Targeting the Ultra Poor Program Brief: Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty

BRAC

ABSTRACT

BRAC pioneered the Targeting the Ultra Poor programme (TUP) in 2002 in response to extreme poverty. The programme has served 1.77 million extreme poor households in Bangladesh since its inception, instilling socioeconomic resilience, as well as promoting sustainable livelihoods. We apply a two-year time-bound ‘Graduation’ approach that blends together elements of livelihoods, social safety nets, financial inclusion and social integration - each of which tackles separate aspects of ultra poverty. It combines multidimensional support to address immediate needs of participants using stipends and asset transfers, as well as long-term investments in life skills and technical skills training, enterprise development, positive behavior change, savings and financial planning. Together with close supervision of the participant in individual and group settings, these interventions allow households in ultra poverty to develop livelihoods that multiply their capital and enhance their entrepreneurial skills and decision making abilities, and enable their transition into sustainable livelihoods. The Graduation approach has gained worldwide recognition for its holistic treatment of poverty, and has now been replicated and adapted by stakeholders in the extreme poverty affected regions of the world.