The ultra poor are caught in a below-subsistence trap from which it is difficult for them to break free using… Read more available resources and mechanisms. Time is not an ally for the ultra poor, as things generally do not get better for them over time. More often than not, ultra poverty tends to be chronic and intergenerational. Existing development approaches largely do not work for the ultra poor and consequently, they tend to be left out. The ultra poor rely largely on informal charities, having its own rules of inclusion and exclusion based on complex systems of patronage. More importantly, such informal support tends to at best reproduce mere subsistence and does not provide a graduation pathway for the ultra poor. Social assistance programs typically provide a period of relief through food and/or cash, but these too tend to focus less on graduation and more on immediate needs. This paper describes an innovative approach that BRAC has been experimenting with since 2002 to craft a graduation pathway for the ultra poor. Based on experiences of implementing this approach and evaluation research, a number of key lessons for the broader thinking on tackling ultra poverty are drawn. Read less ...

All countries fund safety net programs for the protection of their people. Though an increasing number of safety net programs… Read more are extremely well thought out, adroitly implemented, and demonstrably effective, many others are not. This book aims to assist those concerned with social policy to understand why countries need social assistance, what kind of safety programs will serve those best and how to develop such programs for maximum effectiveness. Safety nets are part of a broader poverty reduction strategy interacting with and working alongside of social insurance; health, education, and financial services; the provision of utilities and roads; and other policies aimed at reducing poverty and managing risk. Though useful, safety nets are not a panacea, and there are real concerns over whether they are affordable and administratively feasible or desirable in light of the various negative incentives they might create. In most settings where there is political will to do so, such concerns can be managed through a number of prudent design and implementation features. Much information and innovation exist on these topics; this book summarizes, references, and builds on this knowledge base to promote well-crafted safety nets and safety net policy Read less ...

Authors evaluate the effects of a self-employment program offered to welfare beneficiaries of a large safety net program in Argentina.… Read more The program promotes self-employment by providing financial and technical assistance. Our findings show that only a small and selected subset of welfare beneficiaries is attracted to this type of exit strategy (female household heads and more educated). Exploring non-experimental methods, we also show that in the short-run participation in the program affects the labor supply of participants, by reducing the probability of having an outside job and increasing the total number of hours worked. However, at least in the short-run, the intervention fails to produce income gains to the average participant. Read less ...

A common criticism of antipoverty programs is that the high share of administrative (nontransfer) costs substantially reduces their effectiveness. Yet,… Read more there is surprisingly little rigorous empirical evidence on program costs. Improved information and a better understanding of the costs of such programs are crucial for effective policymaking. This study proposes and implements a replicable methodology for a comparative cost analysis of three similar poverty alleviation programs in Latin America, and assesses their cost efficiency. The findings underscore that any credible assessment of cost efficiency requires a detailed analysis of program cost structures that goes well beyond simply providing aggregate cost information. Read less ...

Earlier reviews of impact evaluations by the World Bank, the OECD, and others have concluded that policy-makers must be cautious… Read more regarding what ALMPs can realistically achieve. The evidence suggested that these programs were not a panacea for unemployment but some types of interventions, properly designed, could be effective for some workers. It should be noted that these reviews were based almost exclusively on the experience of industrialized countries because very few evaluations existed anywhere else. In this paper, we build on the 72 scientific (i.e., control-group) evaluations considered in the previous World Bank study (Dar and Tzannatos, 1999) by adding 87 new studies. With this additional evidence, we can ask whether the original conclusions still hold. Moreover, with some evaluations now being carried out in transition and, to a lesser extent, developing countries, we can begin to ask whether the findings of impact evaluations in industrialized countries apply in these contexts as well. Read less ...

Investing in the economic empowerment of women affected by conflict can help the international community to achieve three universal goals:… Read more 1. Sustainable progress for women’s rights. 2. Peace building and prevention of conflict. 3. Sustainable development and ending extreme poverty. Since 1993, Women for Women International has served more than 479,000 marginalised women affected by conflict. Through our yearlong programme marginalised women are supported to: earn and save money; influence decisions; improve their well-being; and connect to networks for support. We see promising results in our monitoring and evaluation efforts. Based on our evidence and complemented by global studies, we highlight four key, interlinked components that are necessary for effectively supporting women’s economic empowerment in conflict: 1. Work with men to address discriminatory gender norms. All members of society suffer from patriarchal attitudes and have a role to play in promoting gender equality – these are not just “women’s issues”. 2. Holistic and integrated programming. Women’s needs and experiences in conflict are complex and interlinked. Solely economic interventions alone have not proven to yield long-term benefits. 3. Build women’s economic knowledge and skills. This is vital to supporting them to build agency and influence decisions, increase their income and increase their resilience to economic shocks. 4. Informal and formal support networks. In the absence of government and financial services, networks are key to supporting women to access financial support, particularly for savings and income. In conclusion, this paper makes five recommendations for international governments and donors to effectively deliver on international commitments and support marginalised women’s economic empowerment in conflict-affected contexts: 1. Urgently increase funding for women’s rights organisations. 2. Support economic empowerment programmes that include men in their programme design. 3. Target the most marginalised women. 4. Support holistic and integrated programming. 5. Listen to the needs of marginalised women and actively include them in the design, implementation and review of economic empowerment programmes. Read less ...

Extreme poor populations face multidimensional social, economic, political, and cultural barriers, in addition to a low income. They are often… Read more chronically food insecure, geographically isolated and excluded from the community, vulnerable to health and natural shocks, disconnected from mainstream social protection services and traditional development programs, with low access to markets. In order to address these complex barriers, the targeting method in a Graduation program must involve a rigorous process that captures eligible households and minimizes errors by preventing households with greater means from being selected. Additional effort is needed to identify households where there are disabilities, girls are disadvantaged, and women face additional barriers such as limited bargaining and decision-making power and vulnerability to gender-based violence. Read less ...

In BRAC’s Graduation approach, coaching is an integral component that cuts across all four of its foundational pillars (livelihoods promotion,… Read more social protection, financial inclusion, and social empowerment) that collectively enable a household to build its resilience and uplift themselves out of extreme poverty. Coaching takes the form of regular touchpoints between participants and program staff and is critical in boosting their confidence, guiding on livelihood management, resolving challenges, adopting positive behavior, and monitoring household welfare. Coaches go beyond casework or case management by instilling hope and helping participants translate their vision of a future out of poverty into realistic steps. Read less ...

BRAC’s Graduation approach is a comprehensive, timebound, integrated and sequenced set of interventions that enable extreme poor households to achieve… Read more socioeconomic resilience, in order to progress along a pathway out of extreme poverty. Although traditionally developed for rural communities, the Graduation approach has been adapted to urban contexts to meet the growing challenges linked to urbanization and address the unique needs of urban slum populations. BRAC implemented Graduation pilots in urban Bangladesh and peri-urban areas in Uganda. In addition, BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative (UPGI), which aims to expand the reach and impact of Graduation through advocacy and technical assistance to governments, multilateral agencies, and NGOs, is currently providing technical assistance to governments in the Philippines and India on adapting Graduation to urban contexts. These pilots provide key lessons on designing Graduation to meet the multidimensional challenges of people living in urban poverty. Read less ...

A presentation of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Graduation Pilot exploring key messages on how to link social… Read more protection to sustainable livelihoods, showcasing the graduation approach, pilot implementation in the Philippines, initial accomplishment and the challenges and lessons learned. Read less ...