Fazle Abed, who started a temporary relief effort for refugees in Bangladesh that became one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world, died on Dec. 20 in a hospital in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. He was 83.

His daughter, Tamara Abed, said the cause was complications of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.

Mr. Abed founded what was originally known as the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee in 1972, and is now known simply as BRAC, to help refugees returning to their homeland after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

Today it has around 90,000 employees in 11 countries and aids more than 100 million people in gaining access to health care, education and microfinancing to start businesses.