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APPROACH

equipment and mass awareness were some returned to Bangladesh in the last year due to the pandemic How is BRAC’s selection into The Audacious Project going BRAC International’s UPG
of our earliest activities. As the pandemic could not find gainful employment. Establishing three to facilitate this? approach is currently being
continued, those activities extended more Reintegration Support Centres, the project will provide Last year BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) was applied in Liberia, Uganda,
broadly; into financial support, such as emergency arrival assistance at the airport, counselling, and selected as an Audacious Project, one of eight organisations and the Philippines. In Liberia,
emergency cash distribution; mental health entrepreneurship training followed by financial assistance so selected. With the Audacious award, we raised significant for instance, last year we
support; health services such as tracking that the returnees can start new businesses. resources, more than $60 million, to finance an ambitious plan to supported over 750
and referrals and supplying doctors to the We have also seen the rise of a new vulnerable group in help 21 million people lift themselves out of extreme poverty in
government’s dedicated telemedicine Bangladesh in the last year - the 'new poor'. These are people the next five years. women-headed households
hotlines; door-to-door awareness to fight who were living just above the poverty line before the With this investment, we will scale BRAC’s Graduation approach to achieve economic
misinformation and supporting the pandemic, and the secondary impacts of the pandemic, such through governments and their existing social protection self-reliance through training
government’s national mass vaccination as lockdowns, pushed them into poverty. This group comprised programmes in countries where we see the greatest potential on enterprise management,
campaign. Our most recent project, which 14% of the population in March 2021. There also has been impact. This new grant will leverage approximately $5.8 billion in life skills, financial literacy,
brings together a wide coalition of significant reverse migration - data suggests 9.8% of people existing government and donor funding and channel those funds and saving.
international and local partners to create living in poverty in urban settlements before the pandemic toward well-executed, government-led Graduation programmes.
‘forts of resistance’ at the community level, moved back to rural areas due to sudden income loss and This Audacious grant underscores BRAC’s transformative role in
is bringing support and services to 81 increased burden on non-food expenditure items. developing innovative initiatives in the Global South, proving
million people across 35 high-risk districts The ultra-poor graduation programme has started a new their effectiveness, and scaling them for greatest impact. to be done, but both BRAC and BRAC
in the country, and is already seeing intervention to work with this group, to restart income International are committed to aggressively
widespread reductions in positive cases in generating activities by providing credit and technical With the recent withdrawal of American troops from pursuing our impact goals and ensuring
those districts. A significant reason behind coaching. Once the participants receive the credit, programme Afghanistan the country has witnessed a surge in Taliban BRAC remains courageous and tenacious in
that is the supplying of 21 million masks staff work with them to select enterprises that match their activities. How is BRAC International devising their tackling the world’s most difficult
free of cost, to people who would otherwise skills and encourage them to organisational strategies in the region in light of this challenges.
not be able to afford them. diversify their income by recent development?
BRAC International has been supporting investing in more than one BRAC International is implementing mitigation measures to What are the leadership strategies we
governments in Afghanistan, Uganda, enterprise and involving minimise the risks to the safety and security of our staff and the can expect to see from you?
Liberia, and Sierra Leone with a range of other family members in the communities we serve, which is our highest concern. As we move forward with our ambitious
interventions including strengthening process. This helps them in We are relocating our expatriate staff to secure locations outside strategy to impact the lives of 250 million
health service systems, managing health building both short and long the country amidst the escalating violence and volatile people by 2030, I cannot stress enough
facilities and programmes on behalf of term resilience to shocks. environment in Afghanistan. how important it is to keep the people that
provincial governments, and the Over 150,000 households are There are about 3,000 national staff engaged with BRAC projects we serve, and in particular women and
provisioning of handwashing materials and expected to be reached in 10 Afghan provinces, and we are doing our utmost to ensure girls, central to our thinking.
COVID-19 related communication through this intervention in the safety and security of our staff in the country. In my past role as the head of BRAC’s
materials. 2021 and 2022. As the current crisis intensifies, BRAC remains committed to microfinance programmes, whenever there
Congratulations on assuming the We are a year and eight months into a pandemic, can With the unprecedented impact of the reaching and delivering to the most vulnerable in Afghanistan, were discussions in team meetings or
Executive Director position at BRAC you tell us what are the challenges awaiting us in a pandemic, we are moving forward with Data from World Bank’s particularly women and children. Our team of more than 3000 boardrooms of double and triple bottom
International. How have your post-pandemic world? more innovative and complementary rapid phone surveys Afghans is already on the ground. Our first priority is to address lines, I would always remind everyone that
previous roles prepared you for the The poorest countries are being left behind. Global extreme projects and reaching out to vulnerable launched in April 2020 the needs of female-headed households as they are extremely at BRAC we have a single bottom line, and
demands of this position? poverty rose in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years due to people in hard-to-reach communities. We across all developing vulnerable in the current context. We are also identifying the best that is impact. Every single thing that we
I have been with the BRAC formally since the disruption caused by the pandemic. In 2021, the estimated have been strengthening our ability to regions reports that more means for providing urgently needed support to women and girls, do must ultimately have an impact on the
2009, and with BRAC International (BI) COVID-19 induced poverty is set to rise between 143 and 163 work more intensively with community than 60% of households and displaced families. lives of the people we serve. Impact at scale
since 2012. During this time, I have had million. stakeholders and governments to create lost some income – how is Our ability to respond with urgency and continue working with is the only KPI that ultimately matters. It is
the privilege of working with and leading As we confront unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic, healthy communities. BRAC International women and girls depends on the generosity of our donors. We not about how much money we raise, or
some of our largest programmes in we are reminded once again of the urgent need to build looking to offer policy and welcome online donations on our website: how many programmes we run. If we
Bangladesh and internationally, and resilience and create sustainable pathways out of poverty for BRAC in collaboration with SCB have programme support in https://bracinternational.org/afghanistan-humanitarian-crisis cannot show clear impact, we will have
bringing BRAC’s flagship programmes of the world’s most marginalized. announced the launch of a Covid-19 these regions? failed entirely. Therefore, all the money we
microfinance and ultra-poor graduation to BRAC holds a truly unique position, as an organisation from response initiative that will work In 2021, the estimated COVID-19-induced poverty is set to rise Can you share with us your expansion plans for BRAC’s raise and each and every programme that
global scale. Since 2016, I have been and for the Global South, to continue to demonstrate the same with returnee migrant workers to to between 143 and 163 million. BRAC’s Ultra-Poor international portfolio? we deliver must have impact at scale.
overseeing a re-design of the programme in commitment and tenacity in designing and delivering ensure economic self-reliance Graduation (UPG) approach is a globally recognised model for Over the coming years we are looking to expand geographically I am confident that as long as we stay true
Bangladesh and setting up the Ultra-Poor practical, scalable, community-led solutions as we have done through skills and entrepreneurship its innovative and holistic solution to ultra-poverty. It is a into new countries, but just as importantly, we are also focused to our core values - integrity, inclusiveness,
Graduation Initiative (UPGI) to spearhead for almost 50 years. development – can you elaborate on comprehensive, time-bound, integrated and sequenced set of on deepening our presence and impact in the ten countries where effectiveness and innovation - and our way
global advocacy and provide technical this initiative? interventions that aim to enable extreme and ultra-poor we already work. of work, as a Global South organisation
assistance to governments and civil society BRAC testing booth and BRAC mass vaccination drive BRAC, in partnership with Standard households to achieve key milestones towards sustainable My focus is to guide BRAC International’s strategies, programmes that can scale practical solutions from the
organisations. have been a boon for citizens during the ongoing Chartered Bangladesh, has launched a livelihoods and socio-economic resilience, in order to progress and organisational development for scaled impact and ground up, we will continue to have the
My previous experience at BRAC will help pandemic – can you tell us about the other initiatives COVID-19 response initiative that will work along a pathway out of extreme poverty. sustainable growth, to realise our ambitious global strategy to impact that we want to see. In the days,
me oversee and guide BI’s strategies, BRAC has undertaken? with returnee migrant workers to ensure BRAC International’s UPG approach is currently being applied impact the lives of 250 million people by 2030. months and years ahead, I will focus our
programs and organisational development In Bangladesh, BRAC has been comprehensively supporting economic self-reliance through skills in Liberia, Uganda, and the Philippines. In Liberia, for instance, We will continue with our holistic approach to address the work singularly on our core mission, live
for scaled impact and sustainable growth, the government to manage the pandemic. That support has training and entrepreneurship last year we supported over 750 women-headed households to complex nature of extreme poverty, and work across all the by our values and ensure that all our
and contribute to BRAC’s Global Strategy to ranged from collaborating at the policy level to ensuring that development. A recent BRAC survey achieve economic self-reliance through training on enterprise sectors - health, education, financial inclusion, food security, efforts ultimately lead to the desired
impact the lives of 250 million people by services get to the last mile on the ground in the most suggests half of the migrant workers who management, life skills, financial literacy, and saving. livelihoods, climate and agriculture. A good deal of work remains impact.
2030. vulnerable communities. Testing kiosks, supply of protective

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