DOLE Graduation Program: Building Resilience in the Philippines through Sustainable Livelihoods

In 2018, the Philippines Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and technical assistance from BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative launched a pilot across five municipalities in Negros Occidental. The video highlights the program interventions and the many obstacles participants overcame in their efforts to uplift themselves out of … Continued

Graduation Pilot in the Philippines – Overview

Join us for an introduction to the Graduation pilot taking place in the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines, in partnership with the Asia Development Bank and the Philippines’ Department of Labor and Employment.

How to Strengthen Anti-Poverty Efforts – Project Syndicate

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

Report from the Field: A Conversation with Marlowe Popes, Field Manager, Philippines

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

A Journey of Growth and Transformation: The DOLE Graduation Approach Project

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

Investing in Women and Girls: How Governments Can Drive Inclusive Recovery — World Bank

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

Opinion: The long shadow of COVID-19 on extreme poverty – Devex

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