First lady calls for more women empowerment 

The minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni has urged BRAC Uganda to continue empowering girls and young women to unlock their potential. 

The first lady said during the celebrations to mark BRAC’s 50th year anniversary which was held under the theme; 50 Years of Igniting Hope from Bangladesh to the World.

“I urge you to continue empowering your women and girls. We have a challenge of school dropouts, teenage pregnancy that really disempowers young girls. We welcome you on board to lift up those who are really down to unlock their potential to become innovators and entrepreneurs through creation of digital-led solutions,” she said at Speke Resort Munyonyo. 

She paid special tribute to BRAC’s founder, late Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, for sharing his dream of empowering people and communities, in Bangladesh and beyond.

“I applaud you for social and economic integration and humanitarian response within communities. The government has taken note of these achievements and appreciate your efforts which complement the established structures within our communities,” she said.

“My hope and prayer is that your work in Uganda will help our people to learn, empower themselves, work with integrity and change the face of Uganda. Uganda will not change until Ugandans rise up and change it,” she noted.

The deputy-governor of Bank of Uganda Dr Michael Atingi-Ego congratulated BRAC Uganda for serving 50 years of humanity, empowering people deviled by poverty, disease, illiteracy and social injustice.

“As of February 2023, BRAC bank had 384,092 savers with an outstanding balance of nearly Shs 62 billion and 160,000 borrowers. Bank of Uganda supports BRAC by fostering an enabling environment with support of social economic transformation. We encourage the bank to maintain robust risk management systems covering all the risky exposures including information technology, cyber security,” he said.

He applauded the bank for championing social economic transformation at the bottom of the economic pyramid and hence leading to financial inclusion. Spera Atuhairwe, country director of BRAC Uganda expressed her gratitude to the communities, stakeholders and partners that work with BRAC to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

“We are committed to growing and deepening our presence to deliver impactful solutions for the people and communities we serve,” she said.

Shameran Abed, executive director of BRAC International said building on nearly two decades of experience with communities all across Uganda; we will deepen our work in the critical areas of financial inclusion, extreme poverty and early childhood development.

“Thank you for inviting my father to work in Uganda all those years ago, and for being such a strong supporter of BRAC. What we are celebrating today is owed to your vision of what this partnership could achieve,” he said

Nkosilathi Moyo, chief executive officer of BRAC Uganda Bank Ltd, recognised the achievement of having the largest network of banking services in Uganda, with 32 credit institution locations and 130 satellite branches.

He reiterated the bank’s commitment to reaching more underserved people, especially women. By 2027, we hope to reach 250,000 borrowers, of whom 65 per cent will be populations living in poverty and 90 per cent populations living in rural areas.