In a condolence message, Brac, the largest non-government organisation in the world, bid farewell to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed by stressing that it would “not say rest in peace”. Indeed, rest must have been a luxury for the man who had made it his life’s ambition to put poverty in the museum. The gargantuan task he undertook is still hard to fathom, but what is known is the relentless zeal with which Sir Fazle Abed pursued his vision of creating an equal world for all. Even in death, his infectious message of tirelessly fighting poverty and inequality remains alive. He did not only set an example, but chalked out an entire path of how to do what he felt the world was obligated to do: take care of those who need care the most.

Photo: Collected/BRAC

Hard at work at his office in the capital’s Mohakhali

Sir Fazle Abed spending time with some children, who are beneficiaries of Brac’s various programmes

With Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Cherie Blair get a first-hand experience of Brac’s work during a field visit in 2002

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed sharing a light moment with former US president Bill Clinton

With the then first lady Hillary Clinton in 1995

Sir Fazle Abed with some beneficiaries of Brac programme

Receiving the Tolstoy International Gold Medal in 2014

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and Sir Fazle Abed share the stage during a programme in 1998

Sir Fazle Abed exchanging greetings with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in 2009