BRAC, an international development organisation and global leader in developing cost-effective, evidence-based programmes in conflict-prone and post-disaster settings, was ranked the number one NGO in the world for 2018 on Monday.
The ranking was done by NGO Advisor, an independent media organisation based in Geneva. BRAC took the top spot for the third year in a row as part of the 2018 Top 500 NGOs World rankings, according to a press release of the NGO.
“We are deeply honoured to be ranked as the Top Global NGO for the third consecutive year,” said BRAC Founder and Chairperson, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed.
“This accolade belongs to all BRAC staff for championing the BRAC values of integrity, innovation, inclusiveness and effectiveness in everything we do. Our 110 million plus programme participants worldwide, who play an active role in their own transformative journeys, are the real winners. We are inspired by their resilience and spirit to continue striving for a just and equitable world.”
NGO Advisor releases the Top 500 NGOs World rankings each year to highlight outstanding organisations in the nonprofit sector. It conducts exhaustive research, evaluates hundreds of NGOs against a rigorous set of criteria, and ranks these organisations according to a robust methodology. This marks the fourth time in five years that BRAC has earned the number one ranking.
“For any organisation to be a part of the top 100, not to mention the top ten, they need to score strongly in the three pillars of our methodology: innovation, impact, and governance. BRAC continues to chart new territory in all three, pioneering creative, cost-effective, and sustainable interventions that reach millions of the most vulnerable people worldwide,” said NGO Advisor Editor-in-Chief Jean-Christophe Nothias in a statement.
BRAC is one of the few development organisations based in the global south that operates worldwide. Founded in Bangladesh in 1972 and today active in 11 countries, this distinct perspective ensures success for an organisation that runs programmes in microfinance, education, healthcare, legal rights, girls’ empowerment, and agriculture; socially responsible businesses; a bank; a university; and one of the world’s largest mobile money platforms, bKash.
BRAC has an annual global expenditure exceeding $1 billion. The organisation is also unique in that the majority of its programmes are self-financed. In Bangladesh, more than 75 percent of its budget comes from its own social enterprises. In 2017, this was a key determinant for NGO Advisor, which noted this innovative cost-recovery model and focus on sustainability.
“Dynamism is one of our core strengths,” said Dr. Muhammad Musa, Executive Director of BRAC. “BRAC goes beyond the traditional NGO definition and has a unique, integrated model to drive positive social change, including development programmes, social enterprises, investments and university. 2017 has been a landmark year for BRAC as we have also extended our work in humanitarian crisis management to support almost a million Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals, or Rohingyas, coming into southern Bangladesh. We will continue to evolve and focus on a humanitarian development approach, to maximise the impact for both displaced people and host communities. In the long run, we aim to leverage our expertise to support people in crises anywhere in the world."
BRAC is ranked alongside NGOs at the forefront of the international development sector, with Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders; the Danish Refugee Council; the Skoll Foundation and Ashoka, both of which support and enable social entrepreneurship worldwide.