Dr Charles Chen Yidan, Founder of Yidan Prize, has come to Dhaka and presented the prestigious award to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed’s family in a ceremony at Brac head office in a rare show. Sir Abed won the award last year for his work in education development. As he died on December 20, Dr Yidan decided to visit Dhaka to pay his respect and present the award in person to his family.
Tamara Abed and Shameran Abed, children of Sir Abed, accepted the award on his behalf at a ceremony this week, BRAC said. He also visited a BRAC school in the Korail slum in Banani and an early childhood development (ECD) centre - Play Lab in Banasree during his two-day visit to the city.
“Sir Fazle lived a life of service with true compassion, courage and conviction. He inspired everyone around him to choose optimism over despair and to believe in the potential of human spirit,” Dr Yidan said at the award ceremony. “I believe tha tSir Fazle will continue to be a source of inspiration for the world. The hundreds of millions of lives he transformed, especially those from the most vulnerable and poorest communities, will remember him as the spark of hope.”
Dr Yidan presented the gold medal of the award to Tamara Abed, his daughter and also the managing director of BRAC Enterprises and chairperson of the board of trustees of BRAC University. The certificate of the award was presented to Shameran Abed, his son and also the senior director of BRAC Microfinance and Ultra Poor Graduation Programme, at a ceremony organised on this occasion.
Shameran Abed read out the acceptance speech Sir Fazle drafted last year after the announcement of the prize. “I would like to express my gratitude for the recognition bestowed upon both BRAC and me. The very generous Yidan Prize funding will allow us to expand our education activities further,” Sir Fazle drafted in the speech.
“I believe that education is the greatest equaliser. I envision a world where even the poorest among us have the opportunity to lead lives of purpose and dignity. I humbly request everyone to play their part in making this vision a reality.” “We are most honoured to receive the Yidan Prize on behalf of our father,” said Tamara Abed. “We are committed to carry his legacy forward,” she added.
Sir Abed always viewed education as a crucial catalyst for change. He firmly believed that it is about more than just schools and books.Play-based joyful learning is a cornerstone of BRAC's approach. BRAC has set up more than 1,400 play-based early childhood development centres across Bangladesh, Tanzania and Uganda, where close to 40,000 children aged 1 to 5 years are presently enrolled. In these centres pre-school children have access to age-appropriate play materials, a play-based curriculum and play spaces that ensure their holistic development.
As a Yidan Prize Laureate, Sir Abed received a gold medal, a certificate and HK$30 million (around $3.9 million), half of which is a cash prize and the other half a project fund. “Addressing the needs of children in the most disadvantaged communities has always been a core priority for BRAC. The Yidan prize will support us in scaling up our play-based early childhood development solutions in Uganda and Tanzania and develop a new model of play-based childcare in Bangladesh” Asif Saleh, executive director of BRAC, commented.
The Yidan Prize project funding (approximately $2 million) will be invested by BRAC in research, innovation and scaling up high-impact solutions related to early childhood development in the next three years. BRAC will also use part of the project fund to pilot a social enterprise of play-based childcare model in Bangladesh.
