Assisting the Poorest in Bangladesh: Learning from BRAC's 'Targeting the Ultra Poor' Programme

Abstract

This paper commences by examining the evolution of a programme designed to reach the poorest people in Bangladesh, to improve their immediate situation and to give them the assets and other skills to move out of poverty and dramatically reduce their vulnerability – BRAC's Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction/Targeting the Ultra Poor Programme, or CFPR-TUP. It then reviews what is known about the impacts of TUP, and finds evidence that the programme is both reaching significant numbers of Bangladesh’s poorest people and improving their economic and social condition. The concluding sections draw lessons from the TUP about the types of programme design features and the processes required in order to develop such ambitious initiatives.