BRAC teams up with Humanity & Inclusion

BRAC, one of the world’s largest NGO’s, has developed a strategic partnership with Humanity & Inclusion, a leading Inclusive Development organisation. Through this partnership, the two organisations will work together with Disabled People’s Organisations and people with disabilities to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities in mainstream development initiatives.

Globally, 1 in 5 people living in poverty have a disability, and 82% of people with disabilities live on less than a dollar a day. Whilst many developing countries have made progress in reducing poverty, the condition and well-being of the majority of people with disabilities has not improved.

BRAC and Humanity & Inclusion will work together to improve the quality of life of poor people with disabilities, through piloting and scaling up effective disability inclusion solutions in the areas of education, health, economic empowerment and social enterprise. This powerful partnership will bridge the gap on inclusion and create opportunities for millions of people with disabilities who have been historically excluded from development initiatives.

This strategic partnership, which will focus on all countries in which both BRAC and Humanity & Inclusion currently work including Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Uganda and Sierra Leone, has two main objectives;

1. To enhance BRAC’s ability to integrate disability inclusion organisationally and in its economic empowerment, health and education programmes. As a result, more people with disabilities will have access to microfinance and skills training, community-based health services and schools.
2. To replicate and scale ‘disability inclusive graduation’ as an effective approach for the economic empowerment of ultra-poor people with disability. BRAC alone has graduated over 1.7 million households out of ultra-poverty, but this partnership will enable many more households including people with disabilities to graduate from ultra poverty.

Aleema Shivji,  Executive Director at Humanity & Inclusion UK, said that “by working together, BRAC and Humanity & Inclusion are leading the way in bringing disability inclusive services to millions of people worldwide by designing, testing and scaling solutions for health, education and economic inclusion, and empowerment of poor people with disabilities.”

Dr Muhammad Musa, Executive Director at BRAC also praised the partnership, pointing out that “If more mainstream NGOs form partnerships like this it will help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 and ensure that no one is left behind.”