Visions of Empowerment

BRAC Photo Exhibition

In controlA professional driver- one of the first batch of graduates from the BRAC Driving School- at BRAC Centre

BRAC has pioneered to train professional female drivers in its newly established driving school in 2012. This has opened a new career option for young women of Bangladesh

Gracefully assertive

Women moved into non-traditional livelihood as BRAC programmes expanded

Reeling threads Women reeling silk threads at the Ayesha Abed Foundation in Manikganj

Ayesha Abed Foundation began by supporting rural women through sericulture. Gradually, expanded its operation and established a brand for rural crafts

Learning to speak outA shebika or barefoot lawyer uses pictorial charts during a Human Rights and Legal Education (HRLE) class in Manikganj, Bangladesh

These 12 day HRLE classes educate women on the basic legal knowledge related to dowry, child marriage, divorce, and land etc so that they can protect themselves and their community from injustice. More than 37 lakh women have attended these classes

An Army of CaregiversA health volunteer refers a pregnant woman by phone to the government hospital in Mymensingh

BRAC has 92,000 health volunteers across Bangladesh providing basic health care services -including ante and post natal health care- at the door steps of 100 million people

A simple solution (‘Ek mutth goor....’) A BRAC Health Volunteer teaching a mother how to make oral saline at home

Starting in 1979, BRAC revolutionised the prevention of diarrhoea – the leading cause of the high child mortality rate in Bangladesh – by establishing its Oral Therapy Extension Program and reaching every household with the preparation of home-made saline

Good health for allA BRAC health volunteer discussing the importance of micro-nutrients in fighting anaemia and stunted growth among children in Chankanda village of Jamalpur district

BRAC is working to prevent and control communicable and non-communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, chronic respiratory illness etc. in Bangladesh and eight other countries

Time to learn Girls in Gondohali village, Rajshahi, are having fun learning how to use a computer

BRAC’s Social and Financial Empowerment of Adults (SOFEA) has 360 clubs around the country giving rural girls (11-21 years) a chance to learn computing, literacy and other activities

Growing together Girls in an adolescent development club in Uganda are learning basic life skills

Over 260,000 young people around the world receive skills and social awareness development training along with microloans from BRAC’s adolescent development programmes to secure their future

Coming togetherPeople of Mangalkot in Jessore building a road to their village with assistance from the local Union Council

Over 600,000 rural people have organised themselves through BRAC’s Community Empowerment Programme to reclaim their civil rights

It’s never too lateWomen attending an adult education programme class in mid 70’s

BRAC’s first education project was targeted to adults, later BRAC introduced worlds’ largest non-formal primary education programme. It has moved on to secondary and tertiary education

Good Samaritans BRAC health volunteer taking a pregnant woman to the Maternal Child Welfare Centre, Gaibandha

25 million people in Bangladesh are served through BRAC’s maternal and child health services

Chicken and egg storyKhadija Haji collects eggs from her family poultry farm in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Khadija learned how to manage poultry farm from her mother who took BRACmodel poultry farmer training. More than 63,000 farmers in Tanzania have been trained under this programme

A harvest of plenty A farmer at a BRAC Seed Farm in Sherpur, Bogra, Bangladesh

BRAC runs nine seed farms and two seed processing plants in Bangladesh as part of its effort to increase agricultural production through better quality seeds

Protecting livestock Poultry vaccinations being delivered by a Bangladeshi woman trained by BRAC back in 80’s

Very soon into its journey, BRAC recognized poultry as a source of income for the landless poor, especially women, and accordingly a decision was made to train women members of the microfinance groups in vaccination work for a fee

Securing assetsCommunity worker Aminata Sheriff gives poultry vaccinations in the Kondatu Section of Port Loko

BRAC opened its offices in Sierra Leone in 2008 and started integrated programmes in 2009. BRAC Sierra Leone continues to grow and is expected by now to have reached more than 18,000 microfinance members – a majority of whom are women

Rearing white babies A poultry rearer holding a parent chicken at BRAC Poultry Rearing Centre in Magura

BRAC has contributed to the overall growth of the poultry industry in Bangladesh by introducing local production of chicken feed, vaccination and better breed of chicks; creating income-generating activities for millions of rural poor

Breeding betterAn agronomist at BRAC’s Tissue Culture Lab in Gazipur, Bangladesh

BRAC has two research centres dedicated to developing better crop breeds and introducing improved agricultural practises

NurturingJahanara Begum with her daughter and the goat she received from BRAC’s TUP programme in Kisorganj Sadar

BRAC’s Targeting the Ultra Poor (TUP) programme is a ground breaking initiative designed especially for the people living below the poverty line to help improve their condition. Over 3.5 Lakh families have received training and productive assets through this programme

Vessel of hopeChildren of remote Haor areas in Sunamgonj lining up to enter their boat school

BRAC has opened 100 boat schools to deliver basic primary education to the children of flash flood affected and hard to reach areas

We shall overcomeAfsana, a student of a BRAC pre-primary school, performing a drama as part of her daily class activities in Bera of Nowshera, Pakistan

BRAC has over 13,000 pre-primary schools globally for children coming from under-privileged background

Giving BackMs. Hakima, a former BRAC school graduate, with her students in a BRAC Community Based Feeder School (CBFS) in Syed Ismail Bullehi village in Balkh Province, Afghanistan

BRAC runs over 650 schools in Afghanistan under the education programme. The CBFS project under the education programme prepares drop out boys and girls aged between 7-9 years for entering into the formal school

The daring ones..

BRAC staff from Tanzania.....

The daring ones..

BRAC staff from Bangladesh...

The daring ones..

BRAC staff from Pakistan...

The daring ones..

BRAC staff from South Sudan......all travelling long distances to serve

Mother and ChildA client of BRAC’s microfinance programme, working from her home in Rangamati, Bangladesh

BRAC has 55 lakh micro-borrowers worldwide with a cumulative loan disbursement of USD 9.73 billion

Man with a dream

BRAC founder and chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed spending time with children at a BRAC school in Korail Slum, Dhaka

Awaiting a better future An Afghan school girl at a BRAC Aflatoon school in Kabul, Afghanistan

Distinct from BRAC’s primary education schools, Aflatoon is an adolescent development programme working with the goal of improving the quality of life of vulnerable adolescents, especially girls

Coping with the stormShamsunnahar, a school teacher at BRAC school in Binoderpara village in the Jamalpur district, describing precautionary measures to her students about disasters and cyclones

BRAC’s Disaster, Environment and Climate Change programme has trained more than 330,000 community people making them aware and better prepared to face natural calamities

Getting readyChildren attending a BRAC Non Formal Pre Primary school (NFPE) in Charabagh village in Savar Thana, Bangladesh

Starting out in 1997, BRAC’s pre-primary schools have prepared 39 lakh children for primary schools through the 1-year course

Dancing togetherPerforming children at a BRAC school in Joypurhat

1.14 million children are receiving primary and pre-primary education in 38,000 BRAC Schools worldwide. BRAC’s Children with Special Needs programme works to ensure every child’s participation in the mainstream education

‘Haate khori’; First time Using a blackboard on the first day of school, a young boy learns to write numbers in a BRAC Non Formal Primary school in Manderia village in Torid, South Sudan

Many of these children have never attended a school in years due to decades of wars, conflicts and insecurity in South Sudan

Act to changePerformance of a popular theatre in Jessore

Part of its Community Empowerment Programme, BRAC has pioneered the use of popular theatre to deliver effective messages at the grassroots level to promote positive social change. BRAC’s 376 popular theatre info-tain 4.3 million people every year

Rebuilding lives An Afghan girl plays near a tube-well in her neighbourhood in Kabul, Afghanistan

Over 10,000 tube wells have been installed in war torn Afghanistan involving the community through the National Solidarity Programme. BRAC is working in Afghanistan since 2002 with interventions in health, education, agriculture and economic development

Weaving hopeA woman embroidering a saree at the Ayesha Abed Foundation in Manikganj

In 1978, BRAC started an initiative to support rural women in producing Nakshi Kantha. This led to Aarong- the enterprise. Aarong nurtures and promotes a network of 65000 artisans throughout the country bringing traditional crafts to the global consumer

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