The Graduation Approach
Meeting Basic Needs
Meeting Basic Needs
We ensure that program participants are protected by a safety net and have their basic needs met. We provide resources such as cash transfers, basic food supplies, and access to health services.
Income Generation
Income Generation
We enable participants to earn a sustainable income by providing them with a productive asset, such as livestock, equipment, or seed capital, and support to start a microbusiness.
Financial Support & Savings
Financial Support & Savings
Participants are trained on managing income and expenditures, and are taught how savings can buffer against difficult times and open further income-generating opportunities through community savings groups and coaching. Once they successfully complete the program they are connected to more formal financial services for long-term support and growth.
Social Empowerment
Social Empowerment
Through Graduation, participants grow their confidence, integrate more into their communities, and develop new life skills through ongoing coaching, mentorship, and peer-to-peer learning.
Impact
Since BRAC pioneered the Graduation approach in 2002, it has proven effective in providing the “big push” people need to escape the poverty trap long term. More than 100 organizations have adapted the approach in 50 different countries, reaching nearly 14 million people.
Learn More About the Impact & Reach of the Graduation Approach
Holistic
Poverty is multidimensional, so empowering people to escape the poverty trap requires a multidimensional approach.
Adaptable
Graduation is flexible enough to meet the unique challenges facing people in the most extreme states of poverty.
Scalable
The approach is increasingly adopted and adapted by governments worldwide to reach larger populations of people living in poverty.
Vision
We have a plan to break the poverty trap long term by scaling the Graduation approach worldwide. Partnering with governments, multilaterals, NGOs, and civil society, we are driving systems change through programs and policies that empower households to escape extreme poverty.
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Learning & Innovation
At BRAC, we are committed to continuous learning and innovation. With two decades of experience generating evidence and iterating our approach, we are working with partners to build the global body of evidence on how to overcome extreme poverty.
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Graduation Overview
Graduation paves the way for greater self-sufficiency, autonomy, and opportunities through a multifaceted methodology that places households on an upward trajectory from poverty.
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