GSK and Save the Children are to support the establishment of an Academic Chair at BRAC University (BRACU) in Bangladesh, as part of their five-year collaboration to help save the lives of one million of the world’s most vulnerable children.
Speaking at the BRAC Frugal Innovation Forum, in Savar, Ramil Burden, Vice President of Developing Countries Asia and External Affairs at GSK, announced that GSK and Save the Children will support the establishment of an Academic Chair and centre of excellence for management and leadership of Civic Society Non-Governmental Organisations.
Recognising the value and importance of NGOs in delivering healthcare to developing countries, the academic chair will develop and deliver courses on Civic Society Non-Governmental management. The courses will be combined with practical field work for students, interns, fellows, and researchers in Save the Children programmes. The academic collaboration aims to grow and support organisations in developing countries, especially those that are involved in the delivery of health services for people most in need.
Commenting on the partnership, Ramil Burden said: “We are committed to improving access to healthcare and contributing to long-term growth in some of the least developed countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We can only achieve this through establishing innovative partnerships with organisations and institutions that share our outlook and values. This collaboration with BRAC University is a key enabler to help harness the expertise and insight required to drive and deliver sustainable change.”
Michael McGrath, Country Director of Save the Children Bangladesh commented: “The partnership with BRAC University and GSK is very much in line with Save the Children’s strong commitment to facilitating practical, effective and innovative approaches to ensuring that all children and their families – particularly those at the margins of society – are able to access quality health services. It is also consistent with our emphasis on capacity building of local organisations and fostering South to South learning. We are very pleased that programmes implemented by Save the Children throughout Bangladesh will provide a platform for graduate students and researchers from around Asia to assess the impact of cutting edge innovations in the in the field of maternal, neonatal, child and reproductive health and nutrition.”
GSK and Save the Children’s partnership combines their expertise, resources and influence, with the aim of helping to save the lives of one million children. Initiatives include increasing investment in the training, reach and scope of health workers.
GSK – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
About the GSK and Save the Children partnership
GSK and Save the Children have formed a long-term strategic global partnership combining their expertise, resources and influence to help save the lives of one million children. The new partnership is ambitious and innovative, and goes well beyond the traditional charity-corporate fundraising model. The partnership will touch many areas of GSK’s business, in particular using its R&D potential to save children’s lives.
Through this partnership GSK and Save the Children will focus on: Developing child-friendly medicines to reduce child mortality and newborn deaths, widening vaccination coverage to reduce the number of child deaths in the hardest to reach communities, researching new affordable nutritional products to address the needs of children to help alleviate malnutrition and increasing investment in the training, reach and scope of health workers in the poorest communities to help reduce child mortality.
BRAC University
BRAC University (BRACU) was established in 2001. Building on BRAC’s experience of seeking solutions to challenges posed by extreme poverty, BRACU hopes to instil in its students a commitment to working towards national development and progress. The mission of BRAC University is to foster the national development process through the creation of a centre of excellence in higher education that is responsive to society’s needs, and able to develop creative leaders. The goal of the university is to provide an excellent broad-based education with a focus on professional development for students, in order to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary for leading the country in its quest for development. BRACU is accredited by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and approved by the Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh.
