By Julie Kedroske | Acting Director of Technical Assistance, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative This article originally appeared in Inter Press Service News Agency on October 21, 2021. Read it here. NEW YORK, Oct 21 2021 (IPS) – As the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, approaches (31 October -12 November in Glasgow, … Continued
This article originally appeared in InDepthNews on October 14, 2021. DHAKA (IDN) — It is time we start treating extreme poverty as the global emergency it is. This International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17, we are looking at 100 million more people being forced into extreme poverty by the end of 2021 … Continued
NEW YORK, September 16, 2021 — Greg Chen has been appointed the new Managing Director of BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) with effect from 1 November 2021. Chen brings with him a wealth of experience influencing policy change for financial inclusion in senior leadership roles in non-governmental and private sectors. He has a proven track … Continued
By Shameran Abed | Executive Director, BRAC International This article originally appeared in Project Syndicate on July 26, 2021. From 1990 to 2019, the number of people living in extreme poverty (according to the World Bank threshold of $1.90 per day) plummeted, from 1.9 billion to 648 million. COVID-19 has reversed much of this progress. … Continued
As Executive Director, Shameran will oversee and guide BI’s strategies, programs and organizational development for scaled impact and sustainable growth, contributing to BRAC’s Global Strategy to reach 250 million disadvantaged women (and their dependents), youth, and people living in poverty by 2030. He will also continue to lead BI’s microfinance operations and oversee the Ultra-Poor … Continued
When Marlowe Popes joined the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative in 2017 as BRAC Field Manager for the DOLE Graduation pilot, he never imagined he’d be guiding his team and almost two thousand project participants through a pandemic. When one of the world’s longest running lockdowns began in the Philippines due to COVID-19, Marlowe’s team was tasked with … Continued
By Rozina Haque | Programme Head, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Programme The launch of the World Bank’s State of Economic Inclusion Report 2021 provides a timely opportunity to reflect on the integral role learning and adaptation has played in BRAC’s programming, particularly on the success of the Ultra-Poor Graduation program (UPG) in Bangladesh (detailed in a … Continued
By Amy Lieberman | U.N. Correspondent, Devex This article originally appeared in Devex on December 21, 2020. Climate change disproportionately impacts the world’s most impoverished. So, experts are asking, why can’t they receive direct compensation and support? …“Most people wouldn’t readily say that they are moving because of climate change. They are looking at the … Continued
By Hana Brixi | Manager of the Human Capital Project at the World Bank & Lindsay Coates | Managing Director, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative This article originally appeared on the World Bank’s blog on December 4, 2020. Before COVID-19, many countries were making significant gains in human capital, improving health and education outcomes for girls … Continued
By Shameran Abed | Executive Director, BRAC International This article originally appeared in Devex on October 27, 2020. Today, the world faces a greater challenge than any before as the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undo years of progress in poverty eradication while exacerbating preexisting inequalities and exposing the fragility of our systems. At the beginning … Continued