Reducing Extreme Poverty: Building Climate Resilience through Graduation Programmes
09 July 2025

BRAC's presentation outlined their Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) programme that addresses extreme poverty through the "ABCs" approach: Assets (productive investments), Basic needs (consumption support), and Coaching (intensive mentorship). The programme has evolved since 2002 to integrate climate resilience, recognizing that climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations. BRAC demonstrated climate-adaptive interventions including targeted geographic focusing, climate-smart agriculture techniques, urban adaptations like solar systems and rooftop gardens, and innovative approaches like parametric insurance in India. The programme built resilience through income diversification, increased savings, and enhanced climate knowledge, with rigorous evidence showing reduced negative impacts from climate shocks across multiple countries and contexts.

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Topics

  • Climate Change
  • Social Development and Protection