A World Without Extreme Poverty Is Within Reach

We partner with governments, policymakers, multilateral institutions, NGOs, donors, and academic institutions to drive policy change and help alleviate extreme poverty around the world.

We work with our partners to strengthen their capacity, adapting the Graduation approach to the unique needs of their local contexts.

Governments, aid agencies, and donors have been looking for something backed by real evidence showing they can help the poorest of the world, and the Graduation approach does exactly that.
- Annie Duflo - Executive Director | Innovations for Poverty Action
Learn More About Graduation

Global and Regional Partners

Partnering with influencers around the world

Collaborating for Impact

We’ll leverage BRAC’s experience, insights, and expertise to support our core efforts:

Our Expertise
Strengthening Government Capacity

Advise governments on how to best utilize their existing resources and integrate our approach into their poverty reduction programs.

Adapting to Local Contexts

Work with local governments, civil society, and communities to customize poverty alleviation programs to understand and address the unique and multidimensional challenges people living in extreme poverty face in different contexts.

Investing in Learning & Innovation

Study the most effective ways to adapt and scale our approach, and use these learning to inform our program and policy recommendations and improve our methods.

Influencing Policies & Programs

Advocate for more adaptive, inclusive, and comprehensive policies and programs to better serve the poorest people living around the world.

Adapting Graduation for Different Contexts & Communities

Extreme poverty does not exist on its own. It is deeply tied to the other large-scale global challenges. That’s why we adapt our approach to effect positive change across a variety of contexts, for different marginalized communities, addressing multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gender Inequality
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Climate Resilience
Adapting for Urbanization
Youth Empowerment
Food Security

Reducing Gender Inequality (SDG 5)

Women are disproportionately affected by extreme poverty. They have less access to and control over resources, less access to healthcare and education, and are more likely to perform unpaid or underpaid care work.

Because they face the greatest vulnerabilities and are also more likely to invest back into their families, the Graduation approach prioritizes helping women build resilience, secure sustainable employment, and carve a path out of extreme poverty for themselves and their households.

Supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment (SDG 10)

People in extreme poverty — particularly women — are often trapped in low-wage or irregular work that keeps them from earning enough, saving, or investing in the future. They frequently face social and financial barriers to receiving loans, opening bank accounts, and integrating into local markets.

The Graduation approach connects female participants to markets, promotes financial inclusion, and provides resources and training so they can build long-term livelihoods.

Building Climate Resilience (SDG 13)

Extreme poverty and climate change are inextricably linked. As climate change worsens, it compounds systemic inequalities and exacerbates poverty, food insecurity, and social injustice.

As part of a collective effort to combat the impacts of climate change, BRAC commits to applying a climate resilience lens to future development activities, including Graduation programs in climate-vulnerable contexts.

  • Building Climate Resilience through the Graduation Approach
    By supporting more diversified incomes, food security, financial services education, and coaching on natural resource management, Graduation helps participants become more economically resilient in the face of climate and other major shocks.

Adapting for Urbanization (SDG 11)

Migrants to industrial areas often accept the risks and poor living conditions of city life because it is their only way to access the economic opportunities available in urban centers.

Although originally developed for rural communities, the Graduation approach has been adapted to urban contexts to address the growing challenges and needs of urban populations.

Reducing Youth Unemployment (SDG 8)

The global youth labor force will increase significantly by 2030. With many working youth living in poverty, some in extreme poverty, there is a need to empower the next generation with income-generating skills and assets.

Barriers to youth empowerment leave young people, especially adolescent girls, more vulnerable to poverty, exploitation, early age pregnancy, and gender-based violence. While access to education is expanding, quality of learning is lagging behind and the new generations face limited job prospects. Social and economic inclusion programs can connect young people with economic opportunities and set them on a path out of poverty.

  • Youth Economic and Social Inclusion
    BRAC’s youth empowerment program takes a multifaceted approach to this complex challenge, applying key elements from Graduation and providing youth with education, economic empowerment, and social support.

Promoting Food Security (SDG 2)

Achieving zero hunger requires holistic approaches that recognize and address the deeply intertwined realities of food insecurity and extreme poverty.

To reach both the goal of zero hunger and the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030, the international community must back evidence-based programs which enable households to build resilient livelihoods so that they can access and afford nutritious food now and in the long term.

  • Graduation and Food Security
    Graduation promotes food security holistically so that participating households can experience long-term improvements in their household nutritional status.

Meet Our Partners

Partnering with influencers around the world.

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
Action for Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
Big Lottery Fund
BOMA Project
CARE International
Cartier Charitable Foundation
Catalyst 2030
CIVICUS
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Egyptian Human Development Association

Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office
Giving Without Limits Association
Government of Kenya
Government of Lesotho, Ministry of Social Development
Government of Philippines, Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines & Department of Social Welfare and Development of the Philippines
Government of Rwanda

Government of Tunisia, Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources and Fisheries & Ministry of Social Affairs
Government of Zambia, Ministry of Community Development and Social Services
Guinea National Agency for Economic and Social Inclusion
International Fund for Agricultural Development
Innovations for Poverty Action
Medicor Foundation

Partnership for Economic Inclusion
Sawiris Foundation
Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board
UNICEF
USP2030
World Bank

How to Partner with BRAC UPGI

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I’d like to also take this opportunity to congratulate the entire BRAC team for such a fantastic job on the [Sustainable Women's Livelihoods] curriculum and engaging men in activities. It was a challenging assignment, not just because of the travel restrictions but also the goal of designing activities that are effective yet easy to incorporate into what’s already quite a complex project, yet you delivered really high quality work. We’ve really appreciated the BRAC team’s knowledge and professionalism and hope to have the opportunity to work together again soon.
- Ioana A. Botea | Social Protection Economist at the World Bank