girls’ empowerment

December 9, 2015

With Ebola gone, Sierra Leone must now rebuild rural livelihoods

Sierra Leoneans celebrated in the streets last month when 42 days passed without a single new case of Ebola. The mix of mourning and jubilation called to mind the signing of a peace treaty after a war, and the end of Ebola should indeed be greeted as a victory.
July 17, 2015

African schoolgirls: Dropped out, but not left behind

We face tremendous problems keeping girls in school as they transition through adolescence. In Sierra Leone, 30 per cent of reported rapes take place in the school environment, and a recent ruling banned 'visibly pregnant' girls from school. When the school itself becomes a hostile setting, it should come as no surprise that dropout rates shoot up.
May 17, 2015

Talking about girls rights over lunch with the Queen

17-year-old Tania Akhter was preparing for her final year college exams when life had a pleasant surprise to offer. A member of BRAC’s adolescent club, she was quickly acknowledged for her leadership skills. Tania joined the club when she was in class 6, and since then coordinators have kept an eye on her development. Tania also received training on livelihood skills as part of the club’s activities.
March 21, 2013

Youth building a world of savers, peer-by-peer

"The global financial crisis has turned us into a world of savers," The Washington Post reported recently. "Including the poorest among us." Of course people all throughout history, in every culture, have found ways to store away money for a rainy day. The difference today is the growing access to more organized, safer ways to save money. Access is not the same as adoption, however. For the poor to adopt new savings tools, requires, as the story notes, "building the trust of the poor, penny by penny," which can be very slow. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that
March 15, 2013

It takes a woman to raise a village

This blog post is an abridged version of a case study featured in Problem or Promise: Harnessing Youth Potential in Uganda, recently published by BRAC and The MasterCard Foundation.
June 24, 2011

More than Microfinance: How BRAC Uganda Empowers Adolescents

A Bengali organization founded almost 40 years ago, BRAC is one of the largest NGO’s in the world. BRAC does tremendous work in and outside of Bangladesh, and has programs promoting economic development, health, education, gender justice – the list goes on. When I found out I would be working with BRAC this past April I was excited since it is such a pioneering organization, but I was also really looking forward to working with BRAC since I have a soft spot in my heart for Bangladesh. I had the chance to live in Bangladesh for four months last year as a social business intern at the Yunus Centre, and my time in the country was certainly life altering.
February 22, 2011

Girls got game in cricket-crazy Bangladesh

Below is an article published on CNN by Sara Sidner about BRAC girls' cricket team Chittagong, Bangladesh (CNN) -- In a dusty, unkempt field in the middle of Bangladesh's second-largest city, crowds of men and boys gather to watch their favorite sport.
November 17, 2010

Jasmine Lamb, Girl Effect Enthusiast, Raises Money for BRAC on Blog

Today, Jasmine Lamb launched a campaign on her blog, allislistening.com, to raise over $5,000 for BRAC's adolescent girls program in Bangladesh by Thanksgiving. Jasmine heard about The Girl Effect and BRAC's programs from a friend and connected with the powerful message of investing in young girls. BRAC's Social and Financial Empowerment of Adolescents project (SOFEA) is an initiative aimed at providing girls with financial and social support to enable them to empower themselves. The program gives girls a safe space to socialize while providing them with life skills training, livelihood training, financial literacy training, and small loans to start income-generating activities.
October 1, 2010

The MasterCard Foundation: Learning Outside the Classroom

Below is a post from Crystal Chen of The MasterCard Foundation, one of BRAC's partners. She's currently visiting BRAC's programs in Uganda along with other members of the MasterCard team. She wrote this after visiting one of the girls clubs in our Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents (ELA) Program.