Brac helped over 3 lakh households overcome extreme poverty in 2016-19

With an aim to support the government to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), Brac had targeted to help 4 lakh households come out of extreme poverty during 2016-2020 that was 21.4% of the national target for the same period.

The organisation could successfully reach 3,14,217 households during the 2016-2019 period, said a media statement issued by Brac on the occasion of launching "Brac SDG Contribution Voluntary Report 2020" on Wednesday.

The virtual event chaired by Brac Executive Director Asif Saleh.

Zuena Aziz, principal coordinator (SDG affairs) at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), attended the event as the chief guest, while Md Rashedul Islam, director general at the NGO Affairs Bureau, joined as special guest.

In its five-year strategic plan launched in 2016, Brac outlined its interventions aligned with the SDG goals and targets by means of facilitating social transformation through eight programmatic priorities.

The priorities include elimination of extreme poverty, financial empowerment, employable skills for decent work, climate change resilience, gender equality, improved quality of education, universal healthcare and improved nutrition, and pro-poor urban development.

Between 2016 and 2020, Brac aimed to empower 2 crore of the most underserved and disenfranchised people in the country to gain greater access to and have more control over resources, decisions and actions, the media statement read.

The Bangladesh government has demonstrated its strong commitment in creating an enabling environment for achieving the sustainable development goals, said KAM Morshed, senior director of Brac, in his welcome speech.

Brac as a major partner collaborated with the government to make its mark as an SDG-success story. Possibly, it is the first time in the world that an NGO has conducted such a voluntary review, he added.

Zuena Aziz said, "I congratulate Brac for being the first NGO in the world to measure its SDG contributions in a structured manner."

She further suggested that all the other NGOs should also measure their organisational contributions to achieve the national SDG targets under the supervision of the NGO Affairs Bureau.

Md Rashedul Islam said, "The government encourages contributions from NGOs towards achieving SDGs. I would like to see all other registered NGOs come forward with similar voluntary reports."

Asif Saleh said, "Our founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed used to say that we should extend our hand to those who need it the most. Brac embodies the concept of leaving no one behind through its inclusive development approach."

Based on research and evidence, Brac will concentrate on the most deprived districts of the country in its strategic plan for the 2021-2025 period, he added.