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Shurakkha - defensive driving training
Surakkha is a road safety and defensive driving training for in-service drivers. The training is especially designed for in-service commercial bus and truck drivers, as the majority have not been through institutional driving training. It is common in Bangladesh where such drivers receive their training through apprenticeship from another experienced but untrained driver. As a result, many of these drivers, although performing at professional capacity, are unaware of the many road safety rules and practices.
Good professional drivers know the traffic signs and traffic rules. They have a sense of responsibility for the safety of other road users – knowing that traffic casualties are avoidable. The training helps drivers improve their attitude and behaviour on the road. It also develops their theoretical knowledge on driving while helping them to drive more defensively. The training is ideally given to groups of 20 to 25 trainees, with a maximum of 25 trainees per group.
BRAC Driving School is now conducting the following types of Surakkha courses:
• Two days of theoretical training and one day of driving testing and grading for corporate body drivers
• Three days of theoretical training for bus and truck drivers
• Two days of road safety training for motorcycle drivers
Some comments on the training by former trainees:
“After receiving this training my eyes have been opened. All these years I have been driving with a wrong attitude. Although I have been driving with patience, yet after receiving this training I am realising that I did not know lots of things about safe driving. If we follow what we have been taught here, then I am sure that we will never encounter any more road crashes. [...] I am highly grateful and it is a pleasure for me to attend this training.” – Mr. Foridul Islam Rahim, in service for previous 21 years, and four years for ENA transport (at the time)
“I have been driving for a long time; by Gods grace I have never had any road crash and I am a trained driver. After hearing that BRAC is giving a new training I got interested and hence attended the Surakkha training. We always drive to keep out of accidents, but after coming here I have learned that safety of ourselves, that is Surakkha, is very important. We always make simple mistakes while driving; minute mistakes can lead to a disastrous crash. This training has actually showed us where we were wrong throughout our entire lives as drivers. My attitude towards safety of myself, passengers and the wealth of my transport owner has completely changed. Now I will drive maintaining the rules of safe driving till the last trip of my life before I retire.’’ - Mr. Zaman, a driver of Shamoly transport service
BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award 2016
In the last decade, innovators, entrepreneurs and change makers in Bangladesh have developed outstanding innovations using ICT and digital tools. Ideas like bKash, Chaldal, JAAGO Online School and more recently, Maya Apa prove how technology, when used the right way, can create the most meaningful impact. However, many of these wonderful initiatives are hardly known outside of Bangladesh. Now this is about to change.
A joint collaboration between BRAC and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) based in India, has launched the Bangladeshi chapter of Manthan Award, the most prestigious award in the field of ICT and digital innovation in the Asia Pacific, as ‘BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award’, with a vision to recognise our local talent in an international platform. The winners of BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award will find a direct entry to Manthan Award, Asia, allowing them the space to perform against international competitors.
The BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award will accept registrations under nine categories. The categories are: e-business and financial inclusion, e-education, learning and employment, e-agriculture and ecology, e-governance and institutions, e-health, e-women, inclusion and empowerment, e-news, journalism and entertainment, e-culture, heritage and tourism, and m-content.The registration will close on 10 June 2016. Those using ICT and other digital tools in their businesses, projects or social work with visible impact are eligible to register here: http://brac.manthanaward.org/.
Southern NGO BRAC and its global initiatives: an inside look
The largest NGO in the world, BRAC headquartered in Bangladesh, applies its development aid concepts outside Bangladesh in ten countries around the world. The silver bullet? Building on the strength of each individual. An interview with Petra Costerman Boodt, BRAC International's Resident Representative Fundraiser in The Netherlands, on aid, on 'giving', and the international opportunities for BRAC. Read more
BRAC USA welcomes new President and CEO
BRAC USA, the U.S. affiliate of BRAC, a global leader in creating opportunity for the world’s poor and the world’s largest nongovernmental development organisation, today announced the appointment of Donella Rapier as its new President & CEO. Donella will succeed BRAC USA founding President, Susan Davis, who completed ten years of outstanding service in December 2015.
BRAC is a development success story, spreading anti-poverty solutions born in Bangladesh to 11 other developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Donella will bring over 30 years of extensive finance, fundraising and non-profit management experience to its U.S. operations.
For the past four and a half years, Donella served as the Chief Development and Administrative Officer at Accion, a pioneer and global leader in microfinance and financial inclusion whose work spans nearly two dozen countries. Prior to that, she was the Chief Financial Officer at Partners In Health, a global healthcare organisation working in remote places where healthcare alternatives are limited or otherwise nonexistent, such as Haiti, Rwanda and Malawi. Earlier in her career, Donella spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles at Harvard University, including Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development and Chief Financial Officer for Harvard Business School. Donella received her MBA from Harvard Business School and began her career at Price Waterhouse.
“BRAC USA is enormously fortunate to have someone with Donella’s range of skills and depth of experience as the new leader for our organisation,” said Lincoln Chen, Chair of the Board for BRAC USA. “She is a skilled builder of organisations and is deeply committed to empowering people and communities in situations of poverty.” Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder & Chairperson of BRAC Bangladesh, applauded the appointment: “Donella is a great addition to the BRAC family, bringing talent, expertise, and commitment to our work of ending poverty.”
“I am truly honored to be joining the remarkable BRAC family of organisations,” said Donella Rapier. “BRAC has made an enormous difference in the world and, by many measures, is one of the most successful organisations driving social change. I am eager to dive in and build on the excellent foundation laid by a decade of pioneering work to further BRAC’s reach and potential for even greater impact.”
Donella will join BRAC USA full time in July 2016.
How to Empower the Next Generation of Girls? With Girls.
When Sa’a jumped from the moving truck, she wasn’t thinking about her education that had just been cut short. She was fleeing for her life.
One of the more than 250 girls kidnapped from their school in Chibok, Nigeria, two years ago, Sa’a recounted that heartbreaking story to members of Congress recently, renewing calls to rescue the hundreds of still missing schoolgirls and finally #bringbackourgirls.
Sa’a is now a college student in the U.S. Her story is a reminder of what is possible when girls are given the chance to receive a quality education in a safe place. Her story also illustrates what we stand to lose when a girl’s education is taken away. Read More.
World leaders send their best wishes to Sir Fazle on his 80th birthday
3 May 2016, Dhaka
In celebration of BRAC’s founder and chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed’s 80th birthday, messages have been flooding in from all across the world to wish him a happy birthday. Global leaders such as Gordon Brown, the former prime minister of the UK, Desmond Swayne, Minister of State for International Development (DFID), UK, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Minister of International Development and the Pacific, Australia, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, are among the few that have been extending their best wishes.
In a message, Bill Clinton, former president of the United States, says, ‘You’ve helped millions of people in Bangladesh and beyond to escape poverty through the dignity of their own work. In doing so, you’ve revolutionised the way we all think about development. Luckily for all of us, you show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.”
Bill Gates, co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said, ‘We’ve had a great partnership with BRAC for more than a decade, and it’s made a huge difference. Through BRAC, you have changed the course of history for millions globally. For your vision and commitment to creating a better world, we salute you.”
“Abed bhai, happy birthday,” said Jim Kim, President of the World Bank. Having met Sir Fazle more than a decade ago, he says, ‘The scale and impact of what he’s done, and yet the utter humility with which he’s done everything, I think is a lesson for every single one of us who are working in development. For Abed bhai, everything has always been about making sure that women are empowered; making sure that children have education, even through informal systems.’
Birthday wishes pour in for Sir Abed
Wishes poured in from the global leaders in celebration of the 80th birthday of Brac Founder and Chairman Sir Fazle Hasan Abed on April 27.
Gordon Brown, former prime minister of the UK, Desmond Swayne, minister of State for International Development, UK, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, minister of International Development and the Pacific, Australia, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia, are among a few of those who wished their best. Read More.
A creative response to the challenge for change
The many positive contributions made by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed testify to a life which has been eminently successful and a source of inspiration for others. A golden thread that runs through his range of activities is an abiding concern for bringing about change in the lives of human beings by affording them opportunities for realising their potential. His creative response to the challenge for change was as founder of an extraordinary NGO called BRAC. The institutions and activities sponsored and supported by BRAC reflect this concern, as these embrace, among others, education, health, human rights, the rule of law, and governance. Read More.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's 80th birthday celebrated
Brac Founder and Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed yesterday spent a busy day at work despite it being his 80th birthday, carving out time to enjoy a 4D exhibition and a festive programme when a book containing articles about him written by noted personalities was also unveiled. Former diplomat Faruk Chowdhury, who edited the book, presented Sir Fazle with a copy and the latter cut a cake, said a press release. Born in 1936 in Bangladesh, Sir Fazle was educated at both Dhaka and Glasgow universities. He was a professional accountant in his thirties, working as a senior corporate executive at Shell Oil when the 1971 Liberation War had a profound effect on him, dramatically changing the direction of his life. He left his job, moved to London and devoted himself to Bangladesh's war of independence. Read more
A tribute to a champion of the deprived
I can think of few people who have done more for the world's deprived population than Fazle Hasan Abed. His contribution spans Bangladesh where BRAC, the organisation he founded in 1972, services close to 10 million of the country's underprivileged households. Through Abed's commitment to serve the world's deprived, BRAC has now extended its reach across the globe. It has invested its experience in rehabilitating the tsunami victims in Sri Lanka and the war-ravaged population in Afghanistan where two of its officials, working in high risk areas, were held hostage by the Taliban. BRAC is now reaching out on a large scale to serve the underprivileged populations in various regions of Africa. It has been actively engaged in Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Liberia and Sierra Leone. BRAC has even extended its reach across the Atlantic to Haiti. Read more
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