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Pilots Show Promise Reaching Ultra-PoorApril 23, 2011 A series of pilots in diverse parts of the world is showing great promise in reaching the world's poorest - those living on less than a buck and a quarter a day - and helping them to "graduate" out of extreme poverty. The pilots - in countries as divese as Haiti and Pakistan - take a "holistic approach" to dealing with complex issues that foster poverty. That's one take away from a recent report by CGAP, Reaching the Poorest: Lessons from the Graduation Model, available for download at CGAP's Web site. Ten pilots in eight different countries have been undertaken since CGAP teamed with the Ford Foundation to launch the pilots in 2006. The programs offer access to financial services, as well as financial education, tools, skills training and coaching, among other things. The Graduation Model had its genesis with the BRAC program in Bangladesh. It takes the BRAC approach into countries selected for geographic, economic, cultural and ecological diversity. It is built on five core elements:
Once they graduate, some participants take out micro-loans, the report notes, others look for new wage-earning opportunities. Countries where pilots have been undertaken to date are: Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Pakistan, Peru and Yemen. "The early results of the pilot projects are showing great promise," said Aude de Montesquiou, project manager for the pilots at CGAP. "We need to do a lot more research to be sure that the benefits people are seeing will be sustained, and to find ways to introduce the graduation approach to larger communities in more countries through key partnerships." |
 Fewer than 2% of the world's poor have access to financial services other than those provided by unregulated moneylenders. |