Abed Keynotes Ash Institute of Governance conference in Boston

BRAC founder Fazle Abed gave a kenote address today to a large international gathering in Boston focused on 20 years of innovation in governance organized by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation led by Gowher Rizvi. After a standing ovation for Abed's talk about BRAC's work over the years to co-produce good governance with government, civil society and the private sector, Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen gave closing remarks. He told a story about visiting a BRAC school and observing the confidence of a young girl with whom he spoke. "This remarkable sense of general confidence of women and girls" involved in BRAC that one can change was so apparent. He added, "Obama has made it popular to say 'yes we can' now but, from the early 70s till now, we know that 'yes,Bangladesh can change' and others can too.