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.
What comes to your mind when you think about innovation? Most of us relate innovation to places like Silicon Valley. However, there are incredible social innovations happening in the global South; starting from Sudanese villages to Afghan classrooms and in many other not-so-known places, where you least expect anything related to innovation.
The Peshawar incident in Pakistan in which 145 people including 132 children were massacred in a school, has shocked the world. It gave rise to various debates such as whether children, especially girls, residing in conflict-prone areas should remain at home to stay safe from the Taliban. Amidst this environment of uncertainty, there are those who consider a child’s right to education to be above everything else. Organisations like BRAC still choose to continue working in the conflict-stricken, hard-to-reach areas across Asia and Africa.
Experience and research has shown that literacy can be a major tool for improving income-generating opportunities, advancing gender equality, and improving health status. Today, on World Literacy Day, it is important to recognise what BRAC and others alike have done to create access to schools and drastically increase enrolment in recent years.
Limia Dewan, senior manager of BRAC Education Programme’s (BEP) children with special needs (CSN) unit, met Belal after conducting a door-to-door survey in Korail slum where he lives. With more than 40,000 inhabitants, Korail is Dhaka city’s largest slum. “Out of that many people, there had to be children with specials needs who needed our attention,” said Limia. “So we set out to find them by asking residents if they knew of any specific cases.”
Over the past 50 years, agricultural research has improved crop yields, particularly of staples like cereals and tubers. But this breeding has placed too little emphasis on nutrition, leaving the poorest, who often can only afford these staples, consuming too few essential nutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin A.
We are excited to officially announce the winners of the innovation fund for mobile money challenge! These projects were selected from the 100 ideas that were submitted on the innovation fund challenge web site, reviewed by external advisors, and finally decided on by an internal judging panel. These projects will be implemented over the course of the next year by BRAC in Bangladesh—so stay tuned for many more updates!
Liton Hossain hails from the village of Chatua, in Natore, Bangladesh. He was one of the first students to receive a Medhabikash scholarship for his higher secondary certificate (HSC) studies. Liton went on to receive the scholarship again for his undergraduate degree, which he completed from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology in 2012. He is now completing a master’s in electrical and electronic engineering at University Teknikal Malaysia Melaka in Malaysia with a full scholarship. In his own words, Liton talks about overcoming his struggles and how his life changed after receiving a BRAC Medhabikash scholarship:
Much like unrecognised stars in the vastness of the night sky, children with special needs remain largely invisible in mainstream society. Therefore, while it is important to foster learning and social inclusivity for all children, it is particularly imperative for those with special needs.
The fashion and garments industry of Bangladesh, employing the largest labour force, has become a national pride. A huge fraction of the labour force is women, which has brought about a revolutionary change in the concept of women’s empowerment and economic independence. But a few of the recent garments and fashion house fire incidents have changed this whole notion of national pride into death traps.
Day 1 of our Frugal Innovation Forum sought out best practices from diverse organizations—from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan to Myanmar and Sri Lanka—grounded in developing human capital, organizing communities, and engaging civic action. While common rhetoric around innovation tends to stress technology advances, Asif Saleh, BRAC’s Senior Director, Strategy, Communications, and Capacity, stressed that “this innovation is not about products, but is a constant process in the organization focused on impact.”
Financial freedom brings empowerment, a slogan that riveted the streets of Dhaka as an energized group of adolescent girls rallied with colourful banners and posters advocating social awareness messages. The component of BRAC’s education programme that deals with adolescent girls highly stresses economic independence as it gives them the power to fight against the discriminations they face in the society.