BRAC named the world’s top NGO of 2019

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — 27 February 2019 — BRAC, the largest non-governmental organisation in the world and global leader in developing cost-effective, evidence-based programs in conflict-prone and post-disaster settings, was today announced the world’s number one NGO of 2019 by NGO Advisor, an independent media organisation based in Geneva. BRAC retained the top spot for the fourth year in a row in part due to its leadership of the Rohingya refugee crisis, innovative new partnerships, and the continued scale of its reach.

“This ranking belongs to the entire BRAC family across the world. The strength of this organisation, for 47 years, comes from the people we work for, and the local, national and global government and non-government development partners we work with. We share this achievement with all of our partners in this journey. We will continue to strive until the result of progress reaches equitably to every single individual,” said Dr. Muhammad Musa, Executive Director of BRAC Bangladesh.

NGO Advisor commits to highlighting innovation, impact, and governance in the non-profit sector each year. Its Top 500 NGOs of the World rankings are based on three pillars: innovation, impact and sustainability, with a special focus on organisational governance. It evaluates hundreds of NGOs against this criteria and ranks them using a robust methodology.

“The 2019 list reflects the many changes in the sector in the past year, with a number of new organisations appearing for the first time,” said Jean-Christophe Nothias, chairman of NGO Advisor. “On the top seat, BRAC not only preserved its position, but improved on several key criteria, leveraging its competitive mix of long-term vision and resilience in an ever-changing international landscape.”

In its review, NGO Advisor noted that BRAC’s programs and initiatives are implemented across 43 countries, touching the lives of millions of people, including hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees. Through increased partnerships with governments, as well as local and global organisations, BRAC emerged last year as a leader at the heart of a humanitarian-development nexus. Also, the organisation’s financial model has allowed it to continue to scale up operations even as donor funding proves increasingly challenging. As in years past, this positively affected ratings by NGO Advisor that focus on diversifying revenue streams and long-term sustainability.

“I am delighted to learn that BRAC has again been ranked at the top among international NGOs. I congratulate our colleagues and partners whose dedicated work to fulfil our mission has helped us to achieve this unique distinction,” said BRAC Founder and Chairman Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.

“BRAC works with people living in situations of inequality and disadvantaged communities around the world. We develop proven approaches to address poverty and empower vulnerable people at scale, and bring our programs to where they are most needed. We aim to serve our program participants, and to learn from them to adapt and improve our work. This is our mission. We are humbled to have received this honor, and thankful for the recognition and support of our efforts,” said Faruque Ahmed, Executive Director of BRAC International.

The assessments for the ranking draw on publicly available information – including financial, human resources, governance, and marketing and communications data – and consider any not-for-profit or public-interest organisation that is active at the local, national, or international level. In this year’s rankings, BRAC is joined by NGOs at the vanguard of the international development sector, with Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders; the Danish Refugee Council; Open Society Foundations; and Mercy Corps in the top five.