On Thursday, Meta and Brac hosted an event “Empowering Women and Youth in Digital Spaces” to celebrate International Women’s Day and share the results of their partnership on a digital awareness program launched last year
Meta, formerly known as the Facebook company, has been working with partners in Bangladesh to support programs to empower women through economic and digital awareness. On Thursday, Meta and Brac hosted an event “Empowering Women and Youth in Digital Spaces” to celebrate International Women's Day and share the results of their partnership on a digital awareness program launched last year, reads a press release. Together, the partners are helping women become more familiar with the digital landscape and learn how to navigate it safely. The event began with opening remarks from Nobonita Chowdhury, director of the Gender Justice and Diversity Program at Brac, where she stressed the importance of digital access for all. She said: “We need to ensure equity in digital access, as the current difference between men and women in using advanced technology is quite high.”
So far, more than half a million Brac program participants have learned about online safety, privacy tools and how to tackle misinformation; around 75% of the trainees are women. Nearly 10 million women and youth were reached through a social media campaign on the safe and effective use of social media. The impact measurement shows that 98% of participants say they now know how to maintain a positive digital footprint compared to 62% before they started the training program. Meta has taken a holistic approach to create opportunities for women in Bangladesh by helping them become more aware and responsible digital citizens and effectively using existing tools to build a community online. This also helps women entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. “Bangladesh's digital transformation has brought more women online and helped empower them. We hope to continue working with partners on the ground to support workshops on digital skills for online safety as well as financial freedom,” said Beth Ann Lim, Meta's Policy Programs Director for the Asia Pacific region. “We know many women still shoulder a disproportionate amount of responsibilities at home. Online platforms can play a big role in bringing markets to their doorsteps.”
Last year, Meta launched its SheMeansBusiness program in Bangladesh in partnership with the ICT Division's Aspire to Innovate (a2i) program, Bangladesh Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and LightCastle Partners to empower more than 10,000 women across Bangladesh by facilitating deeper connections with their customers online to boost their businesses. It provides small business owners with the skills and connections required to excel using digital tools and platforms.

Meta and partners continue to support economic and digital empowerment of women in Bangladesh

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Both organizations will also work on providing supplements to address nutrition gaps
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Health, Nutrition and Population Programme of Brac on the health and nutritional wellbeing of RMG workers. As per the agreement, BGMEA and Brac will collaborate on capacity building and system strengthening of the health centres within garment factories and also health centres that are being operated by BGMEA. Both organizations will also work on evaluating on nutritional status of RMG workers and provide supplements to address nutrition gaps. Faruque Hassan, president of BGMEA and AFM Shahidur Rahman, director, Programme Development, Resource Mobilisation and Learning at Brac signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. Miran Ali, vice president, BGMEA; Dr Morseda Chowdhury, director, HNPP, Brac; SK Jenefa Jabbar, director, Social Compliance and Safeguarding, Brac; Dr Sohely Rahman, programme coordinator, HNPP Brac; and Dr Mithun Gupta, programme manager, Brac, were also present at the signing ceremony. Leave a Comment

BGMEA and Brac collaborate to ensure...

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They had a discussion on possible areas where BGMEA and Brac could work together for the betterment of the RMG industry
Brac has expressed its interest to collaborate with BGMEA in supporting garment factories in adopting sustainable technological solutions along with relevant knowledge. A delegation of Brac showed the willingness when they met with BGMEA President Faruque Hassan at BGMEA PR office in Gulshan on November 27. The delegation included Barrister SK Jenefa K Jabbar, director, Human Rights and Legal Aid Services, Social Compliance and Safeguarding, Brac; Md Zillur Rahman, programme head, Brac Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programme; Khadiza Ahmed, senior manager; Mahjabeen Ahmed, manager, Knowledge Management, Innovation and Fundraising; Patrick Mostyn, programmes partnerships manager for Asia, Brac UK, and Coral Flemming, program partnership officer, Brac UK. BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim also attended the meeting, according to a press release. They had discussion on possible areas where BGMEA and Brac could work together for the betterment of RMG industry. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said Bangladesh’s RMG industry has made exemplary strides in towards environmental sustainability and has continued its efforts in the area. He called upon Brac to provide support to garment factories, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in embracing technological solutions for cleaner production. Leave a Comment

BGMEA and Brac willing to collaborate...

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This is the first lending venture by an international bank for any microfinance institution in Bangladesh
Brac, the world’s number one non-governmental organization, and FMO, an entrepreneurial development bank from the Netherlands, have set a milestone by entering a financing partnership worth $50 million, as it is the first-ever direct lending to any microfinance institution of Bangladesh by any international financing institution. Brac obtained the fund as a five-year-long credit facility in April in the current year to support its microfinance program, speakers said at a ceremony, organised at Brac Centre in Mohakhali in Dhaka on October 27. According to a press release, the entire fund is earmarked for the financing of the microfinance portfolio of Brac. The financing has been made in full compliance of the existing laws of Bangladesh. The ceremony was physically attended by Anne van Leeuwen, ambassador, and Bas Blaauw, first secretary of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh. Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac, led the representation from Brac at the event. Tushar Bhowmik, CFO; Moutushi Kabir, director, communications; Sahed Shams Azad, chief operating officer, Microfinance Program were also present from Brac at the ceremony. K Mahmood Sattar, chairman, RSA Capital, was also present at the function
The FMO team was virtually present at the event. Asif Saleh, executive director, Brac said: “The Netherland government has been a great partner in many of our education and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes. Brac microfinance programme has been playing a big role during the time of pandemic and recovery of the economy from this pandemic. We are glad that FMO came to us during this challenging time and I am appreciative of this financial partnership and partnership of trust.”
“We are delighted to receive this investment from FMO. It is a milestone achievement for the microfinance sector as a foreign bank is directly investing in a microfinance institution in Bangladesh for the first time,” said Tushar Bhowmik. “The investment will help improve the livelihoods of people who need access to affordable financial solutions, especially in marginalized communities, in a more efficient way,” he added. “We are thrilled to re-establish our partnership with Brac in Bangladesh by supporting their microfinance activities. The organization’s mission and vision closely resonate with FMO’s own agenda of achieving financial inclusion. The $50 million loan facility will bring funding stability to the balance sheet of Brac during a time of increasing uncertainty brought by the pandemic, and we believe it can act as a signal for more investments to take place in the microfinance sector,” said Huib-Jan de Ruijter, chief investment officer of FMO. The investment will help improve the livelihoods of the people who need access to affordable financial solutions, especially in the underserved and marginalized communities, said the speakers. Speakers from Brac expressed hope that the successful closure of this deal paved the way for such partnerships in future, expecting further strengthening the partnership with FMO. Currently, Brac is the market leader for the microfinance sector in Bangladesh with a microfinance loan portfolio of $3.2 billion serving more than 7.4 million customers, among whom 85% are women, in more than 69,000 villages. Leave a Comment

Brac-Dutch development bank enters a...

Whole communities supported by overseas work are at risk of extreme poverty after the pandemic forced thousands home
Migrant workers who returned during the pandemic wait to book tickets to go back to their workplaces at the Saudi Arabian airline offices in Dhaka in October. Photograph: Sazzad Hossain/SIPA USA/PA
Migrant workers who returned during the pandemic wait to book tickets to go back to their workplaces at the Saudi Arabian airline offices in Dhaka in October. Photograph: Sazzad Hossain/SIPA USA/PA
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When the pandemic forced Firoza Begum back to Bangladesh after six months trapped in her employer’s house without pay, her husband was so angry she had returned empty-handed that he would not let her move back in to the family home. All her savings after 14 years working in the Middle East had been spent escaping her abusive employer. Begum, 40, had to go to her parents’ home, where she took on responsibility for her mother and two disabled sisters. For years, Bangladeshi migrant workers have supported their families back home and their remittances have been vital to keeping entire communities out of extreme poverty, as the government has tried to meet the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals. But after hundreds of thousands of migrant workers lost their jobs because of Covid-19’s economic impact, government research suggests that they and their families are returning to the poverty they tried to escape. A year ago, Begum was earning 22,000 Bangladeshi taka (£190) each month working for a Saudi doctor, sending almost all of it to her husband or her parents, to repair houses, buy land and pay medical bills. “Now there is no income. I am having a hard time meeting our family’s monthly expenses,” she says. “We’re surviving by taking loans from my relatives. I owe them about 150,000 taka. I don’t know how this money will be repaid.”
Firoza Begum returned to her village in the Patuakhali district of Bangladesh after escaping an abusive employer in the Middle East. Photograph: Rafiqul Islam Montu
The government has encouraged work abroad. Remittances were worth $15bn (£11bn) a year and helped reduce poverty in rural areas, supporting families and financing small business. By last April however, remittances were at their lowest for a decade, according to the central bank, and the protracted crisis is pushing back Bangladesh’s progress on poverty. The World Food Programme has estimated that, globally, the drop in migrant workers’ remittances could put an additional 33 million people at risk of hunger . When the government reported to the UN on its progress against the sustainable development goals in June, it said that the poverty rate had halved from 40% in 2005 to 20.5% in 2019, but that the pandemic risked halting the main strategies of promoting work abroad and increasing employment opportunities for the poorest. By June 2020, the poverty rate had risen back to 29.5% . A survey by Bangladeshi research company Innovision said on average low-income families had enough to support themselves for eight days without extra income, while most households had grain stores that would last 11 days. People are coming back empty-handed who have lost their jobs. They don't know what will happen in future
Shariful Islam, Brac
Brac, Bangladesh’s largest NGO, created a database of 35,000 returnees to support them with cash grants and counselling. Shariful Islam, head of Brac’s migration programme, says there have been more than 400,000 returnees since early 2020 and most had no support . “People are coming back empty-handed who have lost their jobs. These people don’t know what will happen in the future.”
Given how many people are supported by each migrant worker, he says, up to a third of the population could be affected by the job losses, and there are still many unemployed people stranded abroad. A survey in June by the UN’s migration agency (IOM) revealed that most of the returnees were now unemployed and half had no income at all. Reaz Mahmud lost his job in the Middle East. Now, he says, he worries about having to sell his home to survive. Photograph: Rafiqul Islam Montu
In Paschim Charbata, a village in the coastal Noakhali district, almost every home had sent a man abroad over the past decade but most are now back. They sit at home worrying about jobs, mounting debt and feeding their families. “The coronavirus pandemic has stopped my life. My life trajectory was at its peak but now it’s rapidly descending. The family was doing quite well. I could spend the money on what my family needed. Now it is very difficult to meet the daily expenses,” says Reaz Mahmud, 39. He has accumulated a debt of 600,000 taka (£5,200) – double the amount he borrowed when he first left Bangladesh in 2010 to work as an electrician in Qatar. His job as a private driver in Oman ended when the pandemic led to travel restrictions, trapping him in Bangladesh, where he had been taking a holiday for the first time in two years. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, head of Bangladeshi NGO Coast, says the organisation will make migrant workers a priority by supporting them to reintegrate into society, or providing training so they can return to work abroad with better skills. “There are hardships because they are running out of savings, they are not in good condition and sometimes they are suffering trauma. If it continues it will create social unrest, so we are ready to support them,” says Chowdhury. Mahmud had to send his wife to her father’s house with their three children and sell most of his land. With so many people searching for jobs, finding work has proved impossible and he now faces selling the plot his family live on unless he can return to Oman. “Before the pandemic I was able to send money home every month and, from abroad, alleviated many of the crises at home. I thought I could make a living through this job, that I could improve my life,” says Mahmud. “Coronavirus shattered all dreams.”
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'Back empty-handed': Bangladeshis cut off from jobs abroad face rising poverty

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