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May 30, 2023
Published by Rahanuma Anjala at May 30 2023
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One in five people in Bangladesh suffer from Presbyopia, a condition which makes seeing things up close difficult for older adults and heavily impacts livelihood opportunities. BRAC, in partnership with VisionSpring, with a cadre of community health workers took to the communities in Bangladesh with a radical idea of ‘demedicalising’ the treatment of Presbyopia in 2006. Read more to learn how trained community health workers helped 2 million people in Bangladesh to see better and preserve their livelihoods.
May 28, 2023
Published by Ashim Shikari at May 28 2023
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In coastal Bangladesh, extreme levels of salinity in the soil is rendering thousands of hectares of farmland barren for most of the year. Forcing millions of farmers to give up farming because of this slow-onset impact of the climate crisis. But all is not lost yet as farmers find hope to adapt to climate change is an unassuming crop - sunflowers. Read the first-person account of one such farmer who is tackling the climate crisis with a field full of smiling sunflowers
April 26, 2023
Published by Alpona Joyontee Kujur at Apr 26 2023
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Northern Bangladesh is home to 80% of the country's indigenous population. More than 18 languages are spoken by members of these indigenous communities upholding their rich culture, long practised heritage and colourful way of life. This diversity also lends itself as a factor in attaining universal acceptability for indigenous leaders which has historically led to a dearth of formal indigenous leaders. Can we foster local leadership by ensuring a safe platform at the community level?
March 22, 2023
Published by Shadma Malik at Mar 22 2023
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Young people have the most at stake in the climate crisis but their representation in climate leadership and decision making is still negligible. With one-fourth of the population of Bangladesh belonging to the 15-29 age-group, it’s high time their voices on climate crisis are heard and their suggestions heeded. Local conversations on safe water seems like just the perfect platform to start developing local youth leadership on climate change.
January 5, 2023
Published by Farah Masud at Jan 05 2023
At Frugal Innovation Forum 2022, we revisited the fundamental pillars of development with the post-pandemic world in mind. We reflected on the lessons learnt from the pandemic and together identified three key thematic focus areas in our quest to build back better.
December 22, 2022
Published by Erina Mahmud at Dec 22 2022
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Nine out of every ten women in Bangladesh still don’t have access to digital financial services. What are the socio-economic barriers hindering their inclusion and how do we design solutions to bring down the barriers stopping women from making the digital transition?
December 2, 2022
Published by Samia Mallik at Dec 02 2022
Every seventh person alive today – more than 1 billion people in total – lives with some form of disability. Yet, people with disabilities are still overwhelmingly overlooked in times of emergency.
December 1, 2022
Published by Erina Mahmud at Dec 01 2022
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Digital financial platforms are an enabler for financial inclusion, but approximately 740 million women globally still remain outside of formal or digital financial services. How can the fintech industry better tap into its potential for greater financial inclusion, so that women have the control over their purses?
December 1, 2022
Published by Promiti Prova Chowdhury at Dec 01 2022
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Social security programmes in Bangladesh date back to the 1970s, but continue to be plagued by errors, including a failure to reach those who need it the most. Today, we must look beyond cash allowances and focus on lowering dependency on such programmes.
November 16, 2022
Published by Joydeep Sinha Roy at Nov 16 2022
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85% of employment in Bangladesh is in the informal sector, yet training opportunities in the sector are limited. BRAC’s skills training for advancing resources (STAR) provides a platform for young people to hone their skills, build confidence and take charge of their livelihoods.
November 9, 2022
Published by Dr Martha Chen at Nov 09 2022
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This tribute comes with the passing of Ela Bhatt, whose work created an employment support programme in India for women who live in poverty. Ela started a trade union Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was established in 1972, the same year as BRAC.
November 6, 2022
Published by Rohini Kamal at Nov 06 2022
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As the world increasingly faces rising disasters, crises and conflict, insights from Bangladesh share how the most vulnerable communities can build resilience, and how supporting people to form the right networks is a more powerful investment than we may realise.