Policy Recommendations for Building Climate Resilience for the Most Vulnerable During Heatwaves in India

Image (above) credit: Mahila Housing Trust By Boudewijn Weijermars, Technical Advisor; Shweta S. Banerjee, India Country Lead; Ramesh Veluru, India Programme Officer; and Courtney Calardo, Head of Communications, at BRAC International Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative India is not alone in the world in experiencing the effects of the current 1°C global warming. Heatwaves, floods, and droughts … Continued

Government of Rwanda Drives Global Dialogue around Proven Approaches to Advance Gender Equality

By Courtney Calardo, Head of Communications and Jean Claude Muhire, Rwanda Program Director Caption for featured image (above): Champions of gender equality gather at BRAC International’s side event during Women Deliver including Ministers Prof. Jeannette Bayisenge of Rwanda, Dorothy Gwajima of Tanzania, and Williametta Piso Saydee-Tarr of Liberia; along with Hana Brixi, Global Director of … Continued

Building Climate Resilience for Women in Extreme Poverty: Adaptations and Policy Recommendations from the Government of Tunisia’s Pilot Graduation Program

Climate change, poverty, and gender are inextricably interconnected. As climate change worsens it compounds systemic inequalities and exacerbates poverty, food insecurity, and injustice, especially for women and girls. Governments must adopt an integrated approach to addressing the climate crisis, with an intentional focus on building resilience for women living in poverty. Climate change poses unprecedented … Continued

Graduating Out of Poverty – Can It Be Done? – Poverty Unpacked

By Dr. Keetie Roelen, Research Fellow and Co-Director | Centre for Social Protection This interview was original published on Poverty Unpacked on September 29, 2022. Listen here. Empowering families in poverty to take control and set them on a path towards a better life, this is at the core of so-called ‘graduation’ programmes. By providing … Continued

Fighting Poverty with Hope: Lessons from the Life of Fazle Hasan Abed – Brookings

By Scott MacMillan, Director of Learning and Innovation | BRAC USA This piece was originally published on The Brookings Institution’s Future Development blog on September 12, 2022. Read it here. What would Abed say? I often find myself asking this question these days, having authored a new biography of the late founder of BRAC, “Hope … Continued

Door of Hope (Bab Amal): Adapting the Graduation Approach in Upper Egypt

In July 2018, the Bab Amal Graduation program was launched with the objective of reducing extreme poverty in Upper Egypt. Together with the Sawiris Foundation, J-PAL, the Egyptian Human Development Association (EHDA), and Giving Without Limits Association (GWLA), the pilot targets approximately 2,400 rural, extreme poor households in the Assiut and Sohag governorates. BRAC UPGI … Continued

How Graduation can complement social protection for women in extreme poverty – OECD

By Isabel Whisson, Senior Manager | BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative and Bill Abrams, Senior Advisor | Leadership Collaborative to End Ultra-Poverty This article originally appeared on the OECD Development Matters blog on June 27, 2022. Read it here. Successive crises including COVID-19, climate change, conflicts, and the emerging global food crisis will force 75 to 95 million … Continued

These experiments could lift millions out of dire poverty – Nature

By Jeff Tollefson This article originally appeared in Nature on June 22, 2022. Read it here. In 2012, the government of Niger began giving some of its poorest citizens free money. Over the next few years, around 100,000 participating households received 24 monthly payments of roughly US$16 — which more than doubled their typical spending … Continued

Why multifaceted approaches are critical for eradicating extreme poverty long term – socialprotection.org

By Courtney Calardo, Head of Communications and Max Gollin, Deputy Manager of Communications | BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative This piece was originally published on socialprotection.org on June 22nd, 2022. Read it here. Two recently released studies highlight the importance of taking a multifaceted approach when combating extreme poverty. In both, the researchers provide insight into … Continued

Clearing Pathways to Prosperity With a Livelihood Building Program in Kenya – BOMA

Michael Carter (University of California, Davis); Geyi Zheng (University of California, Davis; Nathan Jensen (International Livestock Research Institute), April 2022 Abstract: Livelihood-building programs combine training and assets for rural households with the least means to build a sustainable and independent income. Since 2018, we have been evaluating such a program in Samburu, Kenya among women … Continued