BRAC in Afghanistan
BRAC was registered as an international NGO in Afghanistan in May 2002 and today is one of the biggest and most established of any NGO in that country. Working on a national scale, BRAC operates in all of the country’s 34 provinces and provides many services from Agriculture, to Education, to Health Care and Microfinance, which are small scale loans to the poor. Here are just a few highlights of how effective BRAC's work is.
Microfinance
BRAC initiated its microfinance program in Afghanistan in May 2002. The program was created to provide
sustainable and reliable financial and non-financial services to support poverty alleviation, with a particular
focus on women, in under developed areas of Afghanistan.
The number of people BRAC has helped with small scale loans is impressive:
- 145,147 borrowers have received microfinance loans
- Loans range from $100 to $2,000 in local currency
- A total of $181 million in small scale loans has been distributed
- $49 million was distributed in 2008 alone
Health and Sanitation Program
BRAC’s health program activities were launched in June 2002 with the aim of improving the health status of
Afghans, particularly the rural poor. The program has since expanded to provide a number of health services
and programs and now reaches over 24.5 million people.
Today, the program continues to operate in 34 provinces and has established a range of hospitals and clinics
including 7 district hospitals and 133 health centers along with 533 mobile clinics per month which have treated
over 1.6 million patients.
Education Program
BRAC’s education program activities were launched in July 2002 and have achieved significant expansion over the past few years. Since its inception the program has introduced various initiatives aimed at improving and progressing Afghanistan’s education infrastructure and providing education in underserved areas of the country. The program also emphasizes providing quality education for girls.
In December 2006, BRAC Afghanistan began work with the Afghan Ministry of Education (MoE) on the Girls
Education Project, which was created to rebuild the education system whilst meeting the growing demand in
the education sector by partnering with education service delivery organizations such as BRAC.
As of September 2009 BRAC has:
- Established 3,627 community based schools in 19 provinces
- Graduated 143,000 students
The Education Program has also established 131 Adolescent Reading Centers (ARC) to provide educational materials and training to adolescent girls after they complete BRAC Afghanistan school courses and contiues to improve girls access to education by working to improve the quality of existing public schools.
