How to Strengthen Social Protection Programs with the Graduation Approach

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

Keeping the ‘Leave No One Behind’ Agenda Alive – Brookings

Speakers: John W. McArthur, Alexia Latortue, Scott MacMillan, Amb. Elizabeth Cousens, Homi Kharas While the sustainable development goals and their anchoring promise to “leave no one behind” may feel increasingly out of reach amid the COVID-19 pandemic, rising poverty, food shortages, armed conflict, natural disasters, and other crises, there is still reason for optimism when … Continued

Understanding Multidimensional Poverty

Extreme poverty goes far beyond a lack of income. This is because poverty is multidimensional. Health, education, clean water and sanitation, electricity, housing, social inclusion are all crucial indicators which determine standards of living and future prospects of an individual and their household. We cannot eradicate these challenges by focusing on income alone. To address … 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

Lessons in Development from the Global South: 50 Years of BRAC

This virtual event took place on July 14, 2022, and was hosted by BRAC, the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN, and the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the UN on the sidelines of the 2022 UN High-Level Political Forum. This webinar reflects on BRAC’s role in generating development lessons in the Global South … Continued

Breaking the Poverty Trap with the Graduation Approach

Learn how a proven solution to poverty eradication can help empower millions to lift themselves into sustainable livelihood. BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, wanted to help previously unreachable people in extreme poverty build sustainable livelihoods long-term. So, in 2002 we pioneered the Graduation approach – a holistic sequence of interventions that helps people escape the … Continued

Rethinking How to Eliminate Global Poverty – WEF 2022

Speakers: Ilona Szabó de Carvalho, Kennedy Odede, Tracy Francis, Asif Saleh, Precious Moloi-Motsepe, Marcos Troyjo As the successive, complex and sustained global crises have exposed the depth and complexity of solving global poverty, a multi-stakeholder approach using locally-led best practices from the Global South is required more than ever. How can we continue to innovate to solve the challenge of eliminating … 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

A Big Push for Entrepreneurship: Lessons from a Field Experiment – Cartier

Cartier Women’s Initiative (2022)  Using a field experiment from BRAC as an entry point, Prof. Esther Duflo shows how one big boost to women living in extreme poverty can help their businesses take off, with long-lasting positive impact for them and the next generation. Prof. Duflo shares lessons learned from the program, with insights on … Continued

Tackling Psychosocial and Capital Constraints to Alleviate Poverty

Thomas Bossuroy, Markus Goldstein, Bassirou Karimou, Dean Karlan, Harounan Kazianga, William Parienté, Patrick Premand, Catherine C. Thomas, Christopher Udry, Julia Vaillant & Kelsey A. Wright – Nature (2022) Abstract Many policies attempt to help extremely poor households build sustainable sources of income. Although economic interventions have predominated historically, psychosocial support has attracted substantial interest, particularly … Continued