This case study explores BRAC’s experience evolving the graduation approach over the last 20 years, paying special attention to the lessons for governments and NGOs alike that have emerged from the most recent periods of implementation. Specifically, this case study looks at how, since the program started in 2002, BRAC has sought to ensure high … 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
The ultra-poor need to stop being invisible to policymakers. We need to pay closer attention to the poorest and the unique set of challenges they face, for without a better understanding of the lived reality of ultra-poverty, we will fail to live up to the promise of “leaving no one behind.” Without programs tailored for … Continued
Central to the Graduation approach is the understanding that extreme poverty encompasses a multidimensional set of challenges not limited to low incomes. While extreme poverty afflicts both women and men, women are particularly vulnerable because of barriers created by unequal gender dynamics.Women play a critical role in social and economic development by investing a higher … Continued
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established a vision of a world free of poverty and inequality by 2030. Unfortunately, progress towards the SDGs is at great risk. The international community has struggled to reach the most pressing goals, including SDG 1, ending poverty in all its forms. As we enter the Decade of Action, the … Continued
Extreme poor households typically hold few productive assets, rely on irregular and low incomes, and have low risk tolerance for investing in new livelihoods. In addition, they often lack confidence due to experience of social stigma, exposure to repeated shocks, high levels of indebtedness, and the burden of an uncertain future. The Ultra-Poor Graduation approach … Continued
Focusing on assistance that includes improving health, teaching financial skills, and providing vocational support, BRAC invented the Graduation approach in 2002 to address hopelessness and help the world’s poorest escape extreme poverty. BRAC’s Graduation model offers a transition to greater self-sufficiency, autonomy and dignity.The Graduation approach was pioneered by BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) programme (formally … Continued
The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) cites the Graduation approach as a leading innovation for families beyond the reach of traditional development programs (March 2011). Syed M. Hashemi and Aude de Montesquiou (March 2011)
Aude de Montesquiou Tony Sheldon with Frank F. DeGiovanni and Syed M. Hashemi (September 2014) This Technical Guide provides a “how-to” roadmap for practitioners wishing to implement programs based on the Graduation approach, an integrated, five-step methodology aimed at transitioning extremely poor populations into sustainable livelihoods. The Guide draws on the lessons learned over the … Continued