Fazle Hasan Abed
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| Fazle Hasan Abed | |
|---|---|
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| Name | Fazle Hasan Abed |
| Birth date | 27 April 1936 |
| Birth place | Baniachong, Habiganj, Sylhet District, British India |
| Death date | 20 December 2019 |
| Death place | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Occupation | Social entrepreneur, development worker |
| Known for | Founder of BRAC |
| Awards | Ramon Magsaysay Award, The World Food Prize, Olof Palme Prize, Hilal-i-Pakistan, Ekushey Padak, Knighthood (honorary) |
Fazle Hasan Abed
Fazle Hasan Abed was a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and development pioneer who founded the development organization BRAC. He is noted for transforming relief work into one of the world's largest nongovernmental development organizations, influencing international development practice and policy through programs in health, microfinance, education, agriculture, and social enterprise. His approach combined operational innovation, large-scale program design, and institutional learning across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Early life and education
Born in Baniachong in the Sylhet District of British India, Abed grew up amid the political transformations leading to Partition of India and later the emergence of Pakistan. He pursued secondary studies before attending Dhaka College and subsequently traveled to London for higher education. Abed read at University of Glasgow and trained with firms in Canning Town and BP-affiliated industry settings, later studying management at institutions linked to Harvard University executive programs and engaging with development thinkers associated with United Nations agencies. Early exposure to postcolonial economic debates and humanitarian responses during the Bangladesh Liberation War had a decisive influence on his vocational direction.
Career and founding of BRAC
After professional experience with multinational firms in Karachi and Dhaka, Abed became closely involved in relief efforts during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and its aftermath. Confronted with massive displacement linked to the 1970 Bhola cyclone and wartime devastation, he established what would become BRAC to provide humanitarian aid to refugees and internally displaced persons. The organization evolved from relief distribution into a multifaceted institution delivering programs in microfinance influenced by Grameen Bank practices, primary education with pedagogical methods echoing innovations promoted by UNICEF and Save the Children, and community health strategies paralleling initiatives from World Health Organization. Under Abed's leadership, BRAC expanded operations across Bangladesh, later replicating models in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uganda, Liberia, Haiti, and partnerships with IFC and UNDP-linked projects. He promoted institutional partnerships with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and engaged with policy fora including the World Economic Forum and UN General Assembly side events.
Humanitarian and development work
Abed championed integrated rural development that combined microfinance, vocational training, agricultural extension, and public health campaigns, drawing on comparative models from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation development dialogues and Oxfam program evaluations. BRAC's education programs emphasized community-based schools and nonformal education methods informed by research from University of Sussex, World Bank education reports, and evaluation frameworks used by DFID and USAID. In public health, BRAC implemented vaccination campaigns and community health worker networks complementing initiatives by GAVI and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Abed also pioneered social enterprise ventures—bicycle-based supply chains, rural retail, and agricultural input distribution—creating revenue-generating arms akin to hybrid models promoted by Skoll Foundation and Ashoka. His work informed global discourses on scaling development interventions, influencing scholars and practitioners associated with Harvard Kennedy School, London School of Economics, and Columbia University global health centers.
Awards and honors
Abed received numerous international awards recognizing humanitarian leadership and development innovation. He was a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership, the Olof Palme Prize for international solidarity, and The World Food Prize for contributions to food security. National honors included Bangladesh's Ekushey Padak and foreign accolades such as Hilal-i-Pakistan and honorary titles from institutions analogous to Order of the British Empire. He held fellowships and honorary degrees from universities including University of Bath, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and engaged as a visiting fellow at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Global governance forums and philanthropic networks, including Clinton Global Initiative and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, repeatedly showcased BRAC and Abed's leadership.
Personal life and legacy
Abed's personal ethos blended managerial discipline with social commitment, influenced by contemporaries and interlocutors such as Muhammad Yunus, E.F. Schumacher, and development figures from UNICEF and UNHCR. He mentored generations of Bangladeshi leaders who went on to roles at Bangladesh Bank, Institute of Development Studies, and international NGOs such as CARE and Mercy Corps. Upon his death in Dhaka in 2019, tributes came from heads of state, leaders at United Nations Development Programme, and alumni of BRAC University. His legacy endures through BRAC's global programs, BRAC University’s research and policy influence, and ongoing debates within Sustainable Development Goals implementation strategies. The institutional model he developed continues to be cited in academic literature from Oxford University Press and policy briefs circulated by Brookings Institution and Chatham House as a template for large-scale, adaptive development practice.
Category:Bangladeshi social entrepreneurs Category:Recipients of the Ekushey Padak