This webinar originally took place on February 22, 2023. Economic inclusion’s roots are grounded in approaches that are shown to be effective in reaching people living in extreme poverty. Yet one of the biggest challenges as programs scale up is determining the target groups to be included and how to prioritize those who may need … Continued
By Greg Chen | Managing Director, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative BRAC’s founder, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, liked to say that “small is beautiful, but scale is necessary.” We see this as our twin challenge – to scale at a size that is meaningful on a global level while delivering long-term impact. Recently a colleague nicely … Continued
As we celebrate 20 years of the Graduation approach, we would like to personally recognize our partners’ critical support in evaluating, innovating, and expanding the reach of Graduation around the world. This support has enabled us to reach millions of people worldwide and our partners and related organizations to do similar. This in effect has … Continued
This event was organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and BRAC. The panel shared insights and experiences of different approaches including the Graduation approach, cash transfers and broader adaptive social protection systems, and takeaways on applying these approaches to poverty reduction and climate adaptation. Speakers shared concrete examples, practical insights, and evidence … Continued
Enabling people to escape the poverty trap for the long-term requires adaptive approaches that are designed at the local level with their unique contexts in mind. Graduation is one such approach that goes far beyond simply building resilient livelihoods and works to address the multidimensional nature of extreme poverty that is often compounded by circumstances … Continued
Developed in the early 2000s, the Graduation approach was born out of learning from BRAC’s long period of program implementation that preceded it. BRAC has continuously evolved the Graduation approach since first starting the Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) program in Bangladesh in 2002, and it has now been adapted and expanded by BRAC and other organizations … Continued
By Abhijit Banerjee, Rema Hanna, Benjamin A. Olken and Diana Sverdlin-Lisker [October 2022] “Abstract: Social protection programs have become increasingly widespread in low- and middle- income countries, with their own distinct characteristics to match the environments in which they are operating. This paper reviews the growing literature on the design and impact of these programs. … Continued
The Graduation approach builds self-confidence, skills, resilience, and sustainable, diversified livelihoods by meeting participants’ basic day-to-day needs, providing training and assets for income generation, financial literacy and savings support, and social empowerment through community engagement and life skills training – all facilitated through in person coaching. Coaches play a critical role in encouraging participants to … Continued
By Gregory Chen, Managing Director | BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative This piece originally appeared on Inter Press Service News on October 10, 2022. Read it here. WASHINGTON DC, Oct 10 2022 (IPS) – As we approach 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals look harder than ever to achieve. Shocks to the global economy caused by climate change, … Continued
Governments must strengthen their social protection systems to ensure those furthest behind are covered and that their long-term needs are met. Otherwise, the deepest forms of poverty will remain entrenched. Social protection programs help people who are marginalized and living in poverty meet their most basic needs. They enable people to cope with crises, find … Continued