Women are at the heart of all of BRAC’s work.
We believe that no society can truly progress while half of its population remains marginalized, and investment in women is a force multiplier. When women have better access to healthcare, education, and livelihoods, the effects go far beyond a single individual, to strengthen communities and economies.
Women as catalysts of community transformation
Our approach embeds gender equality across every aspect of our work. Women make up the majority of our producers, clients, participants and staff, holding roles from teachers, community health workers, architects and mechanics, to engineers, paramedics, farmers and artisans. We ensure women have access to information, services and platforms, strengthen their ability to organize and take up leadership roles, and stand by them to challenge harmful social norms. We also engage in policy advocacy and coalition building to influence national agendas and drive systemic change.
480,000
adolescent girls and young women equipped with job and life skills across Asia and Africa
$46.92M
worth of entitlements, assets, and compensation recovered in legal aid
60,500
adolescent girls formed local brigades to prevent child marriage in Bangladesh, successfully stopping 27% of reported child marriages in 2024
How one woman turned trauma into inspiration: Ending gender-based violence
-
Celebrating the Transformative Impact of Women as Non-Formal Educators
Women around the world play crucial roles in education as formal educators, school staff members, and parents of students. But women are also transforming education as non-formal educators in ways that can be scaled to improve education broadly.
A new two-year study reveals that an early childhood development model led by locally trained women has achieved one of the greatest goals of early childhood development – enabling children regardless of their initial readiness or level of privilege to enter kindergarten equally prepared. -Erum Mariam
-
Empowering African Women to Shape the Continent's Future
It has long been understood that when women have more say in their own social and economic choices, their well-being and that of their households and communities improves. But which programs to empower women are the most important, and how can more women access them?
The education, social inclusion, and economic integration of African women will shape the future of the continent. NGOs, researchers, and governments must work together to expand programs that have been shown to work and to develop new ways to encourage women’s empowerment and self-reliance. Africa’s future depends on it. -Ruth Okowa & Munshi Sulaiman
-
Five Steps to Combat Gender-Based Violence Globally
The 410 Legal Aid Centers that I manage in Bangladesh for BRAC’s Human Rights and Legal Aid Services received approximately 35,900 requests for assistance in 2020. Almost all of them involve gender-based violence against women and girls.
Everyone must step forward to end gender-based violence. This five-step integrated approach marks the path. It is time for all of us to join in the march to a new day when gender-based violence is no more. -Jenefa Jabbar