BRAC history | From Bangladesh roots to global impact

1971. Bangladesh had just been born. A country of fighters, faced with enormous challenges.

Infrastructure, homes and livelihoods were destroyed, famine and disease were rampant. 70 million people crowded into destitute villages. Yet dreams of a prosperous Bangladesh burned stronger.

Among the many post-war initiatives, BRAC emerged in 1972, under the leadership of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. Leaving his corporate career behind, he mobilized resources and international support in Europe during the Liberation War, before turning to the immense task of rebuilding a war-torn Bangladesh. BRAC began its work in Sulla, a remote area in northeastern Bangladesh, focusing on emergency relief and the rehabilitation of returning refugees.

A timeline of BRAC's history

Discover BRAC’s journey from its founding in 1972 in Bangladesh, to becoming a global leader in development, education, health, and poverty alleviation across Africa and Asia.

Relief, rehabilitation, and the early years

Relief came first: bamboo was floated down rivers to build houses, boats were built for fishermen, tools were provided for farmers, seeds were distributed, and medical teams were formed to reach people where they were. It became clear, however, that humanitarian support alone would not be enough. The real challenge was to address the causes, not just the symptoms, of poverty and hunger.

From humanitarian aid to long-term development

By 1974, BRAC shifted to long-term development, applying holistic solutions across health, education, and livelihoods. In 1978, BRAC established Aarong to create livelihoods for rural women artisans, linking their craft to urban markets. In the 1980s, BRAC launched its oral therapy extension program, training women to tackle Bangladesh’s biggest child killer, diarrhea. Over a decade, the program reached 13 million households, contributing to a two-thirds reduction in under-five mortality. BRAC also played a vital role in controlling tuberculosis and malaria across the country.

Equipping women with opportunities to thrive

Recognizing that no development effort could succeed without education, BRAC began its non-formal primary education program in 1985, taking schools to the last mile. It went on to build a network of low-cost healthcare, nutrition initiatives, and agricultural programs, focusing on improving food security by supporting rural women in poultry rearing, dairy production, and crop cultivation.

Expanding horizons: Taking BRAC beyond Bangladesh

BRAC’s vision of a world free from exploitation and discrimination led it beyond Bangladesh, starting with Afghanistan in 2002 and expanding across the global south in Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Today, BRAC runs ultra-poor graduation programs, early childhood development initiatives, and gender and youth programs across 14 countries in Asia and Africa.

Fifty years of realising potential

Today, we are one of the leading development organizations in the world, employing over 100,000 enterprising people. Our work, across Asia and Africa, has reached over 145 million people in 15 countries. 14 million people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty through our ultra poor graduation program. 15 million students have graduated from our pre-primary and primary schools. We have over 13 million microfinance clients and distribute over $7 billion in loans annually.

BRAC over the years

How BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, made Bangladesh richer

Some of its innovations have spread around the world.

BRAC’s employees are problem-solvers rather than intellectuals, and they communicate well—the organisation constantly tweaks its programs in response to data and criticisms from local staff. -The Economist

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How BRAC, the world's biggest NGO, made Bangladesh richer

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The power, and process, of a simple solution

BRAC was a pioneer of systematic processes in the developing world. In 1980 BRAC launched a program in Bangladesh called “OTEP” — Oral Therapy Extension Program — to teach mothers in very poor, rural communities to make oral rehydration solution at home.

Solutions to social problems tend to focus on products, a rush to scale up and buzzwords like “innovation.” But systematic processes to spark change are another essential, though often overlooked, ingredient. Innovation is overhyped. -The New York Times

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The power, and process, of a simple solution

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Is bigger better?

Using market incentives, Fazle Hasan Abed built the largest antipoverty group in the world and helped pull Bangladesh out of the ashes. Now he wants to take on Africa.

I don't know of any developing-world NGO that has been more successful. If I were giving out Nobel Prizes, there is no doubt I would give it to Abed." -Dr. Allan Rosenfield, dean emeritus of Columbia University's School of Public Health

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Is bigger better?

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