One in 20 people in Bangladesh live in extreme poverty. They face multifaceted challenges, such as access to basic services, but also emerging challenges such as rising living costs and climate impacts.
BRAC pioneered the Graduation approach in 2002, when we recognised that there was a subset of people who were living in situations of poverty so entrenched that they could not even benefit from microfinance.
Graduation unlocks potential through a holistic, time-bound and context-specific set of interventions over 12 months, which strengthens agency, restores dignity, and puts people on a pathway to self-reliance. 100% of the participants in Graduation cohorts are women, and 71% reported in 2024 that they had gained control over their income and family resources.
Graduation has long-term benefits - 95% of participants continued to improve their living standards when measured even seven years after the programme ended. The approach has now been adapted through partnerships with over 100 organisations across more than 50 countries.
Graduation at a glance
2.3 million
families have graduated out of extreme poverty in Bangladesh
9x
increase in savings among participants after the program ends, plus a 37% increase in earnings
93%
of participants sustain the benefits 10+ years after graduation
Four steps to ending extreme poverty
Featured stories
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The Evidence Effect: A path to prosperity for the most vulnerable families
The Graduation approach is a proven "big push" program that has empowered people to pull themselves out of extreme poverty across at least twenty countries.
This innovative model has improved lives nearly everywhere it has been implemented. Randomized evaluations in many countries, from Afghanistan to Bangladesh to Ethiopia, have shown that the Graduation approach... helps participants transition into more stable employment and achieve a higher standard of living for themselves and their families. -J-PAL
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How we can get back on track to end extreme poverty
One in ten people in the world lives in extreme poverty, and this is predicted to worsen. We need big investments in multifaceted, evidence-backed approaches to reverse these trends.
Decades of experience and rigorous evaluations show us that multifaceted, ‘big push’ approaches offer one of several pathways for people in extreme poverty to act as agents of change and build long-term trajectories out of poverty. -Aude de Montesquiou and Syed M Hashemi
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Extraordinary Woman: Meet Shahinur
After the river collapsed and dragged her home underwater, Shahinur’s family was plunged into extreme poverty. Today, she’s a thriving entrepreneur.
In 2018, I met a staff member from BRAC. She came right to the door of the single room we were living in. I told her I was interested in opening a small business. She inspired me and said I could do it. -Shahinur, Graduation participant
Our hard work slowly paid off. We became our community’s favorite vegetable vendor. Then, because there was also a demand for general household goods, we used the proceeds from the cart to open a small corner store… There were always new faces arriving in [our community], and the demand for fresh vegetables kept increasing.”
Shahinur
Ultra-Poor Graduation participant
Latest news
The Wall Street Journal | A guaranteed income won’t stop people from wanting to work
Nyamagabe District, Rwanda signs MoU with BRAC to launch district-led Graduation program
This is the story of Lizel Sol, from Oppermansdrop in the Free State, South Africa
The Evidence Effect: A path to prosperity for the most vulnerable families
Power people to rise above poverty
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