Topic: Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment

Empowering Youth in Rural Kenya: PROFIT Financial Graduation

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Join Amina Muema as she tell her story of her journey with the PROFIT Financial Graduation program out of extreme poverty, in Kenya’s Kitui region.

How we overcame poverty: Two stories of courage

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Two women in Bangladesh go from living on less than 70 cents per day to becoming savvy entrepreneurs who are independently supporting their families. BRAC’s ‘Graduation’ approach to ending poverty gives women living in desperate circumstances the tools and opportunities to improve their lives.

Graduation Story: Alo Rani

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Poverty can be overcome, and the benefits last for generations. Alo Rani (‘light queen’ in Bangla) overcame poverty 18 years ago. Her children and grandchildren continue to shine, generations later. BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation programme has supported more than 2 million households in Bangladesh like Alo Rani’s to overcome poverty. This is her Graduation story. BRAC’s … Continued

Webinar: Creating Opportunities for Women in Poverty

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In honor of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, 2021, discover the power of women in a fireside chat with BRAC USA President and CEO, Donella Rapier, and Senior Advocacy Manager for BRAC’s Ultra Poor Graduation Initiative, Rasha Natour.

Uganda (DIG)

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In late 2017 BRAC Uganda, the National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda (NUWODU), and Humanity & Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International), with support from BRAC UPGI and BRAC UK, began work to design and implement the Disability Inclusive Graduation (DIG) project in Oyam, Nwoya, Kiryandongo, and Gulu districts of Uganda.

Empowering Women through the Graduation Approach

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Central to the Graduation approach is the understanding that extreme poverty encompasses a multidimensional set of challenges not limited to low incomes. While extreme poverty afflicts both women and men, women are particularly vulnerable because of barriers created by unequal gender dynamics.Women play a critical role in social and economic development by investing a higher … Continued

A Multifaceted Program Causes Lasting Progress for the Very Poor: Evidence from Six Countries

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Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Nathanael Goldberg, Dean Karlan, Robert Osei, William Parienté, Jeremy Shapiro, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry (May 2015)

Transforming the Economic Lives of the Ultra Poor

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Clare Balboni, Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Upaasna Kaul (December 2015) A livelihood programme providing productive assets and skills training to the poorest women in Bangladesh village economies helps them move into more stable self-employment and achieves significant reductions in poverty…

The Gender Transformative Potential of Graduation Programs – Policy Brief

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Fundación Capital (December 2019) Multifaceted social protection programs have been shown to significantly enhance the material well being of the poor and ultra-poor, globally. To what extent have these improvements meaningfully changed the lives of poor women in non-material ways?

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

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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