Here’s why BRAC’s partners trust them to deliver sustainable results

Over the last forty years BRAC have been dramatically changing people’s lives in Bangladesh and more recently across the world. It is through working hand-in-hand with our partners that has made it possible to ‘reach scale’ and create opportunities for more and more people to move out of poverty.

How photography is being used to increase security in rural communities

Even though Bangladesh has made considerable progress in development over the past four decades, there are still many issues left to grapple – one major concern being safety and security. In an attempt to address some of the problems, Saferworld initiated its community security project in partnership with BRAC in 2012.

Can health programmes be designed to deliver care to last mile communities and also operate as sustainable enterprises?

Traditional hospital-based services are not able to reach some of the world’s poorest and most remote villages. Over one billion people globally, including 400 million Africans, lack access to health services because they live too far from a health facility. Rural communities know that if a child becomes ill, the long walk for treatment could potentially turn a minor ailment into a serious health problem.

How BRAC plans to knock out extreme poverty

According to the World Bank, people living on or under USD 1.25 per day are considered ‘ultra poor’. Global trends indicate that we are gradually and surely winning the fight against poverty. Still, a staggering 1.2 billion people are living in extreme poverty- that is almost four times the number of people living in USA.

A place to promote young talent

Imagine you have just received the result of your secondary school certificate exam (equivalent to GCSE O’Levels). Congratulations! You have been awarded the highest grades: GPA 5, securing more than 80 per cent in all the subjects. You and your whole family celebrate while you start planning to go to a top college. Future is all set! But what if you are an indigenous girl in a poor family of five like Laome? Or what if your father is unemployed and your mother takes care of you and your three siblings on her own like Habib’s family? The future does not look that bright now – it looks quite bleak.

GIRL POWER: How women and girls are driving change in Bangladeshi villages

Polli shomaj, or community-based organisations, are designed to empower poor, rural women, by enabling them to raise their voice, and claim their rights and entitlements. These groups are powerful and successful mediums of sustainable development. They actively engage more than one million rural women in 55 districts of Bangladesh.

Frugal innovation – the secret to scaling sustainably

In the changing landscape of development, long standing boundaries between non-profit and for profit models are merging while social enterprises are emerging. Even the most generous aid models are not enough to provide basic services to the 1.2 billion poor people living in middle income countries. In this context, the third Frugal Innovation Forum hosted by the BRAC Social Innovation Lab explored how we can serve millions in a sustainable manner. Under the theme ‘pushing the boundaries of development’, several speakers from the development sector, multinational corporations and social enterprises expressed that we need frugal innovations that can create more impact with less resources and institutions that can scale sustainably.

Customer service at BRAC: Empowering women through empowered women

Even when introducing herself, Babita’s enthusiasm is contagious. “Maybe you think that you can’t change how you manage your money. It’s too hard. Well, I used to think that I could never get up in front of a group of people and give a presentation. But here I am. BRAC taught me how. So if I can do this, then you can do anything.”

Measures that count: BRAC continues the fight against Ebola

“My name is Salimatu, I am 20 years old and an ELA member of the Kukubana club in Rokupr. I really do not know how I contracted the virus. One day, my aunt saw that I was bleeding, and I had a high fever. Knowing too well these are symptoms of the disease, she called the Ebola hotline (117) and they arrived later with an ambulance. I was taken to the Lakka treatment centre where I stayed for three weeks.

Maya apa: Bringing information to every woman in Bangladesh

By 2016, 80 per cent of mobile phones will be internet-enabled. What does this mean for Bangladesh, where mobile phone operators only began providing 3G internet services in 2013?

Mobile money needs the support of grassroots organisations to reach its potential

Last Thursday, the 2015 Gates letter  identified mobile money as a transformative innovation for the next 15 years, driving faster improvement of the lives of people in poor countries than has ever been seen.

“Where’s My School Roof?”

This post originally appeared on the blog of the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project is an institutional partner of the Namati Justice Prize along with BRAC and the UN Development Programme. The Namati Justice Prize was created to shine a light on the ways people find to secure justice. This post also appeared on the Namati blog.