Mainstreaming Graduation into Social Protection in Asia

People in ultra-poverty make up over half of the estimated 797 million people living in extreme poverty around the world (Reed et al. 2017, 4).

This group tends to be food insecure, typically excluded from mainstream services and programs, including formal market systems and financial services, and in some contexts live in isolated and hard-to-reach areas.

This paper argues that the Graduation approach is one such approach that aims to equip this population with the tools, access to resources, livelihoods, and self-confidence to escape the poverty trap.