The 5th death anniversary of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the visionary leader and founder of Brac, the world's largest NGO, will be held on Friday.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed died at the age of 83 while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka on December 20, 2019.
Awards and Recognition
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed received numerous national and international awards for his outstanding contributions to empowering people living in poverty and inequality.
He was also recognised by Ashoka as one of the “global greats” and was a founding member of its prestigious Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship.
In 2009, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George by the British Crown for his contributions to poverty reduction in Bangladesh and globally.
Sir Fazle was also a member of the Group of Eminent Persons appointed by the UN Secretary-General in 2010 to advise on support for the Least Developed Countries. In both 2014 and 2017, Fortune Magazine included him in its list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.
His many honorary degrees include those awarded by Princeton University (2014), the University of Oxford (2009), Columbia University (2008), and Yale University (2007).
Launch of the Book “Abed Bhai O BRAC: Bhetor Theke Dekha”
On the occasion of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's 5th death anniversary, a publication event will be held for the book “Abed Bhai O BRAC: Bhetor Theke Dekha”. Written by Shib Narayan Kairy, Brac's former chief financial officer, the event will bring together current and former BRAC employees alongside eminent personalities from various sectors of society.
The event will take place from 3pm to 5pm at Brac Centre in Dhaka.
Beginning of philanthropic engagement
Born in 1936, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed studied accountancy in London and qualified as a cost management accountant in 1962.
He returned to the then East Pakistan in 1968. He joined Shell Oil in 1970 as the head of finance and was posted in Chittagong. After a deadly cyclone hit the coast on November 12, 1970, claiming at least 300,000 lives, Sir Fazle, along with friends and colleagues, travelled to Monpura, one of the worst hit remote islands, to distribute relief. Later they formed an organisation called HELP to continue the relief operations.
When the Liberation War broke out in 1971, Sir Fazle resigned from Shell Oil and moved back to London to campaign for the independence of Bangladesh.
Campaign for independence
Sir Fazle arrived in London in May 1971. He founded two organisations; Help Bangladesh and Action Bangladesh, along with a number of like-minded people, to campaign for the independence of Bangladesh. Action Bangladesh campaigned for garnering public as well as political support from Western governments, particularly to stop atrocities by the Pakistani army. Help Bangladesh focused on raising funds for freedom fighters.
Founding and leading Brac to become world's number one NGO
In 1972, Sir Fazle returned to independent Bangladesh. Before returning, he sold his small London flat to initially fund the relief work he was about to undertake for the refugees coming back from India. He established Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (Brac) and began relief and rehabilitation work in Sulla and Dirai upazilas of Sunamganj.
On February 1, 1972, the first phase of Brac’s intervention in Sulla commenced. Hence it is the official date of Brac’s establishment.
In 1973, Brac began providing microloans. Sir Fazle was one of the earliest proponents of microfinance in Bangladesh. His aim was to help poor communities overcome poverty through microloans.
Later on, Brac also pioneered the "graduation approach", a model for assisting people to sustainably overcome extreme poverty. The effectiveness of this model was proved in studies by renowned institutions, and has been adopted and replicated in over 40 countries as of 2019.
Over the course of its five decades of operations, Brac has innovated many successful community-driven social and economic empowerment models to sustainably fight poverty and extreme-poverty across continents.
Brac was ranked the world’s number one NGO for four years in a row, from 2016 to 2019, by NGO adviser, a Geneva-based independent media entity, for its innovative, cost-effective and evidence-based programs.
Sir Fazle led Brac as its executive director from 1972-2001. He then assumed the position of chairperson and held it till 2019, retiring on August 1, 2019 to become its chairperson emeritus.
Founding and leading Brac University and Brac Bank
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed founded Brac University in 2001. He served as the chairman of its board of trustees from its founding year till 2019, retiring on 24 July 2019.
Sir Fazle also founded Brac Bank in 2001. He was its chairperson in two phases, from 2001-2008, and from 2013-2019, retiring on 26 August 2019.
