Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG (Bengali: ফজলে হাসান আবেদ; born 27 April 1936) is a Bangladeshi social worker, the founder and chairman of BRAC, the world's largest non-governmental organization with over 120,000 employees. For his contributions to social improvement, he has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the UNDP Mahbub Ul Haq Award, the inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award and the inaugural WISE Prize for Education. In 2015, he received World Food Prize for his “unparalleled” work on reducing poverty in Bangladesh and 10 other countries.

"We thought nationally, worked locally, and looked for inspiration globally."

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
Native name	ফজলে হাসান আবেদ
Born	27 April 1936 Baniachong, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	20 December 2019 (aged 83) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Education	Naval Architecture
Alma mater	Notre Dame College, Dhaka, University of Glasgow
Occupation	Chair Emeritus, BRAC
Known for	Founder and Chair Emeritus of BRAC

Early Days

Abed was born into the wealthy Hasan family in Baniachong, Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Habiganj, Sylhet Division, Bangladesh).

After passing intermediate from Dhaka College in 1954, Abed left home at the age of 18 to attend University of Glasgow, where, in an effort to break away from tradition and do something radically different, he studied naval architecture. He realized there was little work in ship building in East Pakistan and a career in Naval Architecture would make returning home difficult. With that in mind, Abed joined the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London, completing his professional education in 1962.

He also received degrees from University of Glasgow; Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London (1962); LLD (hon.), Queen’s University, Canada (1994); EdD (hon.), University of Manchester (2003).

Abed returned to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to join Shell Oil Company and quickly rose to head its finance division. His time at Shell exposed Abed to the inner workings of a large conglomerate and provided him with insight into corporate management, which would become invaluable to him later in life.

It was during his time at Shell that the devastating cyclone of 1970 hit the south and south-eastern coastal regions of the country, killing 300,000 people. The cyclone had a profound effect on Abed. In the face of such devastation, he said the comforts and perks of a corporate executive's life ceased to have any attraction for him. Together with friends, Abed created HELP, an organisation that provided relief and rehabilitation to the worst affected in the island of Manpura, which had lost three-quarters of its population in the disaster.

Soon after, Bangladesh's own struggle for independence from Pakistan began and circumstances forced Abed to leave the country. He was found refuge in the United Kingdom, where he set up Action Bangladesh to lobby the governments of Europe for his country's independence.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed Quotes

“In 35 years, 50 percent of our population will live in our cities. Most other countries will be in a similar situation. We need to start preparing now to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live meaningful lives, and our cities are places that will allow that to happen.”

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Professional Positions of SIR Fazle Hasan Abed

SIR Fazle Hasan Abed selected the remote region of Sulla in northeastern Bangladesh to start his work, and this work led to the non-governmental organization known as BRAC in 1972.

BRAC now operates in all 64 districts of Bangladesh through development interventions that range from education, healthcare, microfinance, skills, human rights, agriculture and enterprise development. It is now considered the largest non-profit in the world – both by employees and people served.

Abed held the following positions:

Ø 2013–2019 – Chairperson, Board of Directors, BRAC Bank Limited.

Ø 2015–2019 - Chairperson, Advisory Board, Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements

Ø 2012–2019 – Member, UN Secretary General's Lead Group of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement

Ø 2010–2011 – UN Secretary General's Group of Eminent Persons for Least Developed Countries (LDCs)

Ø 2005–2019 – Commissioner, UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP)

Ø 2002–2008 – Global Chairperson, International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI) International.

Ø 2001–2008 – Chairperson, Board of Directors, BRAC Bank Limited.

Ø 2001–2019 – Chairperson, Board of Trustees, BRAC University.

Ø 2000–2019 – Chairperson, Governing Body, BRAC.

Ø 2000–2005 – Chair, Finance & Audit Committee, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos, Philippines.

Ø 1999–2005 – Member, Board of Governors, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Los Banos, Philippines.

Ø 1998–2005 – Member, Policy Advisory Group, The Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), The World Bank, Washington, DC.

Ø 1994–2019 – Member, Board of Trustees, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka

Ø 1993–2011 – Chairperson, Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organisation

Ø 1992–2009 – Chairperson, NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation

Ø 1990–2009 – Chairperson, 'Campaign for Popular Education' (CAMPE), an NGO network on education.

Ø 1981–82 Visiting Scholar, Harvard Institute of International Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Ø 1982–86 Senior Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

Ø 1982–86 Member, Board of Trustees, BIDS.

Ø 1982–86 Chairperson, Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB).

Ø 1986–91 Member, World Bank NGO Committee, Geneva, Switzerland.

Ø 1987–90 Chairperson, South Asia Partnership.

Ø 1987–90 Member, International Commission on Health Research for Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Ø 1992–93 Member, Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation

Ø 1998–2004 Member, Board of Governors, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex University, UK

Ø 1972-2001 Executive Director, BRAC

“I’ve Never Thought That You Can Do Good Only Through Nonprofit Activities. You Can Do Good Also By Doing Business.”

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

Awards of SIR Fazle Hasan Abed

Ø The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, 1980

Ø The Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award, 1990

Ø The Maurice Pate Award by UNICEF, 1992

Ø The Olof Palme Prize, 2001

Ø The Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Schwab Foundation, 2002

Ø The International Activist Award by the Gleitsman Foundation, 2003

Ø The UNDP Mahbub ul Haq Award, 2004

Ø The Henry R. Kravis Prize in Nonprofit Leadership, 2007

Ø The Inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award, 2007

Ø Palli Karma Shahayak Foundation (PKSF) Lifetime Achievement in Social Development and Poverty Alleviation, 2007

Ø The David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, 2008

Ø Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), 2010

Ø The WISE Prize for Education, 2011

Ø Open Society Prize, 2013

Ø Leo Tolstoy International Gold Medal by The Russian Children Foundation (RDF), 2014

Ø World Food Prize, 2015

Ø Thomas Francis, Jr. Medal in Global Public Health, 2016

Ø Jose Edgardo Campos Collaborative Leadership Award 2016 (South Asian Region), 2017

Ø Laudato Si' Award (Institution Category), 2017

Ø LEGO Prize, 2018

Ø Yidan Prize, 2019

Honorary Degrees of SIR Fazle Hasan Abed

Ø 2016 – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education, University of Bradford, UK

Ø 2014 – Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law, Sewanee: The University of the South, US

Ø 2014 – Honorary Doctor of Laws, Princeton University, US

Ø 2012 – Doctor of Laws honoris causa, University of Manchester, UK

Ø 2010– Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, University of Bath, UK

Ø 2009 – Honorary Doctorate of Letters, University of Oxford, UK

Ø 2009 – Honorary Doctorate in Humane letters, Rikkyo University, Japan

Ø 2008 – Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Columbia University, US

Ø 2007 – Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Yale University, US

Ø 2003 – Honorary Doctorate of Education, University of Manchester, UK

Ø 1994 – Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Queen's University, Canada

Trivia

ü Abed is the second person in his family to receive a knighthood from the British crown, the first being his great-uncle, Justice Nawab Sir Syed Shamsul Huda.

ü In 2014 Abed was ranked 32 in the list of The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders prepared by Fortune.

ü In 2013, Fazle Abed was estimated to have a net worth of 2.7 billion US dollars.

Personal Life & Legacy

This Bangladeshi social worker is married to Sarwat Abed—the couple have a son, Shameran and a daughter, Tamara.

In Death

He was admitted to the hospital in late November on account of breathing problems and physical weakness. He died at the Apollo Hospital in the capital on Friday, December 20, at 08:28 pm. He was undergoing treatment for a malignant brain tumor. At the time of his death, he was 83 years old. He is survived by a wife, a daughter, a son and three grandchildren.