Speakers at a press conference on Thursday stressed inspiring the vision of doing development differently and promote innovative approaches to tackle social problems.
Country's leading non government organisation BRAC organised the press conference to announce it's a three-day long festival, of culture, stories, crafts, music and art, titled ‘Hope Festival’ as the epilogue of its year-long observances which marked 50 years of its founding.
The press conference took place at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the capital.
Hope Festival, an open-for-all event, will be held at Bangladesh Army Stadium in the capital on 9, 10 and 11 February, 2023. Everyone is welcome to take part in the festival by simply visiting the website https://brachopefestival.net/ and registering for the event.
Asif Saleh, Executive Director of BRAC Bangladesh and Tamara Hasan Abed, Managing Director of BRAC Enterprises made the announcement during the press conference.
Asif Saleh, Executive Director of BRAC Bangladesh said, “We believe that social change can’t be brought without partnerships. We have to come forward with new and innovative solutions to deal with these challenges. Building on the potential of the youth, we need to work together to meet the challenges of the future.”
Tamara Hasan Abed, Managing Director of BRAC Enterprises said, “50 years of working with people, believing in their potential and organising the people to help them turn their lives around, this distinct approach to development, which BRAC stands for, is now being lauded the world over for its efficacy. We want to share insights we get from the ground with everyone.”
Selim R F Hussain, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BRAC Bank Ltd Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer of bkash and Mominul Islam, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IPDC Finance Ltd were also present in the press conference.
BRAC’s founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed used to say – when people have the opportunity to realise their potential, a light of hope gets switched on.
Hope Festival aims to inspire Bangladesh’s youth with those very stories of people turning their lives around, on their own, with just a tender rekindling of hope.
Hope Festival aims to inspire conversations around five key focus areas, namely education, financial empowerment, gender equality, climate change and mental health.
Bkash, BRAC Bank, IPDC Finance and BRAC University are the partners of the Hope Festival.