women’s empowerment

May 30, 2013

Change from the very, very bottom-up

In 2006, Rasheda Sahab’s husband passed away from kidney failure, leaving her with four children and no money. Today's she's a thriving sanitation entrepreneur. Here's her story.
May 9, 2013

Mothers writing their own headlines

This week, The New York Times published an article, Africa Holds Worst Rates for First-Day Baby Deaths, Report Says.” I silently groaned, thinking that Africa is often unfairly singled out as a poverty stricken, dismal place. These headlines bother me for the mere fact that there are not enough headlines highlighting the qualities that make the continent far from dismal.
October 26, 2011

Girls Not Brides – Ending a harmful practice

In the collective effort to realize the “Girl Effect”, it is necessary to ensure that adolescent girls are free to access the resources and education provided to them by their respective national governments or by the NGOs based in their communities.
October 25, 2011

Letter From Uganda: Given the Tools to Fight Poverty, Africa’s Women Tend to Win

A ripple of laughter spreads through the room during Beatrice's prayer. We're in the town of Nansana, in central Uganda, taking part in a meeting of 25 micro-borrowers, all of them local women. Somebody translates: "Dear Lord, please make us strong and successful," Beatrice said before the group, before adding: "And put women above men for a change."
October 24, 2011

The Girl Effect is real, new data shows

If girls had the same access to resources as their male peers, went to school regularly, led lives free of domestic violence and avoided early marriage, agricultural output would increase 4 percent and the number of malnourished men, women and children would drop 17 percent.
October 10, 2011

Women Like Sirleaf and Gbowee Clear Africa’s Path to Prosperity

The following was originally posted by BRAC USA President and CEO Susan Davis in the Huffington Post. I was heartened to learn Friday morning that the Nobel Committee had awarded this year's Peace Prize to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia's current president, and the bold Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, two women I admire tremendously for their pivotal role in advancing the cause of peace in Africa.
October 9, 2011

From Struggle To Savvy Entrepreneurship: BRAC Hosts ‘Adolescent Livelihood Conference’

On September 14 BRAC Adolescent Development Programme arranged a 'Livelihood Conference' at Mohakhali BRAC center. Participants came from 70 sub-districts across the country. All teenagers, these women are newborn entrepreneurs in the beautician industry.
September 26, 2011

BRAC’s MEJNIN Seminar

A huge number of media photographers piled into a seminar arranged by BRAC’s Safe Citizenship for Adolescent Girls Programme, “MEJNIN” on the September 13th, 2011. Due to the congestion caused by press personnel, it was difficult to spot the notable guests.
July 21, 2011

The Story of Miss Lalbanu

The following was originally posted by Alison Horton on America's Unofficial Ambassadors. Alison is a recipient of the AUA Mosaic Scholarship and is currently volunteering with BRAC in Bangladesh.
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.
June 17, 2011

A Tough Graduation: Graduating Out of Poverty, III

This post, originally posted on the Jolkona website, is a reflection of Saman Nizami’s experiences and observations during her internship for BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra-Poor” program in Bangladesh. This is the last in a series of posts from Saman Nizami about her experiences and observations while interning for BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra-Poor” program in Bangladesh. You can read her previous posts in the series, A Tough Graduation, part I and part II.
June 15, 2011

BRAC Afghanistan: Changing the most dangerous place on earth for women

Today, TrustLaw, which runs AlertNet, published a "Danger Poll" identifying the world's five most dangerous countries for women, with Afghanistan topping the list.  These figures serve only to further motivate our dedicated BRAC Afghanistan staff, who strive every day to change these conditions.Among the multifaceted BRAC Afghanistan programs in microfinance, health, enterprise development, community development, and education, are 2,297 BRAC schools where 84% of the enrolled students are girls. BRAC is realizing the potential of gender equality in education by increasing the enrollment of young girls through completion of their primary education, and by training local women to teach in these schools.