BRAC Sierra Leone Field Partner Page 

BRAC was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 as a small-scale relief project to help the country overcome the devastation of the liberation war and aid in the resettlement of refugees returning from India. BRAC has subsequently acted as a pioneer and catalyst for change, taking a holistic development approach to attacking poverty and empowering people in over 9 countries around the world.

BRAC achieves rapid change through a ground-up approach that focuses on building scale and recognizing both the social and economic needs of its client base. BRAC started working in Sierra Leone in 2008, and began providing microfinance services in June 2009. BRAC Sierra Leone also offers extensive training and capacity building programs in the areas of health, poultry and livestock, agriculture, human rights and legal services. It operates more than 43 branches in all four regions of Sierra Leone, and by the end of 2009, BRAC’s services reached over a quarter of a million Sierra Leoneans.

In Sierra Leone, women are especially affected by poverty, and BRAC has found that empowering women can bring about positive changes in their families and communities. Thus. over 99% of BRAC’s loan recipients in Sierra Leone are women.

One of BRAC Sierra Leone’s microfinance programs, the small enterprise loan, targets both male and female entrepreneurs who seek to expand small businesses and have limited access to capital. These small business entrepreneurs would otherwise have very limited access to the formal financial system, as they are too large for microloans but insufficient collateral for commercial banks. The ultimate goal of the small enterprise loan is to generate employment opportunities.

BRAC’s Vision
Our vision is of a just, enlightened, healthy and democratic world free from hunger, poverty, environmental degradation and all forms of exploitation based on age, sex, and ethnicity.

BRAC’s Mission
To work with people whose lives are dominated by extreme poverty, illiteracy, disease, and other disadvantages. With a holistic approach, we strive to bring about positive changes in the quality of life of people who are poor.

BRAC achieves its mission by:

• Working with the poor, especially women and children;
• Engaging in multifaceted development interventions;
• Striving  the promote positive changes in quality of life;
• Working towards attaining socially, financially, and environmentally sustainable programs;
• Actively promoting human rights, human dignity, and gender equity;
  
• Helping to shape national and global policies on poverty reduction and social progress;
  
• Fostering the development of human potential;
• Offering professional development opportunities to our staff;
• Encouraging commitment to the goals and values of our organization