Two women in Bangladesh go from living on less than 70 cents per day to becoming savvy entrepreneurs who are independently supporting their families. BRAC’s ‘Graduation’ approach to ending poverty gives women living in desperate circumstances the tools and opportunities to improve their lives.
Poverty can be overcome, and the benefits last for generations. Alo Rani (‘light queen’ in Bangla) overcame poverty 18 years ago. Her children and grandchildren continue to shine, generations later. BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation programme has supported more than 2 million households in Bangladesh like Alo Rani’s to overcome poverty. This is her Graduation story. BRAC’s … Continued
In late 2017 BRAC Uganda, the National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda (NUWODU), and Humanity & Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International), with support from BRAC UPGI and BRAC UK, began work to design and implement the Disability Inclusive Graduation (DIG) project in Oyam, Nwoya, Kiryandongo, and Gulu districts of Uganda.
Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Nathanael Goldberg, Dean Karlan, Robert Osei, William Parienté, Jeremy Shapiro, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry (May 2015)
Clare Balboni, Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Upaasna Kaul (December 2015) A livelihood programme providing productive assets and skills training to the poorest women in Bangladesh village economies helps them move into more stable self-employment and achieves significant reductions in poverty…
Clare Balboni, Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Maitreesh Ghatak and Anton Heil (March 2020) There are two views as to why people stay poor. The equal opportunity view emphasizes that differences in individual traits like talent or motivation make poor people choose low productivity jobs. The poverty traps view emphasizes that access to opportunities depends on … Continued
Atiya Rahman and Oriana Bandiera (March 2021) Under normal conditions, BRAC’s flagship Graduation approach aiming to alleviate poverty was proven to be highly successful at giving the poorest women in some of the poorest areas of Bangladesh the tools to escape the poverty trap (Balboni et al., 2021; Bandiera et al., 2017). Pilots of the … 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
Join Corazon, a participant of the DOLE’s Graduation Project in the Philippines, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank and technical assistance provided by BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, as she tells her story of empowerment and transformation. This visual story takes us to Negros Occidental province in central Philippines, and showcases the various project components … Continued
A single mother, a farmer, an entrepreneur. Meet Kuntola – a woman who has defied all odds. Kuntola is one of 2 million families supported by the BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation programme in Bangladesh.