$ 250m Brac commitment to Africa announced
Now I can visit Brac schools anywhere in the world: Clinton
Former US president Bill Clinton announced Brac's US$250 million commitment to Africa at the opening plenary session of the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City on Wednesday, says a press release. Clinton also presented a signed commitment certificate to Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairperson of Brac. The former US president, who had met students of Brac primary schools during his visit to Bangladesh, said that he would now be able to visit Brac schools not only in Bangladesh, but all over the world. US First Lady Laura Bush also spoke at the plenary session. Panelists at the session included EU Council Secretary General Javier Solana, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirlead and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez. Brac's commitment is part of the organisation's ongoing expansion of development activities into Africa. Brac has already begun operations in Tanzania and Uganda and plans to extend its interventions to Kenya, Malawi and Southern Sudan in the near future. Brac will introduce its unique and integrated approach to poverty reduction in these countries by incorporating education, agriculture and health components with micro-finance schemes, totalling investments of $25 million a year for ten years. Since its inception in 1972 as a relief and rehabilitation organisation, Brac has transformed into the world's largest development NGO, its comprehensive interventions touching the lives of over 150 million people in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
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