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BRAC honoured at International Transform Awards 2011
11 April 2011, London. BRAC has won Silver for the best rebrand of a not-for-profit organisation at the International Transform branding awards in London. BRAC, one of the world’s largest development organisations, is widely acclaimed as a pioneer in the alleviation of poverty and empowering the disadvantaged to realise their potential.
In recent years BRAC had undergone rapid expansion in Africa and Asia and its brand and identity had become diffused. BRAC worked closely with international brand consultancy, CDT to develop a new identity and positioning that would present a singular vision and unified message across its growing international footprint of over 10 countries with its outreach of over 130 million people across diverse countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Uganda.
At a ceremony in London, hosted by former New Labour director of communications and strategy at Number 10 Downing Street, Alastair Campbell, BRAC received the prestigious award for its global brand strategy work undertaken with international brand consultants, CDT.
The Transform Awards are the Europe’s only dedicated celebration of rebranding, repositioning and brand transformation. Judged by a panel of branding experts, communications practitioners and academics, the Awards celebrate creativity, innovation and effectiveness in brand transformation.
The Director of BRAC Communications, Asif Saleh said: "BRAC is excited to get recognised for our rebranding effort which was geared towards enhancing its value based existence. Going forward we hope more and more people will associate BRAC with its core values of innovation, integrity, inclusion and effectiveness. Partnering with CDT in this effort has been fantastic."
Intern with BRAC USA!
Are you interested in international development? Do you want to learn from BRAC, one of the world's largest and most effective international development organizations?
BRAC USA is seeking motivated individuals to assist with a variety of projects and initiatives related to BRAC's programmatic areas including public education, program and strategic support services to BRAC programs in Africa and Asia, and grant administration and strategy.
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Interns will possess excellent writing and editing skills, strong interest in international development, ability to work independently and quickly, strong research skills, experience with the nonprofit sector, and proficiency with Microsoft Office software. Preference will be given to candidates with advance degrees. BRAC USA is looking for a minimum commitment of 8 weeks between May and August 2011.
To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Sherie Gertler at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with "Summer Internship 2011" in the subject line.
BRAC Advocacy Unit holds 'Ultra Poor and Development Fair' to raise awareness on extreme poverty
07 April 2011, Dhaka. BRAC Advocacy Unit organised a two day long village fair titled ‘Manush Manusher Jonno’ with a aim to create awareness and engage the mass in realising the situation of the people who suffer from extreme poverty. The fair targeted the mass, government, other development organisations and the media to work for the betterment of the ultra poor. It took place on the 1st and 2nd of April at Beltia High School, Jamalpur. Honourable Minister, Mr. Rezaul Karim Hira MP, Ministry of Land inaugurated the fair.
The fair begin with a grand rally on March 31, 2011 lead by Md. Sirajuddin Ahmed, District Commissioner of Jamalpur. People from all walks of life participated in the colorful rally which is a step forward in reintegrating the ultra poor in the mainstream development process.
The fair had stalls from the members of our Ultra Poor programme in addition to stalls from members of other programmes. Members of BRAC Microfinance, Health, Education, CESLI(Community Empowerment & Strengthening Local Institutions) and HRLS(Human Rights and Legal Aid Services) programmes, Advocacy Jogajog forum and Aarong had stalls in the fair. Popular theaters were staged on both days to address social issues and raising awareness on extreme poverty. The Honourable Minister visited the stalls and later visited the BRAC Area Office at Jamalpur and met BRAC staff. He expressed his appreciation for BRAC’s intervention in the lives of the poorest of poor.
The two day event came to an end with a discussion session and a prize giving ceremony. It attracted a huge turnout of people in the two days. People from all walks of life including distinguished civil society members attended the fair.
Beauty, a member of our ultra poor programme won the first prize for her stall and rice-cakes. She says, “I am delighted everyone liked my pithas (rice-cakes) and was sold out. I have made a profit out of it. The prize has given me confidence to move forward in my life”.
BRAC Wins IFTDO Global Award 2011
06 April 2011, Dhaka. BRAC has been awarded The Winner Award and a Certification of Merit at the IFTDO (The International Federation of Training & Development Organizations) Global Award 2011. ‘Medhabikash Uddyag’ of BRAC Education programme was awarded the winner award in the ‘Knowledge management category’ and ‘Active Citizen and Accountable Local Government (ACALG)’ component of BRAC Community Empowerment and Strengthening Local Institutions programme (CESLI) was awarded a certification of merit in the ‘People management category’. The awards will be presented on the 40th IFTDO World Conference to be held in Warsaw, Poland from 8th to 11th may, 2011.
Our Medhabikash Uddyog (Promoting Talent) is a scholarship programme where we target bright students from disadvantaged backgrounds and offer them financial support to help pay for tuition fees to continue their education and also provide training on English language and computer skills to help them in pursuing higher education. Our Active Citizens and Accountable Local Government (ACALG) project is an initiative which aims to create an environment for more active civic engagement among rural and semi-urban poor citizens and to strengthen capacities of local government in order to be more accountable and provide effective governance. The project builds capacity and provides training to local government representatives and female leaders and facilitates a forum for regular interaction.
The International Federation of Training & Development Organizations (IFTDO) is a world-wide federation (UK based) formed in 1972 to develop and maintain a world-wide network committed to the development and transfer of knowledge, skills and technology to enhance personal growth, human performance, productivity and sustainable development. Each year, IFTDO gives out awards to projects that have created changes in the lives of people and made a real difference.
BRAC launches interactive educational CDs
05 April 2011, Dhaka. “What the textbooks cannot explain properly, the videos can. The videos matching with the textbook contents clarify questions that are raised while reading the books. Various scientific phenomenons are visually displayed and the animations make learning a lot easier for me and my classmates.” These were the words of a young and confident Kothamoni, a seventh grade female student from Rashid Daohata High School, on the positive impact of the use of interactive videos for Computer-Aided Learning at her school.
On April 3, 2011, BRAC launched two interactive educational CDs for General Science and General Math for high school education in Bangladesh. These were the very first CDs that have been launched under the Computer-Aided Learning (CAL) programme of BRAC. Along with Kothamoni, the CAL programme is aimed at making learning interactive, fun and easy for students across Bangladesh. Funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the CAL programme is growing progressively in various districts and sub-districts across the nation.
The Computer-Aided Learning Programme (CAL), one of BRAC’s post primary education initiatives, is an endeavor to make the textbook contents easier, interactive and stimulating. BRAC had first introduced CAL in 2007. The Post Primary Basic and Continuing Education (PACE) unit of BRAC’s Education Programme (BEP) had started this programme using computer as a tool for teaching. In 2007-08 PACE piloted this programme in seven schools of Mirzapur, Tangail equipping these schools with computers and multimedia. Recently, the programme has been expanded to fifteen schools in five districts (Comilla, Gazipur, Bogra, Hobiganj and Gopalganj).
The main objective of CAL is to move away from the teacher-centered classroom environment to a more interactive and engaging one. It also ensures conceptual clarity and better application of learning materials and aims to increase the teachers’ understanding of the lessons. CAL is an attempt to create self learning provision for both teachers and students and to familiarise the rural students and teachers with the modern computer technology. CAL provides multimedia classroom with power backup and offers training to the teachers and students on usage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). It provides e-content that can be used in the classrooms, and also the e-content at BRAC initiated community libraries (Gonokendro).
Speakers at the event commented that CAL would help our education system get rid of the memorisation culture, which is in direct conflict with creative learning. They also remarked that by making science and technology easier to grasp through its easy and interactive teaching techniques, CAL will help Bangladesh meet the challenges of the 21st century better. It is also expected to reduce the school dropout rate, given that it will attract students to the easy and enjoyable form of learning.
The CDs were launched at the end of the event by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC. Sir Abed said that the launching of the first interactive, educational CDs was a long-awaited venture and it is going to be a key element in Bangladesh’s education system. However, he said that it is an initial step; the ultimate goal would be to convert the entire curriculum of Bangladesh to CDs and websites that can be accessed by teachers and students all over the country at their convenience. Only then, Sir Abed said, can the country reach its goal of becoming a digital Bangladesh. Finally, Sir Abed added that BRAC is helping the government to achieve the desired goals of education in Bangladesh; it is not working as a counterpart. The Executive Director of BRAC, Dr. Mahabub Hossain, added that BRAC would hold no proprietary rights of the CDs launched so that more and more copies of the CDs can be made and spread nationwide.
The Mathematics CD launched contains 31 lessons on 22 math concepts of the national textbooks of grades VI to X, while the Science CD contained all lessons of the national textbook of grade VI. Another interactive CD for high school English under the CAL programme will be launched very soon. These CDs will be available at all Aarong outlets, BRAC Education area level offices, and BRAC Training & Resource Centres.
BRAC and The MasterCard Foundation Announce the Expansion of their Partnership in Uganda
OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - March 30, 2011) -
BRAC and The MasterCard Foundation today announced the expansion of a $45 million partnership to scale BRAC's innovative microfinance multiplied model in Uganda. The announcement, which was made at the opening plenary of the 2011 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, will enable BRAC to expand its network to 129 branches, benefiting more than four million Ugandans.
"The MasterCard Foundation aims to scale innovative microfinance programs in Africa to improve the lives of people living in poverty," said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. "BRAC's holistic approach integrates microfinance and livelihood services to help women to become productive economically and build assets to benefit their families."
Today's announcement builds on an existing partnership with The MasterCard Foundation in Uganda, where BRAC's approach, which it calls "microfinance multiplied," increases the ability of poor clients to productively use microloans to augment their incomes and build their assets, as well as stimulate economic and social development within their communities.
"Through this expanded partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, BRAC will be able to deepen the outreach of our current microfinance and livelihoods program in Uganda and expand our network to 129 branches," said Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC's Founder & Chairperson. "We will also be undertaking a series of long-term studies to assess impact of integrated approach to services on lives of clients, their families and their communities."
Uganda is a country of 30 million people. More than 60 percent of the population does not have access to financial services. The BRAC program will provide economically active women with loans, training and technical support to enable them to improve their livelihoods, particularly those in the agricultural poultry and livestock sectors. Additionally, the program will expand vocational and life-skills education for adolescent girls.
"The theme of the 2011 Skoll World Forum is Large Scale Change—ecosystems, networks and collaborative action," said Sally Osberg, President and CEO, Skoll Foundation. "This announcement by BRAC and The MasterCard Foundation is a great example of collaborative action, innovation, and entrepreneurship helping solve the world's most pressing problems."
About the Partnership
In October 2008, The MasterCard Foundation committed $19.6 million to enable BRAC to expand its microfinance multiplied program in Uganda, to open 51 branches and serve two million people. Among the objectives, was a strategic focus to help BRAC document the long-term impact of this multiplier approach in Africa.
Building on a shared commitment to learning and strengthening the field of microfinance, the partnership is also enabling BRAC to expand the capacity of its Uganda research and evaluation unit to undertake longitudinal studies investigating the effectiveness of BRAC's integrated microfinance and livelihoods model. This data set will allow BRAC to conduct sub-sector analyses on various aspects of its program. BRAC is also piloting a Poverty Score-card which tracks ten key poverty-related indicators among its clients and uses the cumulative scores to track long-term progress. The scorecard is embedded within the Management Information System and will capture data each time a member takes a loan over the next few years.
BRAC chose Uganda because of the opportunity to make an impact in a post-conflict country with high poverty rates and where 72 percent of the population has no access to formal financial services. Although Uganda has a competitive microfinance market, most microfinance providers are concentrated in urban areas. Seventy percent of employment in Uganda is based on agriculture. Most of the rural poor are small scale farmers and lack access to finance, agricultural inputs and markets. Uganda is also a young country where 78 percent of the population is under the age of 30. As such, there is an urgency to equip young people with skills to enter the workforce.
To date the program has demonstrated outstanding success, providing microfinance loans to approximately 110,000 borrowers, training and access to high quality agricultural inputs to 50,000 farmers, productivity enhancing services to 124,000 poultry & livestock rearers, and access to basic health services to more than 1.5 million people. BRAC is also empowering 32,000 adolescent girls and young people from poor and marginal households, providing them education, training and access to financial services.
Today's announcement of an additional $25 million will enable BRAC to build on this success by deepening the outreach of the current microfinance and livelihoods program and expand it by opening 40 new branches; improving skills and livelihoods options of young people across all program areas, including the expansion of the adolescent girls program; continuing to document and disseminate results on long-term program impact and implementing a sustainability plan that phases out Foundation funding in five years.
BRAC Development Institute holds talk about coping with economic crisis
29 March 2011, Dhaka. BRAC Development Institute (BDI) hosted a talk titled Coping with Economic Crisis: Evidence from Bangladesh and Elsewhere by Dr. Naomi Hossain, Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex, on Sunday, 27 March, at BRAC University. Dr. Hossain is a political sociologist specialising in the politics of poverty and pro-poor public services.
This presentation summarised findings from qualitative community-level research on the effects of the global food, fuel and financial crises on the lives of poor people in Bangladesh, Kenya, Jamaica, Yemen, Zambia and the UK between 2009 and 2011. It explored the nature of the impacts on local economies and everyday lives, on the coping responses people have adopted in a range of locations and their likely longer term consequences, and on the sources of support poor people have been able to draw on in coping with global economic shocks over which they - and their governments - lack direct control.
The discussion suggested that the poor did not directly correlate their crisis with the global shocks; rather they were always in crisis. The presentation also focused on a lot of positive aspects of Bangladesh which has improved conditions from the past such as better infrastructure and better communication. Political issues contributing to the crisis, policies, the effects of well being and social reproduction during crisis and the responses of people were also discussed.
Engaging the youth: Addressing extreme poverty
22 March 2011, Dhaka. BRAC Advocacy Unit organised the ‘Inter University Debate Competition 2011’ on extreme poverty with the slogan ‘Juktir Aloke Khuji Daridro Bimochoner Poth.’ It was held from March 16 to March 20, 2011 at Shaheed Nurul Amin Khan (Memorial) Multipurpose Hall, BIAM Foundation, New Eskaton, Dhaka.
Our Advocacy Unit seeks to mobilise and raise awareness among youth towards the issue of extreme poverty. We organise quizzes, seminar and debates from grassroots to national level to address the issue. We have already reached 2.17 million school and college students. Now we have taken a step forward in engaging the university students. As future decision makers it is important for them to be aware of the ultra poor regions of the country.
The topic of the final debate was “Proper allocation of budget is the best means of alleviating poverty.” United international University (UIU) won the competition and Jagannath University was adjudged runners-up beating 14 other renowned universities of the country. Md. Riad Hossain from UIU was adjudged Best Speaker.
Dr. AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University inaugurated the opening ceremony on March 16, 2011. M. Hafizuddin Khan, Chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Former Advisor of Caretaker Government of Bangladesh were present as the Chief Guest. Muhammad A. (Rumee) Ali, Managing Director, Enterprises & Investments, BRAC graced the closing ceremony as the Chair. Dr. Asif Nazrul, Professor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka, and Sk. Mojibul Huq, Manager of BRAC Advocacy Unit was present as the special guests in the occasion.
The members of Youth Forum for Poverty Alleviation & Development (YFPAD)’ immensely helped us in organising and making the event a success. We strongly believe that engaging the youth in such national issues will bring about positive changes in the future.
International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Development
23 March 2011, Dhaka. Entrepreneurship lies at the heart of the development process. Micro-enterprises are now recognised as key means of generating employment and increasing productivity amongst the poorest segments of the society. In view of this perspective BRAC, IGC(International Growth Centre of London School of Economics), and iiG(Improving Institutions for Pro-poor Growth of Oxford University) are going to organise a two-day International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Development: Experience, Practices and Policies on 27-28 March 2011 at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The conference will focus on evaluations of current programmes designed to promote entrepreneurship in order to transform the economic lives of the poor. Central to this discussion will be an evaluation of the BRAC ultra poor programme that aims to transfer assets and business skills to the very poor. This programme is being implemented on a wide scale in Bangladesh and its being replicated in a growing number of developing countries. Recent results suggest that it has the potential to become a major tool in the global fight against poverty. The ultra poor model will be discussed in-depth, providing specific insights for policymakers looking replicate its success in other countries. Other presentations will provide new ideas on how constraints on entrepreneurship at the micro-enterprise level can be relaxed, particularly in the areas of training and access to credit.
The conference will also focus on policies to promote entrepreneurship and productivity improvements in larger firms. Presentations will discuss frontier knowledge on how state-level policies, firm capabilities, and trade interact to promote industrial development. There will be a particular focus on how trade policies can engender industrial development and on how the capabilities of firms to innovate and become more productive can be enhanced.
The outcome of the conference will be particularly relevant for developing countries targeting manufacturing and service sector expansion as a means of promoting economic growth, and there will be ample space dedicated to promoting dialogue and exchange of ideas.
Discussion: Government spending on poverty reduction
24 March 2011, Dhaka. BRAC and Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) jointly hosted a discussion on “Resources for the Ultra Poor in the National Budget: How Much? How Effective?” on March 23, 2011 at the BRAC Centre Inn Auditorium.
The main objectives of the dialogue were to provide a set of recommendations to increase the efficacy of fiscal measures and public service delivery to the ultra poor, to enhance implementation of existing pro poor policies and identify future policy priority areas for reducing ultra poor in Bangladesh.
Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Minister for Food, Disaster Management and Relief was the Chief Guest of the discussion.
Click here to read more: http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=178896
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