Fazle Hasan Abed Biography

Full Name: Fazle Hasan Abed Biography
Born: April 27, 1936,
Birth Place: Habiganj, Bangladesh
Died: December 20, 2019
Death Place: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Education: Dhaka College, University of Glasgow
Residence: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Citizenship: British
Occupation: Social worker
Known for: Founder of BRAC

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed is a social worker who started his career as a finance officer at Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to head its finance division. He is the founder of the world’s largest non-government organization, BRAC. For his outstanding contributions to social improvement, he has received many awards such as “The inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award”, “The WISE Prize for Education” and “The David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award”.

Early Life:

Sir Fazlay Hasan Abed Was Born in 1936 in Baniachong British India now in Habiganj, Bangladesh to the father, Siddiq Hasan & Mother, Syeda Sufya Khatun. He passed the matriculation exam from Pabna Zilla School and higher secondary education at Dhaka College. He left home to attend the University of Glasgow in London where he studied Naval Architecture. Completing his education he joined Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to head its finance division.

Formation of BRAC:

Together with friends, Abed created HELP, an organization that provided relief and rehabilitation to the worst affected people of the devastating cyclone of 1970 on the island of Manpura. The cyclone hit the eastern coastal regions of the country, killing 300,000 people.

In 1971, Abed left his job and moved to London to devote himself to Bangladesh’s War of Independence. He found refuge in England, where he set up “Help Bangladesh” to organize funds to raise awareness about the war in Bangladesh.

In December 1971 when the war ended, Abed sold his flat in London and returned to the newly independent Bangladesh to help the ruined country’s people. To start his work he selected the remote area of Sulla in northeastern Bangladesh. He founded an organization named BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), to deal with the long-term mission of improving the living conditions of the rural poor.

BRAC is now the largest development organization in the world within only three decades. It is also considered the largest non-profit in the world – both by employees and people served. At present, BRAC operates more than 69 thousand villages in Bangladesh and helped about 110 million people who live below the poverty line, through its development interventions that range from primary education, essential healthcare, agricultural support, and human rights and legal services to microfinance and enterprise development.

In 2002, BRAC extended worldwide by taking its range of development interventions to Afghanistan. BRAC has expanded its activities to eight countries around the world.

Awards:
The WISE Prize for Education, 2011
The inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award, 2007
The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, 1980
The Maurice Pate Award by UNICEF, 1992