In this episode, we’re talking about economic inclusion. Economic inclusion programmes typically target the poorest people and seek to address the many barriers to escaping poverty by providing multiple, complementary interventions. These generally include providing cash transfer assets, but also training, mentoring, access to finance and so on. These programmes are increasing in popularity as evidence starts to show promising and lasting results.  

According to a major report published earlier this year, there were economic inclusion programmes running in 75 countries – many still quite new – reaching 92 million people.  And, with the number of poor living in extreme poverty on the rise for the first time in a decade due to COVID-19, and the increasing focus on re-engaging people in the economy post-pandemic, the time may be ripe for a big push on taking more of these programmes to scale. 

Our guests bring real life examples and discuss recent findings to illustrate the challenges, lessons learned and best practices on graduation programmes. 

Featuring: 

• Lauren Whitehead, the Director of Technical Assistance for BRAC Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative, a global program partnering with governments in Africa and Asia on integrating economic inclusion into existing social protection programs; and 

Links from episode: 

Global Learning Event on Economic Inclusion for the Poorest – Moving to Scale (27-28 April).  

The State of Economic Inclusion Report 2021: The Potential for Scale 

BRAC website 

Plus our monthly round up of ‘Quick Wins’, highlighting news, achievements and research that have sparked our interest. 

Quick Wins from Fazley Elahi Mahmud, from DFAT’s Social Protection Hub: 

• Social Protection for Economic Inclusion: Adapting the Graduation Approach in Asia and the Pacific webinar, hosted by Asian Development Bank with Socialprotection.org  

Additional resource: 

• Economic inclusion and Covid-19 response webinar by the World Bank Group, the Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI) and the Social Protection for Employment Community (SPEC) on socialprotection.org 

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