BRAC was born from crisis. Crisis response remains a key area of work.
Preparing for disasters and standing with the most vulnerable
We work with communities to reduce risk from disasters before they happen, respond when they occur, and support people to build back better afterwards. We focus on speed and scale, but also on leaving no one behind, ensuring that indigenous people receive culturally-appropriate support, people with disabilities are not ignored, and older people are cared for.
Supporting communities through global crises
Over the years, we have responded to some of the world's most critical humanitarian emergencies, including supporting 45.9 million people in 11 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2014 Ebola crisis in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka.
We were already working in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar when a major influx of refugees began in 2017, and have grown into the biggest civil society responder to the humanitarian crisis, providing multi-faceted, holistic services to both Rohingya and host communities.
Our impact
747,674+
Rohingya refugees have received support in WASH, early childhood education, psychosocial care, and other services
948,626
people provided with critical humanitarian support across Asia and Africa in 2023-24
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We need to think differently about responding to displacement
The experience of BRAC—the largest nongovernmental provider of services to almost one million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh—proves that the most effective approaches are those that recognize and build on human capacity. BRAC’s experience highlights five insights that can inform responses in other displacement crises.
Donor governments and institutions should prioritize local engagement from the outset. -Jerome Oberreit, BRAC Global Executive Director; and Asif Saleh, BRAC Bangladesh Executive Director
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Five years on: Looking back at the first 12 months of the Rohingya crisis
We recount the first days of the emergency response, and how the crisis unfolded into the most pressing humanitarian crisis of its time.
At the height of the crisis, up to 10,000 people were crossing the border daily. A border made up on both sides of forest, beach and rice paddies. -Sarah-Jane Saltmarsh, BRAC communications
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Lessons for the world from researching responses to COVID-19 in Bangladesh
Research from the South Asian country shows that defeating a pandemic at the national level requires engagement at the community level.
BRAC–one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world–is in the rare position of having been able to respond to COVID-19 on a massive scale in Bangladesh, while conducting rigorous research on community responses in parallel. The lessons learned are applicable worldwide. -U.S. News & World Report