangladesh Governing Body, said, “Our founder is no more with us physically, but his ideology and philosophy are guiding us in all that we do. We believe as he himself believed that development is strengthened through empowerment covering all the aspects of financial, social, knowledge and skills. In the coming years, we aspire to play an effectively catalytic role at an even greater level, in the international periphery, aimed at building stronger relations between the state and social entities.”
Having described BRAC as “an entity combining ideas and risks,” Irene Khan, chair, BRAC International Supervisory Board, said, “The world is facing a number of crises in the last several years. A hundred million people slipped down to extreme poverty during the pandemic of Covid-19. The Ukraine war will create a food crisis. Furthermore, there’s the wide impact of climate change. This is a situation where BRAC will have to continue its work in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world by combining ideas and risk factors.”
Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC Bangladesh, said, “BRAC and Bangladesh are almost synonymous. BRAC wouldn’t have been born in the first place if the nation of Bangladesh wouldn’t have emerged. At the same time, the progress and development of Bangladesh might have been more unequal if BRAC was not there with its massive interventions. And, BRAC could never do such volumes of work if the government was not with us. We sincerely thank the Government of Bangladesh and the entire nation for standing by us.”
Tamara Hasan Abed, managing director, Enterprises, BRAC, said, “It’s not financial profits, but the empowerment of the poor is what BRAC’s business enterprises aim to achieve. Our social enterprises create direct employment opportunities for the poor communities on one hand, while on the other we channel the surplus from these businesses to our social development programmes. We didn’t retreat when we were faced with constraints while attempting to solve a problem. Rather we had built yet new initiatives as solutions to those new problems. We worked with the deprived communities to create solutions.”
Shameran Abed, executive director, BRAC International, said, “BRAC International (BI) started its operation in 2002 through its interventions in Afghanistan. In the last 20 years, BI ran programmes in 13 countries altogether, and currently has direct operations in nine countries. We are making effective use of our experiences in Bangladesh in finding solutions in those countries, while at the same time we are bringing back lessons from those countries to create solutions in this country. BI currently engages over 15 thousand employees and volunteers covering all its programmes including health, education and microfinance.”
In recent times BRAC has assisted the government as one of its large development partners to tackle the Rohingya refugee crisis and Covid-19 pandemic through mobilising all its resources within the least possible time. The organisation has established a unique example of reaching services and assistance to the affected people having mobilised its human, financial and other resources within an extremely constrained time period.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed founded BRAC in 1972 in Sulla, a remote upazila of Sunamganj, to assist the repatriating refugees in rebuilding their life. BRAC has since been expanding its programmes, services and ventures to form a unique brand ecosystem. Apart from the world’s largest development organisation, the brand in Bangladesh now includes among others, a bank, a university and social enterprises. BRAC now operates in 10 countries altogether in Asia and Africa.
At present, BRAC engages with over 100 million people across the world, steering their empowerment and development to realise their potentials. It also continues achieving the status of the world’s Number One NGO for the last seven years in a row.
Robust support services needed for survivors of gender-based violence
Observing International Women's Day 2022, BRAC Bangladesh organised a dialogue on ‘Reporting and referral for gender-based violence: Lessons from the AR NA pilot project and Shongjog service mapping’ on 7 March 2022, at the capital’s BRAC Centre.
Gender-based violence is a key driver of gender inequality. Seven out of 10 married women in Bangladesh face some sort of intimate partner violence. The type of support that these survivors most commonly need are legal support, social protection and psychosocial counselling. In a country of almost 80 million women and 65 million children, this support is inadequate. To address this gap, BRAC launched two initiatives during the event.
The Shongjog mobile application connects survivors of gender-based violence with support services through a digital platform. Another mobile application, under the AR NA project, has digitised the reporting mechanism that connects case managers with survivors.
HE Robert Chatterton Dickson, British High Commissioner in Bangladesh, said, "We have to increasingly use modern technology to tackle violence against women. It certainly brings a positive note as the government, NGOs and women rights activists meet today to discuss these issues. We had worked together in the past and we are pledged to continue doing so in the future to tackle this challenge.”
Kate Sangster, First Secretary, High Commision of Australia, stressed the importance of combating gender-based violence as a development priority for Australia’s strategic partnership with BRAC.
Asif Saleh, Executive Director of BRAC, stressed the importance of developing integrated support services and collaboration between the government and non-governmental actors to aid the survivors of violence to recover from trauma. “It’s imperative to have correct databases and information on gender-based violence. The picture of violence that our army of field-level staff have gathered is worrying. We have to provide all the necessary support to the survivors of violence.”
Nobonita Chowdhury, Director of BRAC’s gender justice and diversity programme and preventing violence against women initiative, said “Through the AR NA pilot project, BRAC trained over 800 frontline workers in northern Bangladesh, to digitally report incidents of violence against women and girls through the AR NA web app. Once a report is filed, a team of case managers connect the survivors with required support services through a referral mechanism.”
Jenefa Jabbar, Director of BRAC’s safeguarding unit, briefed on Shongjog, a user-friendly web app BRAC has developed to provide comprehensive information of state and non-state support services for survivors of gender-based violence. The platform was built following a service mapping initiative in 61 districts, covering 435 sub-districts in Bangladesh. One can find support services down to the sub-district level in various categories, including, healthcare, legal aid, psychosocial support, safe/shelter homes and police stations.
Taqbir Huda, Advocacy Lead, GJD, BRAC highlighted the lessons from the cases reported through the AR NA pilot project. “Although the required support services are available for free, survivors often do not have the means to afford the transportation cost needed to reach the service provider. For this reason, survivors need an efficient social protection mechanism which supports them with immediate cash transfers in the short term, while providing them with means of economic empowerment in the long term.”
Dr Azmeri Haque Badhan, actor, emphasised the need for support for survivors of gender-based violence, particularly from their own family. She shared her own experience as a survivor of domestic abuse, and the critical role a prize money from a beauty pageant had played in helping her re-enrol in university and reconstruct her life.
Kollol Nag, Member of BRAC Technology, highlighted the inclusion of Shongjog under the ‘Suggestions’ tab of bKash mobile app, so existing users of bKash can have direct access to a mobile-friendly version of the app.
Shireen Huq, leading women’s rights activist and member of Naripokkho, said, “The survivors should never lose their mental strength and continue their fight. We appreciate BRAC for its effort to collect information from the grassroots level, and for the services it provides.”
Dr Sheikh Muslima Moon, Additional Director (Deputy Director), Department of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, discussed the government’s role in supporting the rehabilitation and social reintegration of survivors of violence. Mohammad Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, Director (Institution), Department of Social Services, Ministry of Social Welfare, discussed the existing social safety nets for women facing gender-based violence. AKM Mofizul Islam, Director (Poverty Alleviation), Department of Youth Development, Ministry of Youth and Sports, spoke about the scope of skills training for young women and girls facing gender-based violence.
UNDP ties up with BRAC for accelerating poverty reduction in Bangladesh
Dhaka, 20 February 2022: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and BRAC have partnered and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the effectiveness of poverty eradication and make these efforts more impactful to ensure inclusive growth for Bangladesh.
Mr. Sudipto Mukerjee, Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh, and Mr. Asif Saleh, Executive Director, BRAC, signed the MoU on 20 February on behalf of their respective organizations at UNDP Office, Dhaka.
Under this partnership both the organizations will work together to enhance the effectiveness of poverty eradication effort for fostering inclusive growth in Bangladesh. Evidence based policies and programmes will be designed and a platform will be created to further strengthen the social protection systems in Bangladesh to make sure no one is left behind.
Signing the ceremony, Sudipto Mukerjee said, “The partnership will assist the government of Bangladesh to effectively identify and transfer social protection benefits to people living in extreme poverty. It will also pilot and develop holistic livelihood programmes collaboratively with different ministries of Bangladesh to ensure the access to social safety net programme, and help the government in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
“A timely and much required partnership to assist the Government of Bangladesh in bridging the gaps to achieve poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods for people living in extreme poverty by 2030”, said Asif Saleh. He further emphasized, “This partnership will help strengthen ongoing efforts and design new joint initiatives for social protection and resilience building as we recover and try to build back better from COVID related shocks."
BRAC and UNDP have a long history of successful partnerships at both the national and global level in the field of poverty eradication and human development, and are committed to support the Bangladesh government in its effort to ensure inclusive growth.
Bangladeshi stars Bappa and Badhan judge BRAC’s artistic talents
BRAC, the world’s number one development organisation, will reach its 50th birthday in March this year. To celebrate the anniversary the organisation has organised a contest styled “I am BRAC – Apon Tara” to find out and inspire the cultural talents hidden in its thousands of employees across the country.
Open to all of its over 67 thousand members of staff, the competition had its final round organised today on Tuesday (15 February) at the BRAC Centre auditorium at Mohakhali in the capital. A star-studded panel with famed singers Bappa Mazumder and Miftah Zaman and celebrated actor Azmeri Haque Badhon judged the winners of the final round at the gala finale, who also opened the competition on 21 November last year.
The winners of the contest held in three categories – music, poetry recital and acting – are: … in music the first prize goes to Akhi Palit (SELP programme), second prize to Md Razibul Hasan (Finance and Accounts) and third prize to Opu Chandra Gope (Aarong). In the poetry recital and acting categories only one prize has been given for each. Munmun Khan (GJ&D programme) was the winner in poetry recital and Mohammad Ashibuzzaman won in the acting category. All the winners were handed over crests.
Tamara Hasan Abed, managing director of BRAC, said on organising the contest, “BRAC was born about the same time Bangladesh was born as a sovereign nation. As part of our celebration of our golden jubilee we had initiated this contest to find the hidden talents of our organisation. We are truly grateful for the spontaneous support we have received from the contestants and judges, from each and everybody while organising this event.”
Singer Bappa Mazumder said, “BRAC and I are of the same age. I am honoured to have this opportunity to be present in this golden jubilee celebration. I request BRAC to take initiative for the publicity of these talents we have discovered through this contest across the country.”
Actor Azmeri Haque Badhon said, “I have been deeply touched by all these great arrangements and your performances today. I believe all organisations should take such initiatives for their staff.”
Designed in three episodes namely primary, divisional and final, the primary round was held through online submission. Participants submitted a total of 1,383 video clips of their performances which were judged by a 32-strong panel to select 160 participants for the divisional level.
The divisional episode was held in person in six districts – Dhaka, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Jessore, Moulvibazar and Chittagong. A 3-member expert panel for each category judged the performances to select 20 participants in each to move to the final round.
The 3-month long competition spread the vive of the golden jubilee celebration across the BRAC offices around the country. Contestants sent video clips of spirited song performances accompanied by harmonium and tabla right on the office premises. Some contestants recorded their routines at home aided by their family members. Some again recorded their full throated solo recitals on a riverbank or an open ground. Some highly enthusiastic contestants even arranged sets or a stage to create the proper ambience to act out their chosen monologues.
STITCH For RMG Global Innovation Challenge announces winners
Promoting innovations to transform the lives of women in RMG industry
BRAC, H&M Foundation, and The Asia Foundation have announced the six winners of the international competition titled “STITCH for RMG: Global Innovation Challenge”. The announcement was made last evening (Tuesday, 7 February 2022) at a virtual event organised by BRAC Social Innovation Lab, H&M Foundation, and The Asia Foundation.
The global competition was launched October last year (2021) to promote improved livelihood opportunities for the women working at the export-oriented readymade garment factories in Bangladesh, promote gender equality at the factory floors and increase factory performance.
The six winning teams of the competition are: Agroshift, iSmart, Jyoti, Quizrr, Sustify and ToguMogu. Faruque Hassan, president, BGMEA, Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC, and Diana Amini, global manager, H&M Foundation, and Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country representative, The Asia Foundation, congratulated the winners.
Diana Amini, GM, H&M Foundation, said, ”I think we all have different roles to play, and for us, representing the philanthropic sector, our role is to be able to support early-stage ideas, methods, innovations, and also to be able to take risks that other actors cannot. And together with our partners, we can also co-create and validate solutions and invite others to play a part in helping us scale them.”
Asif Saleh, ED, BRAC, said, “Unlike how it is perceived elsewhere, we looked at innovation that is not necessarily driven by products, it can be about processes, it can be about simple solutions, and particularly, simplicity is the key toward scaling.”
Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, CR, The Asia Foundation, said, “The thing that stood out for me in the pitches is that all the applicants used empathy to create their solution, that it is not just technology, rather how it is more appropriate in a context, in a gender sensitive manner. I think that empathy can be seen in all the programmes, in the global nature of it and the innovative nature of it”
Faruque Hassan, president, BGMEA, said, “We need more attention and investment in innovation, from businesses and state level, to upscale our capability and adaption. Global buyers are looking for sustainable manufacturing sources which resource efficient, without technology, optimum use of water, energy, and other resources cannot be ensured. So, we need to ensure 4th generation of technology in our supply chain.”
A member of team Quizrr said on behalf of the winners, “We look forward to new collaborations through this network. We want to learn from each other, so we can further accelerate our solutions and provide better innovations to this industry and its workforce.”
The awards for the winning teams come with grants up to USD 30,000 to pilot the solutions. The winners also will have opportunities for bootcamp training with mentors, incubators, and accelerators.
The solution focus of the winning teams are as follows.
- Agroshift is creating demand driven digital grocery platform for RMG workers;
- i-SMART is developing a standardized skill matrix for women sewing workers;
- Jyoti is removing the barriers of access to sanitary pads for RMG factory workers improving menstrual hygiene;
- Quizrr is building female RMG role models through skill and leadership development training;
- Sustify is building capacity through gamified microlearning for female factory workers in Bangladesh; and
- ToguMogu is supporting female RMG workers through a health and wellbeing platform making their parenthood stress-free.
The competition started with a “concept round” in which 220 applications were received and 50 applications were shortlisted for video submissions in the “pitching round”. A total of 12 teams won to move to the final round that organised a virtual marketplace, offering opportunities to partner with RMG factories. Through a tough competition the winning teams secured opportunities to incubate their projects in these factories that had volunteered to provide time, space, and other resources for the purpose.
The Marketplace Round was a unique opportunity for the competitors both from Bangladesh and beyond to discuss their ideas with factory owners and representatives, through which they were able to understand the probable demand and feasibility of their solutions on the ground. It was a matchmaking process where the factory owners jointly showed interest in developing the business together with the team they got matched with.
The competing ideas and solutions covered a range of themes from health, to skill development, security, sustainability and others. In total nine teams moved forward with factories based on the overall practicality of their solution. Of them, six teams topped the competition.
The “STITCH for RMG: Global Innovation Challenge” is part of the STITCH for RMG pilot project undertaken by BRAC, H&M Foundation and The Asia Foundation. The goal of the project is to create an environment that advances welfare and livelihood of the women in ready-made garments sector of Bangladesh as well as boost Bangladesh’s performance in the RMG industry.
BRAC, Embassy of Denmark sign MoU to implement rainwater harvesting project in Mongla
BRAC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Embassy of Denmark (EoD) in Bangladesh this morning (Thursday, 27 January) at the Danish ambassador's residence to implement a project titled ‘Enhancing Safe Drinking Water Security and Climate Resilience through Rainwater Harvesting’ in Mongla Upazila of Bagerhat District. The Danish embassy in Bangladesh will provide the total budget of the project at 29 million DKK over three years of project period to reach 67,300 climate vulnerable people with access to safe drinking water.
Mongla is one of the most climate-vulnerable areas in Bangladesh, particularly in terms of salinity intrusion. More than 60% of its inhabitants have no access to safe drinking water and are suffering from health and income loss. Women and girls are disproportionately affected due to the overburden of domestic work and social insecurity.
Winnie Estrup Petersen, ambassador of Denmark to Bangladesh, said at the signing ceremony, “We are very happy to take this step to deliver on the talks of COP 26. By 2023, Denmark will provide at least 500 million USD per year globally in grant-based climate finance. Bangladesh is amongst the world’s most climate vulnerable countries and should of course benefit from our strong climate commitment. This partnership signals first of several Danish commitments to climate adaptation and mitigation programmes for Bangladesh starting 2022.”
Highlighting the importance of adapting climate-adaptive measures for the people of the coastal belt of Bangladesh, Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC said on the occasion, "No one should walk 2 km to fetch drinking water. However, climate change is driving an acute drinking water crisis in coastal Bangladesh. BRAC has been working persistently to ensure this basic human right of getting safe drinking water. We appreciate very much the support of the Embassy of Denmark in this endeavor. Together we will work towards developing a holistic and sustainable model of providing water at the last mile for every single Bangladeshi."
The project’s goal is to improve the wellbeing of the most climate-vulnerable population of the upazila by creating access to a nearby source of safe drinking water, a solution which can be replicated in other similar localities. In line with the Danish Development Strategy “The World We Share”, the project will enhance climate resilience following a community-centric locally-led approach, while coordinating with the government and other non-governmental actors.
৭ম ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড
বাংলাদেশের উন্নয়ন এবং সমৃদ্ধির ক্ষেত্রে অভিবাসন খাতটি অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ। জাতিসংঘের সর্বশেষ পরিসংখ্যান অনুযায়ী ২৭২ মিলিয়ন মানুষ (বিশ্ব জনসংখ্যার ৩.৫%) কাজের জন্য বা অন্য কোনো প্রয়োজনে নিজ দেশে বাস না করে অন্য দেশে বাস করছেন এবং উভয় দেশেরই আর্থ-সামাজিক উন্নয়নে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অবদান রেখে চলেছেন। বৈশিক শ্রমঅভিবাসনে বাংলাদেশের অবস্থান ষষ্ঠ এবং প্রবাসী আয়ে অষ্টম।
কোভিড ১৯ মহামারীর কারণে বৈদেশিক কর্মসংস্থান কমেছে, বেড়েছে ফেরত আসা প্রবাসীর সংখ্যা। তবে রেমিটেন্স পাঠানোর ক্ষেত্রে বাংলাদেশ গড়েছে নতুন রেকর্ড। ২০১৯-২০২০ অর্থবছরে যেখানে দেশে মোট প্রবাসী আয় এসেছিল প্রায় ১৫৬ বিলিয়ন টাকা সেখানে ২০২০-২০২১ সালে এসেছে প্রায় ১৬৫ বিলিয়ন টাকা (তথ্যসূত্র: বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক)।
বাংলাদেশকে আর্থিকভাবে সমৃদ্ধ করতে প্রবাসী আয় অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা পালন করলেও প্রয়োজনীয় তথ্যের অভাবে অভিবাসন প্রত্যাশীরা প্রায়শই প্রতারণার সম্মুখীন হচ্ছেন। বিশ্বের সর্ববৃহৎ বেসরকারি উন্নয়ন সংস্থা হিসেবে ব্র্যাক বাংলাদেশের অভিবাসনপ্রবণ জেলাগুলোতে নিরাপদ অভিবাসন নিশ্চিত, মানবপাচার প্রতিরোধ ও সচেতনতা সৃষ্টি এবং বিদেশফেরত অভিবাসীদের পুনরেকত্রীকরণের লক্ষ্যে কাজ করে যাচ্ছে। প্রতিবছর প্রবাস থেকে অনেক মানুষ দেশে ফেরত আসে। কিন্তু তাদের পুনরেকত্রীকরণের বিষয়টি একেবারে উপেক্ষিত থেকে যায়। বিষয়টির গুরুত্ব বিবেচনা করে ব্র্যাক ড্যানিশ দূতাবাসের সহায়তায় ‘সোশিও-ইকোনোমিক রিইন্টিগ্রেশন অব রিটার্নি মাইগ্রেন্ট ওয়ার্কার্স অব বাংলাদেশ- ফেইজ ২ (অনুপ্রেরণা)’ প্রকল্পটি বাস্তবায়ন করছে। এই প্রকল্পের অধীনে বিদেশফেরত অভিবাসীদের কাউন্সেলিং সেবা ও আর্থিক সহায়তাসহ বিভিন্নভাবে সহযোগিতা দেওয়া হচ্ছে।
দেশের উন্নতি ও সমৃদ্ধিতে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অবদান রাখা অভিবাসী কর্মী ও তাদের পরিবারের অধিকার রক্ষায় গণমাধ্যমের ভূমিকা অনস্বীকার্য। অভিবাসনবিষয়ক সাংবাদিকতাকে আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে স্বীকৃতি দিতে ব্র্যাক ২০১৫ সাল থেকে ‘ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ প্রবর্তন করে। এরই ধারাবাহিকতায় অভিবাসন বিষয়ক সাংবাদিকতাকে অনুপ্রাণিত করতে সপ্তমবারের মতো ‘ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ প্রদান করা হবে।
যেসব বিভাগে/ক্যাটাগরিতে ‘৭ম ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ প্রদান করা হবে
(ক) সংবাদপত্র (জাতীয়): অভিবাসন বিষয়ে দেশে ও বিদেশে যে কোনো জাতীয় সংবাদপত্রে প্রকাশিত প্রতিবেদন।
(খ) সংবাদপত্র (আঞ্চলিক): অভিবাসন বিষয়ে বাংলাদেশের যে কোনো আঞ্চলিক সংবাদপত্রে প্রকাশিত প্রতিবেদন।
(গ) অনলাইন: অভিবাসন বিষয়ে দেশে ও বিদেশে যে কোনো অনলাইন পত্রিকায় প্রকাশিত প্রতিবেদন।
(ঘ) টেলিভিশন সংবাদ: অভিবাসন বিষয়ে দেশে ও বিদেশে যে কোনো টেলিভিশনে সম্প্রচারিত অনুসন্ধানী প্রতিবেদন।
(ঙ) টেলিভিশন অনুষ্ঠান: অভিবাসন বিষয়ে দেশে ও বিদেশে যে কোনো টেলিভিশনে সম্প্রচারিত অনুসন্ধানমূলক অনুষ্ঠান।
(চ) রেডিও: অভিবাসন বিষয়ে দেশে ও বিদেশে যে কোনো রেডিওতে সম্প্রচারিত অনুষ্ঠান/প্রতিবেদন।
(ছ) সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া: নিরাপদ অভিবাসন প্রতিষ্ঠায় ভূমিকা রাখা মানসম্মত ফেসবুক পেজ/ব্যক্তিগত আইডি/ব্লগ বা ইউটিউব চ্যানেল।
প্রতিবেদন/অনুষ্ঠান/সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া কনটেন্টসমূহ প্রকাশ বা প্রচারের সময়সীমা
দেশে অথবা প্রবাসে অবস্থানরত যেকোনো বাংলাদেশি সাংবাদিক ও গণমাধ্যম ব্যক্তিত্ব আবেদন করতে পারবেন। এছাড়া সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া ক্যাটাগরিতে যেকোনো বাংলাদেশি ব্যক্তি আবেদন করতে পারবেন। অভিবাসনবিষয়ক প্রতিবেদন/অনুষ্ঠান/সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া কনটেন্টসমুহ অবশ্যই ১ জানুয়ারি ২০২১ থেকে ৩১ ডিসেম্বর ২০২১ এর মধ্যে প্রকাশিত/প্রচারিত হতে হবে।
প্রতিবেদন জমা দেওয়ার নিয়ম:
সিরিজ রিপোর্ট ছাড়া কোনো প্রতিযোগী একই ক্যাটাগরিতে একের অধিক প্রতিবেদন জমা দিতে পারবেন না। সিরিজ রিপোর্টের ক্ষেত্রে পর্ব সংখ্যা এবং প্রকাশিত/প্রচারিত হওয়ার তারিখ উল্লেখপূর্বক সিরিজের সবগুলো প্রতিবেদন জমা দেওয়া যাবে।
যোগ্যতা ও সতর্কতা
মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ডের জন্য জমা দেওয়া প্রতিবেদন/অনুষ্ঠানসমূহের স্বত্বাধিকার নিশ্চিত করতে হবে। সংবাদপত্রে প্রকাশিত প্রতিবেদনসমূহের অনলাইন লিংক এবং টেলিভিশনে প্রচারিত প্রতিবেদন/অনুষ্ঠানের ইউটিউব লিংক (যদি থাকে) প্রতিবেদনের সঙ্গে জমা দিতে হবে। যদি অনলাইন লিংক বা ইউটিউব লিংক না থাকে সেক্ষেত্রে সংশ্লিষ্ট গণমাধ্যমের সম্পাদক/বার্তা সম্পাদক কর্তৃক নির্ধারিত সময়ের মধ্যে (১ জানুয়ারি ২০২১ থেকে ৩১ ডিসেম্বর, ২০২১) সংবাদ/অনুষ্ঠানটি প্রচারিত হয়েছে মর্মে (প্রকাশ/প্রচারের তারিখ উল্লেখসহ) সত্যায়নপত্র সংযুক্ত করতে হবে। সোশ্যাল মিডিয়ার ক্ষেত্রেও কন্টেন্টগুলো উল্লেখিত সময়ের মধ্যে প্রকাশিত/প্রচারিত হতে হবে। অসম্পূর্ণ/ভুল তথ্যসংবলিত আবেদন বাতিল বলে গণ্য হবে।
আবেদন করার শর্ত
১. অভিবাসন খাত, অভিবাসী ও শরণার্থী কিংবা তাদের পরিবারের অধিকার রক্ষায় গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা রাখে এমন প্রতিবেদন/অনুষ্ঠান/সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া কনটেন্ট (প্রকাশিত বা সম্প্রচারিত) হতে হবে।
২. সংবাদ প্রতিবেদন বা অনুষ্ঠানের ক্ষেত্রে দেশে বা প্রবাসে অবস্থানরত শুধু বাংলাদেশি সাংবাদিকরাই এই অ্যাওয়ার্ডের জন্য আবেদন করতে পারবেন।
৩. সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া কন্টেন্টের ক্ষেত্রে যে কোনো বাংলাদেশী ব্যক্তি আবেদন করতে পারবেন।
৪. আবেদনকারীকে অবশ্যই তাঁর জীবনবৃত্তান্ত যথাযথ ফরমেটের মাধ্যমে (ফরমেটগুলো সর্বশেষ পাতায় সংযুক্ত) পাঠাতে হবে। প্রয়োজনীয় নথি হিসেবে প্রতিবেদন যে মাধ্যমে প্রকাশিত হয়েছে তার বিবরণ জমা দিতে হবে।
৫. আবেদনকারী তাঁর কর্মজীবন সম্পর্কে অর্ধেক পাতার মধ্যে সংক্ষিপ্ত বিবরণ (বাংলা ও ইংরেজি ভাষায়) সংযুক্ত করে পাঠাবেন। সংযুক্ত ফরমেটটি পূরণ করে আবেদনপত্রের সঙ্গে পাঠাতে হবে।
৬. প্রিন্ট মিডিয়ার প্রতিবেদনের ক্ষেত্রে (জাতীয় ও স্থানীয় উভয় ক্ষেত্রে) সংবাদপত্রে প্রকাশিত মূল কপিটি প্রেরণ করতে হবে। সংবাদপত্রের এবং প্রতিবেদকের নাম ও তারিখ অবশ্যই দৃশ্যমান হতে হবে। সংযুক্তি হিসেবে প্রকাশিত কপি ছাড়াও সিডির মাধ্যমে সংবাদটির ওয়েব লিংক এবং সফটকপি জমা দিতে হবে।
৭. বেতারের ক্ষেত্রে এএম, এফএম এবং পডকাস্ট বেতারতরঙ্গে সম্প্রচারিত অনুষ্ঠান অথবা প্রতিবেদন হতে হবে। এর সঙ্গে সংক্ষিপ্ত/সম্পূর্ণ স্ক্রিপ্ট যদি বর্তমান থাকে তবে জমা দিতে হবে। নিয়মিত বেতারে সম্প্রচারিত অনুষ্ঠানের অন্তত পরপর তিনটি অনুষ্ঠানের কপি জমা দিতে হবে।
৮. টেলিভিশনের ক্ষেত্রে অবশ্যই সম্পূর্ণ স্ক্রিপ্ট সহকারে প্রতিবেদনটি সিডি/ডিভিডির মাধ্যমে জমা দিতে হবে।
৯. অনলাইন মিডিয়ার ক্ষেত্রে প্রতিবেদনটি ওয়েবসাইটে প্রকাশিত হতে হবে এবং অনলাইনে যেভাবে প্রচারিত হয়েছে সেভাবে সংশ্লিষ্ট প্রতিবেদনটি স্ক্রিনশটসহ জমা দিতে হবে। এছাড়াও ইউআরএলসহ সফটকপি সিডিতে জমা দিতে হবে।
১০. সোশ্যাল মিডিয়ার ক্ষেত্রে ফেসবুক পেজ/ ব্যক্তিগত আইডি অথবা ইউটিউব চ্যানেলে প্রকাশিত অভিবাসন বিষয়ক অন্তত দশটি কন্টেন্টের লিংক এবং সোশ্যাল মিডিয়ায় যেভাবে প্রকাশিত হয়েছে সেভাবে স্ক্রিনশট দিয়ে পাঠাতে হবে। (২০২১ সালের ৩১ ডিসেম্বরের পর কন্টেন্টের কোন ধরনের সম্পাদনা গ্রহনযোগ্য হবে না)।
বিচারকমন্ডলী
যেসব প্রতিষ্ঠান বা সংস্থার সম্মানিত বিচারকমন্ডলীর দ্বারা আবেদনকৃত প্রবন্ধ/অনুসন্ধানী প্রতিবেদন মূল্যায়ন করা হবে: ১. প্রবাসী কল্যাণ ও বৈদেশিক কর্মসংস্থান মন্ত্রণালয়ের একজন প্রতিনিধি।
২. গণযোগাযোগ ও সাংবাদিকতা বিভাগের একজন শিক্ষক।
৩. আন্তর্জাতিক সংস্থার একজন প্রতিনিধি।
৪. একজন সিনিয়র সাংবাদিক/গণমাধ্যম ব্যক্তিত্ব।
আবেদনের শেষ তারিখ
২০২২ সালের ২৮শে ফেব্রুয়ারি বিকেল ৫টার মধ্যে আবেদনটি ‘৭ম ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ আয়োজক কমিটি ঠিকানায় পৌঁছাতে হবে। নির্ধারিত সময়সীমার পরে কোনো আবেদন গ্রহণযোগ্য হবে না। আবেদন সরাসরি বা ডাকযোগে জমা দিতে হবে। তবে প্রবাসে অবস্থানকারী সাংবাদিকেরা ইমেলেইলের মাধ্যমেও প্রতিবেদন জমা দিতে পারবেন।
আবেদন জমাদানের ঠিকানা:
‘৭ম ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’
মাইগ্রেশন প্রোগ্রাম, ব্র্যাক
ব্র্যাক সেন্টার, ৭৫ মহাখালী (১২ তলা)
ঢাকা-১২১২
বাংলাদেশ
ইমেইল: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
প্রয়োজনে যোগাযোগ: ফোন: ৮৮০২ ২২২২৮১২৬৫ এক্সটেনশন: ৩৯১৩
পুরস্কার বিতরণী অনুষ্ঠান
‘৭ম ব্র্যাক মাইগ্রেশন মিডিয়া অ্যাওয়ার্ড’ এর পুরষ্কার বিতরণী অনুষ্ঠানের তারিখ সংশ্লিষ্টদের যথাসময়ে জানানো হবে।
BRAC Global welcomes Jerome Oberreit as its first Executive Director
BRAC Global is pleased to announce that Jerome Oberreit has been appointed as its first Executive Director, effective 10 January 2022.
BRAC is an international development organisation founded in Bangladesh in 1972 that partners globally with over 100 million people living with inequality and poverty to create sustainable opportunities to realise their potential. BRAC Global was established in 2019 by BRAC’s founder, the late Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, to promote policy and programmatic lessons from BRAC among the global development community, and to provide coordination and coherence across all of BRAC’s entities. The OneBRAC family includes two operational entities – BRAC Bangladesh and BRAC International; and two fundraising entities – BRAC UK and BRAC USA. BRAC Global is distinct from BRAC International which implements BRAC’s development programs on the ground in all countries apart from Bangladesh.
As Executive Director of BRAC Global, Jerome will, together with the leaders of other BRAC entities, play a critical role in advancing BRAC’s global strategy, resource mobilisation and organisational development. Jerome will guide the development of key cross-cutting issues, including risk management and safeguarding, human resource, financial management, communications, monitoring and learning.
“The Board of BRAC Global is delighted that Jerome Oberreit brings to the OneBRAC family a range of relevant experience and skills from his distinguished career with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and is confident that Jerome will provide the kind of facilitative leadership to the OneBRAC family that BRAC Global is committed to,” said Marty Chen, Chair of the BRAC Global Board.
“As BRAC turns 50, its achievements as a truly person-centric organisation are humbling. I am both honoured and excited to be the Executive Director of BRAC Global. We remain in a world of great uncertainly as the pandemic, climate change, global inequalities, and the continued unprecedented displacement remind us. These uncertainties reinforce the need for all of us, individually and collectively, to be socially enterprising. With a deep understanding of poverty reduction, BRAC has shown, through a supportive and inclusive approach with each individual, community and national partnership, how empowerment can create the necessary opportunities to turn lives around in the most challenging environments. BRAC is critical to reducing poverty and paving the road to social justice in our fast-changing world. I very much look forward to being part of this incredible journey,” said Jerome.
From 2012 to 2018, Jerome was the Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières International having been the Director of programmes from 2006 to 2012. He was instrumental in coordinating complex organisational systems in a multi-centric organisation focused on providing health services to the most neglected in resource-limited environments. In this role he led global positioning efforts and defined strategies and systems for securing resources (financial, human, and technical), ensuring both internal and external accountability. He also has country-level experience with MSF in several African countries and in the Middle East.
From 2019 to 2021, Jerome took part in the development of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), a new initiative launched by the World Health Organisation and Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative, where he held the position of Senior Advisor to the Executive Director.
Jerome is fluent in French and English, holds a master’s in geography, and a bachelor’s in politics and geography.
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