Chairperson of BRAC and President of the Governing Board of BRAC University Mr. F H Abed has been awarded the Olof Palme Prize for "Fighting for Women's Rights and Poverty Alleviation". A message from Stockholm on December 27, 2001, said "Mr. Abed founded BRAC in 1972 which has played an important role in the transition of Bangladesh from a war-torn society to an outward looking society in which the role of women and girls was improved. BRAC provides basic education to poor children especially girls through 34,000 schools". Named after the late Swedish Prime Minister, Olof Palme Foundation rewards a person or an organization every year since 1989. The prize ceremony will be held in Stockholm on January 30, 2002. Previous laureates include Czech President Vaclav Havel (1989), French anti-racist group SOS Racism (1990), Amnesty International (1991), US anti-death penalty activist Bryan Stevenson (2000) and the list goes on. Paying tribute to his nation's rural poor women after wining the prestigious award Mr. Abed told AFP "I am very happy that our work for women's development and emancipation has been recognized by the Olof Palme foundation. I give full credit to the rural poor women of our country, because it is their enthusiasm and active participation that makes our work so satisfying".