Reaching the Poorest: Lessons from the Graduation Model

The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) cites the Graduation approach as a leading innovation for families beyond the reach of traditional development programs (March 2011). Syed M. Hashemi and Aude de Montesquiou (March 2011)

From Extreme Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods: A Technical Guide to the Graduation Approach (First Edition)

Aude de Montesquiou Tony Sheldon with Frank F. DeGiovanni and Syed M. Hashemi (September 2014) This Technical Guide provides a “how-to” roadmap for practitioners wishing to implement programs based on the Graduation approach, an integrated, five-step methodology aimed at transitioning extremely poor populations into sustainable livelihoods. The Guide draws on the lessons learned over the … Continued

Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies

Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Narayan Das, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, Munshi Sulaimany (March 2016) We study how women’s choices over labor activities in village economies correlate with poverty and whether enabling the poorest women to take on the activities of their richer counterparts can set them on a sustainable trajectory out of poverty…

Impact and Spillover Effects of an Asset Transfer Programme on Malnutrition

Wameq A Raza, Ellen Van de Poel (April 2016) Evidence shows that ultra-poor households are typically unable to participate in mainstream poverty alleviation programmes. In response, an international NGO called BRAC in Bangladesh implemented the Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction: Targeted Ultra-Poor (CFPR: TUP) programme that explicitly targets those living below…

Case Study: Adapting BRAC’s Graduation Program to the Changing Poverty Context in Bangladesh

This case study explores BRAC’s experience evolving the graduation approach over the last 20 years, paying special attention to the lessons for governments and NGOs alike that have emerged from the most recent periods of implementation. Specifically, this case study looks at how, since the program started in 2002, BRAC has sought to ensure high … Continued

Policy in Focus: Debating Graduation

The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth presents a multitude of articles all focused on various aspects of the Graduation approach and programming, including a piece written by BRAC’s own members of the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative team entitled “What does the future hold for graduation?” International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (November 2017)

Leave No One Behind: Time for Specifics on the Sustainable Development Goals (Chapter 3)

In the fall of 2019 we were honored to join with others committed to bringing the slogan “leave no one behind” to life in the new book Leave No One Behind: Time for Specifics on the Sustainable Development Goals, published this fall by the Japan International Cooperation Research Institute (JICA) and the Global Economy and … Continued

Anti-Poverty Programs Reach 92 Million People

See how BRAC is reaching the poorest with an innovative set of interventions that creates a ladder out of extreme poverty.

Strength in Numbers: PROFIT Financial Graduation

Join Sopina, Emily and Ntetekwa along with their community leader Seyian, as they share their story of group entrepreneurship, courage, and growth in the northern desert region of Samburu, Kenya.

Event: Driving Systems Change to End Extreme Poverty

In 2002 we pioneered the Graduation approach – a holistic sequence of interventions that helps people escape the poverty trap for good. When LSE researchers found 95 percent of participants in Bangladesh continued improving their living standards seven years after the intervention ended, we knew Graduation had the potential to transform lives.