The legacy of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC’s founder and our 2019 Education Development laureate, is one of transformation. The organization he built is now the world’s largest NGO. Over the years, it’s reached 100 million people in 11 countries, and helped set Bangladesh on the path to becoming an upper-middle income country by 2031.

“The inequalities that create divisions among rich and poor, powerful and powerless, are made by humans. So, change is also possible through human acts of compassion, courage, and conviction. I have spent my life watching optimism triumph over despair when the light of self-belief is sparked in people.” —Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

In the last three years, we’ve supported BRAC to deliver quality early education across three countries

BRAC’s project plans ended up being an exemplar of the flexibility of philanthropic funding—given that they were agreed just as the events of 2020 unfolded. As people around the world retreated to their homes, BRAC sprang into action to develop the Pashe Achhi model. And since we don’t tie funds strictly to specific projects, they were able to direct resources where they were most needed.

Harnessing the power of a phone call to lay the foundations of lifelong learning

Pashe Achhi—Bengali for ‘beside you’—centered on the one piece of technology almost everyone in Bangladesh has at their disposal: the cellphone. At the heart of this program are regular, 20-minute calls to mothers of children aged 0–5 in Chakoria Upazila, an area of Cox’s Bazar in the region of Chittagong. These one-to-one connections are a lifeline for maternal wellbeing and early years development—offering parents learning experience and socio-emotional support. With prize funds, five paracounsellors and 25 facilitators were added to the team, and the project expanded to include a wellbeing intervention for fathers.

Empowering women as agents of change

BRAC has used the majority of its prize funds to develop its Play Lab models in Bangladesh, Uganda, and Tanzania.

In Bangladesh, the project helps local people—generally women—launch daycare businesses, and gives training in early childhood development and delivering a play-based curriculum. They’re building livelihoods, and a sustainable income. And as pandemic restrictions lift, young mothers are flooding back into garment factories—so reliable local daycare offers a lifeline to women working hard to support their families.

BRAC’s also using the power of partnerships to drive progress across communities. In Uganda, local teams are working with 25 government primary schools and 10 humanitarian Play Labs in refugee settlements—helping them with practical support and inclusive approaches to play-based learning.

In Tanzania, the team is working with the government supporting efforts to offer quality early learning. Play Labs are set up in government schools, helping children aged 3–6 get ready for school. Based on principles of joyful exploration, children build up a foundational knowledge of math and literacy, as well as all-important social and emotional skills.

Highlights from BRAC’s 50 years of impact

The organization’s track record of transforming lives of course extends far beyond their work with us. This list of achievements includes:

●   graduating over 14 million children in Bangladesh from school through a low-cost, scalable education model prioritizing ‘drop-outs’ as well as girls, disabled children, and those living in rural regions
●   founding BRAC University in 2001—today one of the top private universities in Bangladesh
●   establishing the BRAC Institute of Educational Development

Education is of course closely connected to wellbeing, and the team has also spearheaded progress in areas like financial services, social enterprise, and healthcare. For instance, BRAC equipped 15 million clients with access to financial services through BRAC Microfinance, BRAC Bank. And the proportion of children in Bangladesh vaccinated against deadly tuberculosis has gone from 4% to 91% with the support of BRAC’s community mobilization initiatives.

Hope Over Fate

More than anything, Sir Fazle understood that poverty is a circumstance, not an identity. Now his philosophies of prioritizing women and developing human-centered, community-led solutions are captured in a new biography by Scott MacMillan. We distributed copies of the book at our December Ceremony, and hope that it continues to spread the story—and ideas—of an extraordinary man to every part of the world.