Holistic support can empower people to forge a pathway out of extreme poverty.
Worldwide, over 700 million people experience extreme poverty, living on less than $1.90 per day. By the end of 2021, the World Bank estimates an additional 100 million people are expected to join them. Extreme poverty disproportionately affects women, who often lack the resources, skills, and opportunities they need to escape the poverty trap. BRAC’s flagship Ultra-Poor Graduation approach instils hope and provides the knowledge and tools to enable people to chart a pathway out of poverty.
OUR REACH
BRAC’s innovative Graduation approach has enabled millions to lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
With more than 50 years of experience working hand-in-hand with communities around the globe, BRAC understands the unique, multifaceted needs of people living in extreme poverty—and their inherent potential. Our pioneering, proven Graduation approach unlocks that potential and enables people to break the cycle of extreme poverty.
OUR APPROACH
A holistic approach
BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation approach is a multifaceted set of interventions designed to address the complex nature of extreme poverty. Participants receive a stipend to support their basic needs; a productive asset such as livestock, equipment, or seed capital; training in life skills, finance, and business skills; and regular coaching and mentoring. Participants unlock their intrinsic potential and develop sustainable livelihoods that set them on a path of upward economic mobility. They also become better integrated into society, develop social connections, improve their self-esteem, and establish active roles in their communities.
Proven results
The Graduation approach is proven to break the cycle of extreme poverty and yield lasting results. In Bangladesh, BRAC has reached over 2 million households. Research shows that 95 percent of BRAC’s participants lift themselves out of extreme poverty by the end of the programme, and that seven years later, the benefits were sustained for 93 percent of the participants, including a 37 percent increase in earnings, a nine percent increase in consumption, a ninefold increase in savings, and a twofold increase in assets and land. Outside of Bangladesh, BRAC’s direct implementation of Graduation for youth in Uganda resulted in 94% of 1,650 youth participants graduating from extreme poverty. An impact study for the project found that the number of participating food-secure households increased by 32.8%, savings among participants increased by 56.7%, and productive asset ownership increased by 38%.
Scaling success
Since BRAC pioneered the Graduation approach in Bangladesh in 2002, more than 100 partners have adapted it in nearly 50 countries around the world. Building on our success in Bangladesh and the effectiveness of pilots in other countries, BRAC International (BI) has adapted and implemented several Graduation projects across the countries in Asia and Africa in which it operates, reaching thousands more people since its launch in 2009. Bl has implemented the Graduation approach in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Sudan, and more recently in Liberia and Uganda.
Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative
BRAC launched the Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI) in 2016 to provide advisory services and technical support to governments and NGO partners looking to design and implement Graduation and economic inclusion programmes. BRAC UPGI’s primary goal is to scale Graduation through governments in Africa and Asia to enable 4.6 million households to escape extreme poverty by 2026, integrating the approach into existing programmes and supporting policy change to better serve people living in extreme poverty. UPGI has worked alongside partners in Egypt, Guinea, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda, and more to drive policy change and provide people in extreme poverty with the resources and tools needed to meet their multidimensional needs long term. WHAT MAKES THE ULTRA POOR GRADUATION INITIATIVE UNIQUE Building on Two Decades of Experience BRAG UPGI advances adaptive, inclusive, and comprehensive programmes and policies that have proven to serve the needs of people in extreme poverty. Maximizing National Impact We work with partners to adapt and integrate our approach into existing government programmes and policies and with civil society and local communities to sustain local efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Shaping Global Efforts Our work with strategic partners around the world ensures global and regional policies and programs focus on the needs of the poorest people. Our Impact Since BRAC pioneered the Graduation approach in 2002, it has proven to be adaptable, scalable, and far-reaching, providing the “big push” people need to escape the poverty trap long term. As of 2021, nearly 92 million people across 75 countries have been reached by 219 economic inclusion programs influenced by BRAC’s Graduation approach.For more details on our global work, visit the UPGI website →
WHERE WE WORK
Uganda
In Uganda, BRAC has more than 4 years of experience in designing and implementing the Ultra-Poor Graduation approach with 2 consecutive projects:- The youth-focused Ultra-Poor Graduation pilot: From 2016-2019, BRAC Uganda partnered with the Cartier and Medicor Foundations to implement a Graduation pilot in the central districts of Luwero and Kiriyandongo to improve the livelihoods and welfare of poor and vulnerable households. The pilot targeted 1,650 youth between the ages of 18-35 years who were at the margins of poverty. The project aimed to provide an integrated combination of services and training to address the varied causes of youth ultra-poverty in Uganda.
- Partnership for Disability Inclusive Graduation project: In October 2019, BRAC, in partnership with Humanity & Inclusion and the National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda (NUWODU), launched the disability-inclusive poverty alleviation project which will increase the socio-economic empowerment and resilience of ultra-poor households in Western and Northern Uganda using the Graduation approach. The project is supporting 2,700 people aged 15 – 64 who are living in ultra-poverty. Of those, a minimum of 405 (15%) people are with disabilities and 70% (1890) are women
Liberia
More than half of Liberia’s population lives below the poverty line, the largest proportion of any country where BRAC works. We launched operations in Liberia in 2008 with a goal of tackling the challenge holistically. From 2019 to 2021, BRAC piloted the first Graduation programme in Liberia to support 750 households to graduate out of extreme poverty.
Uganda
BRAC UPGI is scaling Graduation through governments in Africa and Asia to enable 4.6 million households to escape extreme poverty by 2026, integrating the approach into existing programmes and supporting policy change to better serve people living in extreme poverty. UPGI has worked alongside partners in Egypt, Guinea, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Tunisia, Uganda, and more to provide people in extreme poverty with the resources and tools needed to meet their multidimensional needs long term.For more details on our global work, visit the UPGI website →
LATEST FROM US
RESEARCH EVIDENCE
The UPG model was first conceptualised and implemented at scale in Bangladesh where experimental studies found that the short-term effects on employment, income, consumption, assets, access to finance and food security not only persist but also keep growing up to seven years. Similar experimental studies were conducted in six countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America, and found significant positive impact at the end of the intervention as well as one year after. A cost-benefit analysis further showed a benefit-cost ratio of 166 percent across all the sites, with the highest result being over 400 percent. This was later greatly strengthened by a long-term follow-up in Bandhan, India which showed that impact actually increased after seven years. BRAC implemented the same model in South Sudan, where it compared the impact of UPG against unconditional cash transfer and found the UPG to be more cost-effective than the cash only. A similar evaluation was implemented in Uganda, with the Village Enterprise as the implementing agency, and the analysis came to the same conclusion of greater cost-effectiveness of UPG over cash. A quasi-experimental evaluation of UPG adapted for youth in Uganda showed positive impacts on the employment of youth. Recent evidence in Liberia demonstrated how BRAC’s UPG programme has significantly cushioned many of the negative effects of COVID-19 outbreak by protecting livelihoods and diversifying income sources of UPG households.
RESEARCH BRIEFS OF RELATED STUDIES
OUR WORK IN ACTION
Inclusivity is key to real impact
Since 2019, BRAC, in partnership with Humanity & Inclusion and the National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda (NUWODU), has been implementing the disability-inclusive poverty alleviation project which will increase the socio-economic empowerment and resilience of ultra-poor households in Western and Northern Uganda using the Graduation approach.