BRAC’s social development programmes provide people with the tools to unlock their own potential, and boost their confidence in their own abilities to change their lives. Our proven approaches address multifaceted challenges that people and communities experience every day. Our integrated programming combines social and economic empowerment interventions, and is co-created with communities. Our programmes are led by people from the same communities that they serve, ensuring local ownership from the start and lasting impact over time.
We form multistakeholder partnerships, including civil society, governments and private sectors, to deliver at scale and push for systemic change.
Our work spans 13 countries across Asia and Africa, and is implemented more broadly by organisations and governments in nearly 50 countries.
People trapped in a cycle of destitution often don’t realise their lives can be changed for the better through their own activities. Once they understand that, it’s like a light gets turned on.”
- Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
Explore BRAC’s Impact and Innovation
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Does BRAC offer a different model for development organisations?
This Devex article examines how BRAC’s holistic, scale-oriented approach to development differs from more fragmented interventions, discussing how the organisation designs programs that can be expanded across countries while remaining responsive to local needs.
We don't want to do things that are small, things that are on the edges and only look good, things that are impactful only in very small doses and can’t be scaled. -- Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
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Shifting the power: Why development dynamics need to change
The Impact Room podcast explores the need to redistribute power in the development sector, arguing that real impact comes when local communities drive their own priorities and solutions rather than being passive recipients.
BRAC essentially looks at poverty as a multidimensional problem. There is no one magic bullet to solve this issue of poverty, so it has to be attacked from all fronts driven by the needs of the people. -
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Where private school is not a privilege
In the New York Times, this piece explores how BRAC built an inclusive school system in Bangladesh designed to overcome the many barriers—from poverty and child labor to gender bias—that had kept children from getting an education.
BRAC designed its school system to address all the reasons children didn’t attend schools. -
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Scaling up innovations with government
In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, this article explores how governments can partner with social innovators to bring proven solutions to scale—highlighting lessons from South Asia on moving from pilot projects to nationwide impact.
In South Asia, where a great deal of innovation is happening in the development sector, creating mechanisms to connect the vast public sector apparatus with new models for poverty alleviation is of critical importance. The challenge is to strengthen the link between innovation and scale. Doing that begins with a clear understanding of the barriers that innovators in government and other large institutions face in scaling their work and an examination of what’s working. -
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Anita Anastacio on the power of early childhood and education at BRAC
Anita Anastacio joined BRAC International as Director of the Early Childhood Development and Education in August 2024. She brings nearly three decades of experience in the field— working extensively in diverse humanitarian and development contexts as an advisor and advocate dedicated to reshaping early childhood development and education programmes. A German by nationality, she has lived and worked across countries in Africa, the Americas and Asia— including Afghanistan, Mozambique, East Timor, US, Denmark and Zambia. As concerns over global funding cuts grow, the communications team at BRAC International sat down with Anita, who shared insights on investing in early childhood education, especially in conflict-affected and underserved regions. She also discusses the importance of creating opportunities for lifelong learning— starting right from early childhood.