One person becomes displaced every three seconds. Escalating conflict, climate change, natural disasters and health emergencies have created an urgent need for humanitarian assistance in the countries where we operate.
BRAC works with communities across Asia and Africa to reduce disaster risks before they occur, respond effectively when they happen, and support recovery efforts to help people rebuild their lives. Our approach promotes sustainable reintegration, supporting returnees and internally displaced people affected by disaster or conflict.
AT A GLANCE
969,022
people accessed critical humanitarian services
1,495
people trained in first-aid, search-and-rescue and fire fighting
296
organisations trained to deliver locally-led humanitarian response
OUR APPROACH
Disaster risk reduction
Preparedness is embedded into BRAC’s humanitarian programming by integrating disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies into development and financial inclusion initiatives. Communities we work with strengthen their capacities to anticipate and be resilient to face future crises.
Strengthen organisation and frontline capacity
Locally-led humanitarian response mechanisms are facilitated through developing country-specific contingency plans and strengthening team capacities. We support local teams to identify and engage relevant community-based organisations in times of crises, and deliver robust response mechanisms while ensuring protection, accountability, safeguarding and coordination.
Inclusive participation
Robust humanitarian programming engages groups who face heightened vulnerabilities during crises, including the elderly, children, women and people with disabilities. We adhere to inclusive design principles, and establish mechanisms that prioritise their access to decision-making and feedback chain at every stage of the programme cycle.
Humanitarian-development nexus
We embed humanitarian response into health, food security, early childhood development and education, and financial inclusion interventions. This integration with development programming enables people to better recover from crises and create long-term solutions within their communities, thereby strengthening and sustaining resilient practices.
Localisation
Communities have long practised localised response mechanisms to confront crises. We collaborate with local governments, community-based groups and organisations to foster ownership, scale local knowledge, and enhance their access to essential emergency supplies, tools, resources and funding.
Our Presence
OUR STORIES
What does it take to start over? The refugee crisis in the words of a South Sudanese mother
Yabu Annet was born in South Sudan, and now lives in the Imvepi refugee settlement in north-western Uganda. Fortunately, her adopted country has one of the world’s most progressive refugee policies. Yet, challenges persist — systemic inequalities continue to shape the lives of displaced families, trapping them in cycles of poverty that span generations. At the heart of the Imvepi refugee settlement, a programme is working to break this cycle through a two-generation approach, supporting both parents and their children to build stronger, more resilient futures together. This is Yabu Annet’s story.
From refugee to educator: How play heals two generations in Uganda
It was September 2016, and Hakim, along with his young family, spent days navigating jungles and slipping through back roads, avoiding checkpoints that intercepted young men, demanding that they join the war in South Sudan.
Donors, amidst the climate crisis, do not take your focus off extreme poverty
Donors who seek mitigation gains through poverty reduction activities are confusing priorities. People in poverty are not driving the climate crisis – a quick glance at the inequality of emissions makes that case clear.