Thinking Big and Scaling Up—BRAC's Model for Poverty Alleviation

Since BRAC’s modest inception as a small-scale relief rehabilitation project in 1972, BRAC has grown into one of the world’s largest nonprofit organizations, with over 40,000 full-time staff and over 160,000 paraprofessionals, 72% of which are women. BRAC’s annual budget is over $430 million, 78% of which is self-financed, and BRAC’s microfinance program, with 6 million borrowers, has cumulatively disbursed $4 billion. More than 1.5 million children are currently enrolled in 52,000 BRAC’s schools and over 3 million have already graduated. BRAC’s health program reaches over 100 million people in Bangladesh with basic healthcare services and programs for TB, malaria, and HIV/ AIDS.

Asia Society and the Open Society Institute Middle East & North Africa Initiative hosted the forum "Thinking Big and Scaling Up—BRAC's Model for Poverty Alleviation," featuring:

• Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC Chairman and CEO
• Susan M. Davis, President & CEO BRAC USA
• Allan Rosenfield, Chair of BRAC USA and Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health

BRAC employs a holistic approach to alleviating poverty by integrating its core programs (health, education, and microfinance) with strategic linkages and constant evolution. BRAC works with people whose lives are dominated by extreme poverty, illiteracy, disease, and other constraints. With multifaceted development interventions, BRAC strives to foster education, create wealth, better health, and improve quality of life.

Anthony Richter, OSI Director of Middle East Initiatives, and George Soros, OSI Founder and Chairman, introduced the event.