Poverty Alleviation Coalition Took on 500,000 Households
The Graduation Approach, formally referred to as the Targeting the Ultra-Poor Program, has helped almost 14 million people since its creation in 2002 by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The program is designed to thoroughly provide its participants with the support they need to graduate from poverty. Its original 75% success rate has led to over 100 organizations adopting the model. For instance, the Poverty Alleviation Coalition, a partnership between 18 organizations, has used the Graduation Approach in their five-year objective to graduate 500,000 households out of poverty.
Build up to the Coalition
Through the 2010s, an increase in refugees and depleting support structures lead to the 76% statistic of refugees living in developing countries. This pressing cause culminated in a unanimous United Nations Global Assembly support for the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. The declaration expressed support and the need for the protection of refugees while addressing the necessity of support for the countries housing them, as encompassed in the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.
This framework was based on four objectives:
- Easing the pressures on host countries and communities,
- Enhancing refugee self-reliance
- Expanding third-country solutions
- Supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.
As a result, the Global Compact on Refugees was formed on December 17, 2018, by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It outlined how international collaboration was the only route to an equitable and sustainable solution to refugee situations.
The Formation
The Poverty Alleviation Coalition was formed in July 2019 by the UNHCR and the World Bank Partnership for Economic Inclusion as a vector to support the Global Compact on Refugees. Along with several implementation partner organizations, such as BRAC, research partner Innovations for Poverty Action and many donors, the coalition uses the best of each member to combine technical, physical, political and financial support in their plan.
Regarding the specifics of the Poverty Alleviation Coalition’s goal, the group circled back to the Graduation Approach method in the hopes of graduating 500,000 refugee households out of poverty from 2020 to 2025. The organizations outlined 35 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America and calculated the need for $1,400 per household, totaling $700 million over five years.
Progress by 2024
As the COVID-19 pandemic rose through the Poverty Alleviation Coalition’s launch, particularly affecting participant’s ability to find jobs, a significant step in the Graduation Approach. Yet, the Coalition triumphed. Different projects have been launched, such as with the organization World Vision Rwanda, which was able to attain grants to aid 5,000 households on their graduation from poverty.
As of July 2023, the Coalition has aided about 111,000 refugee households by securing $250 million. Even with about two years left to go, the Poverty Alleviation Coalition has demonstrated that by pooling together the assets of various organizations, ending global poverty is readily within humanity’s reach.
– Aria Desai
Photo: Unsplash
