Deputy head of world’s largest development NGO visits from Bangladesh

Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, PhD visited Fletcher in mid-October to share the story of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), the acclaimed largest, and most successful, non-governmental organization (NGO) operating predominantly in one nation. Students and faculty, all eager to focus on achievements in the NGO world were inspired by Dr. Ahmed’s account of the history of BRAC.

Dr Ahmed, the Deputy Director, having worked with BRAC for over twenty years, discussed its unique nature in the world of NGO’s: “[The term] ‘NGO’ doesn’t describe what we are. ‘NGO’ is like looking at an apple and saying it is not an orange.”

Established after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1972, BRAC (now officially known only by its acronym) was originally based on community-development efforts like Oxfam UK, providing relief services to incoming refugees and assisting freedom fighters at the national borders. Efforts were focused on the poor after a particular development experiment: “After seeing that corrugated iron sheets didn’t stay on roofs, but were sold by the poor people, we thought- what could we do for the community as a whole?”

BRAC’s official mission is “Alleviation of Poverty and Empowerment of the Poor,” though Dr. Ahmed joked, “BRAC should be called ‘Working with Poor People,’” acknowledging the organization’s straightforward focus on the rural poor communities in Bangladesh. Current programs include such innovative ventures as microfinance, the building of one-room schoolhouses, “barefoot doctors,” and even community theatres. Micro-lending schemes have led to the development of businesses that, in turn, fund BRAC operations. Budding NGO managers listened as Dr. Ahmed proudly reported that BRAC is over 80% self-funded. Few organizations, according to Dr. Ahmed, can claim this.

BRAC’s success rate has been attributed to its continued commitment to Bangladesh, demonstrated through sustainable, profitable programming. Bristling at Henry Kissinger’s comment that Bangladesh is “a bottomless basket” through which all contributions vanish, BRAC has worked hard to retain all resources and efforts within the country. With 28,000 regular staff members, a BRAC-operated university and bank, the organization has expanded beyond their initial expectations, though Dr. Ahmed believes it “has grown organically.” BRAC has also begun to help in the international efforts to rebuild Afghanistan, and in recent years has collaborated with UNDP in Southeast Asia.

MALD ’05 student Nathalie Laidler-Kylander helped organize Dr. Ahmed’s visit, having worked with him last year in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Eager to share BRAC’s successes with the Fletcher community, Laidler-Kylander gushed, “Everything that we’ve talked about [in the field of international development world]… they’re doing it right.”

For more information visit http://www.brac.net