Graduation Into Sustainable Livelihoods: Recommended Resources

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Recommended Resources on Graduation Into Sustainable Livelihoods: The latest publications and articles from those at the forefront of implementing the Graduation Approach and other economic inclusion approaches to reach the extreme poor.

Graduation State of the Sector

2018 State of the Sector: Synthesis Report
Nov 2018, Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI)
This report shares analysis on the nearly 100 graduation programs underway in 43 countries, including locations of programs, types of organizations involved, costs and size of implementations, target segments, contexts for implementation and components included in the graduation package. 

PEI Briefs

PEI Brief: Building the Graduation Approach into Social Protection Systems
Dec 2018, Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI)
This Brief describes how the graduation approach is gathering momentum with governments who are actively looking to ensure social protection systems also build sustainable livelihoods. The brief concludes with ideas for research and experimentation.

Graduation Pathways: Increasing Income and Resilience for the Extreme Poor
Dec 2016, Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI)
Overview of the graduation approach, its impact, cost-effectiveness and potential for scaling up.

Tools for Implementation

From Extreme Poverty to Sustainable Livelihoods: A Technical Guide to the Graduation Approach, Second Edition
Mar 2018, Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI)
This technical guide provides a roadmap for those wishing to implement programs based on the graduation approach, particularly government policymakers and social protection agencies.

Ultra-Poor Graduation Handbook
2018, World Vision and BRAC
This technical guide was developed as a resource for World Vision staff and is intended to help them plan and successfully execute an adapted Graduation program from start to finish.

Graduation in an Urban Refugee Context
July 2017, Trickle Up
A technical guide from Trickle Up and UNHCR draws on their joint experience implementing graduation projects in urban areas with refugee populations living in extreme poverty.

Child Sensitive Graduation Programming Design
Jan 2019, Save the Children
A guidance brief designed as an overview of graduation programming, with guidance for ensuring child-sensitive programming.

PROPEL Toolkit: An Implementation Guide to the Ultra-Poor Graduation Approach
Dec 2015, BRAC
A step-by-step guide to help organizations implement a Graduation program, including a toolkit containing valuable insights and learning from peer organizations around the world.

Research on Impact

Building Stable Livelihoods for the Ultra-Poor
Sep 2015, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)
This Policy Brief summarizes the impact findings from the randomized control trial impact assessments.

Transforming the economic lives of the ultra-poor
Dec 2015, International Growth Centre
This brief describes key findings from a rigorous seven-year evaluation of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Program in rural Bangladesh. Targeted households increased earnings by 37% and improved their consumption, savings, and asset accumulation. 
>> View video summarizing the results of the study.
>> Listen to public lecture presenting the results of the study.

Eliminating Extreme Poverty: Comparing the Cost-Effectiveness of Livelihood, Cash Transfer, and Graduation Approaches
Dec 2016
Comparative analysis of three strands of anti-poverty social protection interventions

Making Sustainable Reductions in Extreme Poverty: A Comparative Meta-Analysis of Livelihood, Cash Transfer and Graduation Approaches
Oct 2016
This publication features new research on the cost-effectiveness of the Graduation Approach, comparing it to traditional livelihood development programs and cash-transfers. The research suggests that the model holds strong promise for those seeking to reach the extreme poor sustainably.

Webinar presentation: Graduation Programs for Improved Nutrition: How to Maximize Impacts on Children?
Oct 2016, BRAC, Save the Children, CGAP
This webinar discussed the current state of evidence on the impact of graduation-type programing on child nutrition. Half of under-five deaths worldwide are due to malnutrition. Malnutrition, especially during the first 1,000 days of life, is a major driver of cognitive impairment and susceptibility to infectious diseases among children.
>> Listen to the webinar recording

A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries
May 2015, Science 
This article presents findings from randomized control trial impact assessments of the Graduation Approach in six countries.
>> View infographic developed by CGAP outlining the Graduation projects and their results in a highly readable format.


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