BRAC changing with changing needs, but ultra-poor still in focus: Asif Saleh

BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, is changing its focus with the changing needs as well as Bangladesh context, but ultra-poor will still remain its ‘flagship’ development programme, new Executive Director Asif Saleh says.

“BRAC was always ahead of the time,” he told bdnews24.com on Wednesday, a day after a major change in its governing body including retirement of founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.

Saleh, with his diverse multi-sectoral experience both in public and NGO sectors, has joined this position on Aug 1, after performing an ad interim role for three months.

The changes come at a time when Bangladesh is also changing and going to be a middle-income country by 2021. There has been massive poverty reduction in Bangladesh, though still 12 percent people remain ultra-poor.

New challenges such as rising unemployment emerged. Donors funding on development programme is shrinking. Many fear NGOs activities for the poor will also be limited.

Saleh, however, said their works will be driven by the “inspiration and motivation” they received from their founder Abed.

“He (Abed) tells us one thing that there will always be social problems that will require solutions,” he said, adding that to remain relevant, BRAC will address those problems.

 

According to Saleh, unemployment as well as skills development, urbanisation, and climate change will be in their focus in the next five years.

In some others sectors such as agriculture, they will work as a “catalyst”.

But the executive director understands financial sustainability of their programmes which range from education to extreme poverty alleviation to social business to massive microcredit operations across Bangladesh would be the key.

“We have to diversify our funding sources and how we can effectively do that will be the strategic side of working. It can be from social enterprise,” added Saleh, who worked for 12 years at Goldman Sachs in different tech roles and institutional client sales in New York and London.

“We don’t know what will happen after two or three years. All will depend on how we become successful to mobilise funds in our new programmes,” he said, while talking on the future plans and challenges of the organisation founded in 1972 to help rebuild the war-torn Bangladesh.

In 2017 alone, 110 million people were reached through BRAC’s service delivery programme with the disbursement of $3.82 billion in loans to 6.2 million borrowers.

About 2 million children - over half of them are girls - enrolled in 33,074 schools and centres. About 90 percent of households received healthcare across hard-to-reach regions.

The transition is said to be part of Abed’s long-standing practice of building strong succession at BRAC.

As chair emeritus, he will now focus on guiding BRAC’s global strategy and governance structure, according to a statement.

“It’s a transition period. We have been talking about how the outside world will see he is not involved. We know we cannot replicate him. Fazle Abed is Fazle Abed. The confidence that he kept in us can only be reflected through our collective work,” Saleh said.

“He always said BRAC is not about me or any one person. Even today he wrote a letter to all employees where he wrote ‘You are BRAC'.”

Newly appointed Executive Director Asif Saleh says BRAC is changing its focus with the changing needs as well as Bangladesh context, but ultra-poor will still remain its ‘flagship’ development programme. Photo: Abdullah Al Momin

ADAPTING TO THE CHANGE

In 2019,  BRAC was named by NGO Advisor, an independent media organisation based in Geneva, as the world's number one NGO for the fourth year in a row in part due to its leadership in tackling the Rohingya refugee crisis, innovative new partnerships, and the continued scale of its reach.

“How BRAC can adapt to the change will be the big challenge,” he said. “But if we cannot match with the change, we will be extinct.”

He said they will be happy to complement the government in implementing the SDGs.

“Government is working well. But for community outreach and monitoring, we can play a complementary role. We had fantastic progress in MDGs because along with government, private sector and NGOs worked together,” he said, suggesting an “honest reflection” after five years of "whether we are on target".

Social business is a buzzword now. But Saleh said BRAC started this social enterprise with Aarong even 40 years ago in the 70s.

“Our flagship product on the development side continues to be our ultra-poor programme where we spend the most,” the executive director said.

Their microcredit programme has been remodelled into micro-financing that works on both credit and savings product.

“People have specific demands. Small businesses get one kind of loan. Those who want to go abroad need another kind of loan.

“When people go abroad for work, they sell all their properties to get money. We tell them 'you take loan, don’t sell property. We are checking whether your job is valid and, start paying back after your first salary'. Then his asset remains okay.”

He said people have specific demands. “With the micro-financing, we can help them meet those demands. This kind of services they are not getting from banks, but micro-finance can provide them.

“We have to think whether the time has come to give banking licence to micro-finance institutions. We can see in neighbouring India micro-finance institutions are getting micro-finance banking licence.

“Ultimately, if financial inclusion is our main purpose to reach financial benefit to all so that one can have many choices, then it is important,” he continued.

“It’s a continuation. New products and services will be evolved in future. We can see the demand.”

“Those who cannot take advantage of microfinance benefits, the ultra-poor, we can give them asset - a cow or a piece of land and help them with how can they make it a sustainable livelihood with training, and confidence-building.

“This programme for the ultra-poor is our flagship model,” he said.

This programme is now serving as a model to 46 countries. BRAC is giving technical assistant to the government of Kenya, Rwanda and Lesotho.

“We can influence Bangladesh government to take our learning for targeting and monitoring the social safety net programme,” he said.

Unemployment is the “biggest challenge” at this moment where BRAC will work.

“It’s a big concern. We can see at the field level that it’s not only economic problem, there are social problems related to it. After studying for long spending money and then going unemployed creates frustration.

“It means there is a link between these two. Frustration can lead to drug problems, extremism.

“We have to identify new sectors. And for those sectors, we have to create skilled labour. Our focus should not be only on the country. We have to see the outside market and make them skilled them based on specific needs.”

According to Asif Saleh, unemployment as well as skills development, urbanisation, and climate change will be in BRAC's focus in the next five years. Photo: Abdullah Al Momin

WHAT ARE THE NEW CHALLENGES?

Sustainability in funding will be the major challenge ahead, says Saleh who worked with Glaxo Wellcome, IM and Nortel before working as a policy specialist for the Access to Information Programme of the Prime Minister’s Office. He joined BRAC in 2011.

“How can we bring innovation? There is no dearth of working areas. Financial sustainability is a big thing. We can be self-sufficient. But the big strategy will be diversification of our works,” he said.

They have launched Brac Academy in Cumilla, a school which will cater to the need of the 21st century with critical thinking, and analytical as well as language skills.

“It’s fee-based. But if we become successful, then we’ll take it to every district. It’s a district school model to help improve the quality of education,” he said, talking about the new focus on improving quality of health and education.

“Once we were focused on the access to health and education. Now with the changing need, quality issue comes in a big way.”

Another challenge, he said, is BRAC the organisation itself.

“BRAC is a big organisation. Big organisation has problems….it’s like an elephant that takes time to move. We have scopes to maintain our own agility and efficiency.”