Proper research is vital in helping poverty stricken populations in developing countries, says Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
The Chairman and Founder of BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, has emphasised the role and importance of social innovation in developing countries where new ways have to be found to alleviate poverty.
He launched BRAC in 1972 as a limited relief operation in Bangladesh. Today it operates in 10 countries and impacts on the lives of 126 million people.
Sir Fazle says the role of social innovation is important for developing countries where new ways have to be found to lift people out of poverty. Speaking to an audience of MBA students in the Cambridge Leadership Seminars he stressed the importance of proper research.
Later, he explained in greater detail in an interview for Cambridge Judge Business School’s website.
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“If you want to help poor people you have to understand why they are poor, how resources flow within a village and who is going to benefit from a community infrastructure.
“Suppose you dig a canal to make one-crop land into three-crop producing land but who owns the land matters very much. Is the landowner going to benefit a lot? Or the workers who work that land, are they going to benefit very much?
“You have to look at all these things in order to do the development – who is going to benefit from what you do?”